Xavier’s gut churned as he walked back to the car with his mama. Izzy had seemed so confused when he’d asked if they could take a rain check, and he wished he could reassure her that everything was fine, but everything wasn’t fine. He hated coming back to reality, and reality had slugged him hard when he got on the plane and checked his phone for the first time in almost a week. It was going to be fine, he kept telling himself. He’d get it all figured out with his agent and Mr. Knight. Then he’d go find Izzy and apologize for not being with her tonight. Tomorrow they’d spend the entire day together. Tomorrow everything would be better.

He and Mama got in the back seat of the car. After he gave the driver his address, he turned, ready for the cuss-out.

“What in the crimony is going on with you, boy? That is the best woman you have ever had on your arm, and you are screwing everything up.”

Obviously, he didn’t have to wait long. The driver tensed as if he didn’t want to hear this conversation. This was a professional company Xavier had used before when he didn’t want to leave one of his vehicles at the airport. The man knew he’d get in big trouble if he spread gossip about clients, but Xavier still didn’t want somebody listening in.

He held up a hand and tilted his head toward the front seat. “Mama, this isn’t the time.”

She scowled and sat back, folding her arms with a loud harrumph. “You’d better figure out what it’s time for, son, before you lose that girl and every chance of happiness you’ve ever had.” She turned away from him and glared out the window, muttering, “I fake falling asleep and he messes everything up.”

Xavier couldn’t remember the last time his mama had been upset with him. He’d learned very young that obedience brought lots of blessings where his mama was concerned, and he’d always toed the line. Sure, as a teenager he’d gotten into some situations that had upset or scared her and she’d yelled at him, but usually, he was a good obedient boy, and she doted on him and bragged about him enough to annoy anybody who listened for very long.

His mind swung back to Izzy. He wasn’t trying to mess things up, but his agent had some valid points and was ticked at him for leaving the country and turning his phone off. They were in the middle of contract negotiations between the Texas Titans and Denver Storm, and here he had pictures all over social media of him on a million-dollar, all-day date with the owner of the Titan’s daughter. It had also obviously leaked to the media that he and Izzy were in Mexico together. Of course, they didn’t focus on the humanitarian mission and all the good they accomplished. Everything his agent said sounded like the world thought he and Izzy had gone away for a week as lovers. The owner of the Denver Storm was livid, and Xavier’s agent didn’t blame him. Would Denver’s owner pull his offer? If he did, everything Xavier and his agent had worked for would go up in smoke when James Knight realized he had sole control over him and felt no need to up his offer to keep Xavier in Texas. What if there was any truth to his agent’s rants that Izzy had bought him at that auction and continued dating him to help her father manipulate him? Out of everything his agent had said, that thought dug at him the worst.

They arrived at his house, and Xavier walked his mama up to the front door and let her in. The driver brought up their suitcases, and Xavier gave him a generous tip, hoping he caught the message to keep his mouth shut.

Closing the nine-foot door behind him, he exhaled, ready for it, but Mama simply glared at him.

He flicked his thumb against his pants. “I’ve got to go meet with my agent and the owner of the Titans, Izzy’s father, and see if we can work out this contract, or if I’m going to accept Denver’s offer.”

His mama studied him. “It’s not Izzy’s fault who her father is.”

“I realize that, but it sure makes a mess when my agent is ticked at me, and the owner of Denver wonders why I’m dating the other owner’s daughter when we’re trying to negotiate a contract.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I’ll just have to talk to Izzy about waiting to date more until this is settled.”

“You know I’d love to have you in Denver and heavens knows Marcos respects and obeys you better than he does me.”

Xavier’s head shot up. “Is he struggling more?” Their young neighbor in Denver was a prime target for drug runners and gangs. He seemed to listen when Xavier told him to stay far away from those traps, but Xavier wasn’t with him near enough.

“He is.” She shook her head, and suddenly, she was far away. “But there are children here you can help too.”

Xavier was tugged by Marcos. The children he helped here lived in a million-dollar home, and though their father was gone a lot, they were good kids and were going to do great things. Marcos’ father had never been part of his life, and while his mama tried she was gone too much. Marcos would be in huge trouble if someone didn’t rescue him.

Mama touched his arm. “Maybe you could save Marcos, but maybe you couldn’t, and you know I’m watching out for him. You’ve got to do what’s right for you and for your heart.”

He shrugged and looked down at his hands, not sure where his heart was or if that really could figure into the equation when you were dealing with your career and the opportunity to have more money than anyone had a right to have. He didn’t need the money, but he had a lot of plans to invest and then share the money with those children in need, and Marcos was as important to him as any child.

Mama puffed up, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him down toward her. “That girl is an angel, and if you mess things up with her over some asinine contract negotiation, I will kick your rear end to kingdom come. You got that?” She released him and huffed like a mama bear.

Xavier straightened and didn’t know how to respond. His mama was always on his side, not someone else’s. He had no desire to mess things up with Izzy, and Mama was correct that none of this was Izzy’s fault, but at the same time, was it? Why had she bought him at that auction? Her father had given her the money. She claimed it was all for her hospital and that she hated her father, but he was just taking her word in all of that. All he knew was he needed to figure out the contract. Then he could figure out things with Izzy.

His mama tapped the tattoo on his right arm. “You’ve got a brotherhood borne out of loss, pain, and a whole heap of hard work. Think about them as well when you’re talking dollars and cents, you hear?”

“You don’t want me in Denver?” He did love his brothers, but he loved his mama more.

Mama grabbed his arms and tried to shake him, but wasn’t strong enough. “I want you happy!”

“Then why won’t you move here?” Things would be perfect if Mama was here.

“My place is in Denver, sweet boy. If Marcos and some of those other children didn’t have me, they really would go to heck in a hand basket.” She tapped his cheek. “But your place is wherever you can be happy. Maybe someday I’ll move in next door and watch your babies while you take your wife out to dinner, but right now, I’m needed in Denver, and for once in your life, you need to not worry about obeying a coach, an owner, an agent, a higher-ranking officer, or even your mama. You need to decide if this is your spot and where you can make the most difference and be the happiest. Do you understand me?”

Xavier blinked, and a bit of moisture rolled down his cheek. His mama could do that to him sometimes. He bent down and wrapped his arms around her, whispering in her ear, “Just calm down, Mama. Just calm down.”

She laughed and squeezed him tight. Then she released him and gave him a push toward the back of the house. “Go shower, say a prayer, and go to that meeting. You decide what is best for you, love.”

“I’ll try, Mama.”

She shook her head. “I’ll be here cooking. You think Ace and Kade will come eat?”

“We might be able to convince them.” But if he got through this meeting and figured things out, the person he’d want to be with was Izzy. That thought slowed his steps as he jogged toward his bedroom to shower and carried through as he got dressed, said his prayer, and drove toward the stadium. He’d dated hundreds of women, but he’d never wanted to put one of them before his mama.

The owner’s office looked out over the stadium and the Trinity River beyond the green space south of the city. You could look the other direction and see straight to downtown from here too. His agent had been waiting at the elevator and had given him an earful about being influenced by Knight’s daughter, how they were probably going to get low-balled now because Knight would think he had Xavier whipped, and how all his hard work of playing Denver and Texas against each other was a waste if he was in Knight’s daughter’s back pocket. Xavier had listened without comment. It was his agent’s job to rant and worry. It was his job to play football, and he’d done his job well this past year. He just wished he knew where he should choose. Izzy pulled at his heart, but so did Marcos and his mama and all the other children she helped on a daily basis.

The door swung open, and Mr. Knight himself waited. “Xavier, come in, son. Come in.” He greeted him with a wide smile on his craggy face, extending his hand. Xavier shook his hand but found himself wanting to punch the guy. Son? This was the man who had betrayed Izzy’s mother, and she hated him. How dare he act like he and Xavier were tight now?

Knight extended his hand to Xavier’s agent, Neil. “James Knight, nice to meet you in person.”

Neil had been raving against the man ten seconds ago, but now, he shook his hand with a happy grin. It was hard to resist Knight’s magnetism. The guy was powerful and rich, but he was also charismatic, even if his face did look like it’d been carved by a five-year old with a sense of humor.

“You too, sir.”

Knight gestured them into his office. His lawyer was in the corner, and he stood and crossed the room, shaking each of their hands. “Garrett Klein.” He got right down to business. “Mr. Knight has a formal dinner with his wife and daughter tonight, and we don’t want to make him late. Shall we look over the contract and get it signed?”

Everything about that sentence bugged Xavier. As if Knight only had one daughter? And who had said Xavier was going to be happy with the contract and sign it tonight, without even meeting with Denver and seeing their official offer?

“My understanding was we would look over the contract and see if we needed to make any adjustments,” Neil interjected.

“I’m really in no rush.” Knight spread his arms benevolently. “Whatever we’ve got to do to keep the best wide receiver in the nation on our team, we’ll do.” He gave Xavier a smile like a doting uncle.

Whatever they needed to do? Did that include manipulating him into dating Izzy? Was his agent right and Izzy and her father were playing him? Xavier’s neck muscles tightened. Izzy wouldn’t be part of something like that, would she? He pictured her giving a little girl a hug after she’d administered an immunization shot. Tears had been streaking down the girl’s face from the needle, and when Izzy had glanced at him, her eyes had been bright and full of sympathy. No, the Izzy he knew could never be part of a trick to keep him in Texas.

“What if the contract in Denver is more appealing?” Xavier shouldn’t have said it, but the challenge was out there before his agent could stop him.

The room went silent, and everyone’s smiles froze.

Knight recovered first. “Come now, you know Denver’s got nothing as appealing as us.”

Xavier’s jaw clenched, and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “You mean Izzy?”

Knight blinked at him and then repeated her name softly. “Izzy?”

“Did you set it all up?” Xavier balled up his fist. “Her buying me at that auction? Her being so perfect for me.”

Knight actually gave him a genuine smile. Then his face returned to its craggy lines again, and he splayed his hands. “I was talking about my boys, the Triple Threat, our dedicated coaches and fans, and this beautiful stadium.” He gestured out the picture window. “We want you here, X, and we’ll do anything we need to do to keep you here.”

Xavier simply stared at him. Anything. Knight would do anything to not break up the Triple Threat and to keep bringing in millions upon millions of dollars and win after win. Nobody could touch their team right now, and Xavier loved that, but he didn’t love the feelings he was getting from Knight, and the guy calling him X royally ticked him off.

“Why don’t we look over the numbers,” the lawyer said, gesturing toward the table where drinks and snacks sat next to a large stack of papers.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.” Xavier backed away.

Knight’s face blanched like somebody had shredded his trump card. “You don’t even want to know the offer?”

Xavier faced him head on and said exactly what had been begging to come out for the last five minutes. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure that Izzy is an angel and you are the devil. I don’t know what your play is, but you aren’t pushing me around, and I will look at the papers when I’m convinced that you didn’t offer up your daughter to try to keep me on your football field.”

He turned on his heel and strode from the office.

“I love my daughter and would never take advantage of her like that.” Knight’s voice rang behind him loud and clear.

Xavier spun and marched back in, ignoring his agent and the lawyer who were both looking completely unsure of their roles at the moment. “My mama taught me respect for my elders, and you’d better be grateful for that right about now. Don’t you ever claim to love your daughter. You’ve ripped her apart, and until I figure out exactly where Izzy and I stand and if she had any part in your scheming, I won’t play one more game for you.”

He whirled around again and didn’t stop this time, even when he heard raised voices behind him. He was in his Bugatti Veyron, speeding away from the field when his phone rang. His agent. He was surprised it took him that long. He debated not getting it, but he had ignored the guy for the past week, and the man had worked for the past four years to get to the point where they would get the offer that was probably sitting back on that table. Had Xavier really walked away from it? And was it because he was mad or because he was defending Izzy?

He pushed the button on his steering wheel. “Neil.”

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Hey. I’m screwing up all over the place this week apparently. Dating the owner’s daughter, telling the owner off. Shall we just accept Denver’s offer and be done with it?” He was being sarcastic, but saying the words felt like a punch in the gut. He didn’t want to leave Izzy. He didn’t want to leave Kade, Ace, or any of his teammates. He loved the coaches and the Titan fans. He loved his house and neighborhood. He loved his crazy buddies next door.

“Do you even want to hear the offer?” Neil sounded as giddy as a teenage girl asking her friend if she wanted to hear the fanfare her boyfriend had orchestrated to ask her to Prom.

Did he? Yeah. He hated himself for it, but he wanted to hear what Knight thought it was worth to keep him here.

“Sixty-two million for the next four years!” Neil was giddy, and he had a right to be. He’d get his three percent. But that wasn’t much compared to the money Xavier would get. He pulled off the freeway and into a gas station, leaning his head back against the cushioned seat.

“Say something.” Neil demanded.

“What do you think Denver will offer?”

“I’m going to leak this news to the right people.” Neil cackled happily. “If we can prove that you’re not already wrapped around Knight’s daughter’s finger, Denver will match or beat this. I’m sure of it. We can push them over sixty-five easily.”

Xavier exhaled slowly. The money was unreal, but what about Izzy? What about Marcos? Where should he go to help those who truly needed him? The offer had his hands shaking. “Why does Knight want me so badly?”

“Hey. I’ve made you into the most desirable player out there. Oh, and speaking of that, I’ve got a date for you with Alexandria Fortunata tonight. Drinks at Taylor’s Lounge.”

“No. Nuh-uh. I’m done with that crap. The offer is there. It’s more than either of us planned on. Almost as high as anyone else in my position. I’m done dating every girl to make up some image for you.” That was if he planned on staying in Dallas. He kept picturing Marcos’ dark eyes sparkling at him when he caught the football Xavier had tossed to him. What if those eyes went dull from drugs? He was only eight.

“Denver’s offer hasn’t come in yet, and they were ticked about you dating Knight’s daughter. One picture of you with Alexandria splayed around the internet and Denver will relax and Knight will realize you aren’t in his back pocket. He thought he was playing you having his daughter leech on you, but you played him tonight my friend, and you’re going to keep on playing him. We have a week to decide, and when word of this leaks and Denver sees you aren’t stuck with Knight’s daughter, they can decide if they want to step up to the plate for the most desirable wide receiver in the NFL.”

Xavier didn’t answer. It all sounded good. It was what he’d worked for the past four years and that was after coming off of two years of active service. Not playing or practicing had been tough and a lot of teams had seemingly forgotten about him and were focused on the players fresh out of college. But he’d fought to be the top in the game, to be so desirable he was offered the highest wage, an absolutely insane amount of money, and to have the choice of where he played. It needed to be the choice that was best for him and his opportunity to help the children, but Izzy was like an exotic island he dreamed of never having to leave.

“I can’t do that to Izzy.”

“Izzy!” Neil scoffed. “This has nothing to do with Isabella Knight.”

“I just can’t. She has trust issues.” Xavier shook his head. He was still worried if Izzy had been part of this deal with her father but no matter what he couldn’t hurt her. He cared for her far too much.

“You are going to meet Alexandria there in fifteen minutes or I’ll shout to the world how Izzy paid a million dollars to sleep with you and you walked away because you wanted to give Denver and Texas each a chance with contract negotiations. You’ll look like the saint and she’ll be ridiculed, especially when I reveal the proof that you moved on really quickly.” He barked a laugh. “I’ll doctor up some old pictures of you and Malia dancing that will make your little Izzy bawl. Nobody will be able to see Malia’s face, but they’ll be convinced that she has no clothes on.”

“You wouldn’t. Nobody would believe you.” Xavier wanted to hurl. He’d put nothing past Neil.

“I’m your stinking agent, everybody will believe me. I’ve got the pics and I’m really good with Photoshop.”

Would Izzy believe him or some slimy pictures? “Why, Neil?” Xavier cleared his throat. He couldn’t let this happen. “Why do this for a few million more?”

“I’m gonna get you an offer of sixty-eight million. More than anybody in your position. I’ll take my three percent and we’ll part ways and players will be lining up to sign with me.” He chuckled. “And you’ll never dare say anything.”

Xavier swallowed hard.

“Man up, X. A couple of innocent pictures with Alexandria or the sleazy shots with Malia and me making Izzy look like she tried to buy your love?”

Xavier’s stomach was pitching and he couldn’t stand the thought of Izzy’s face if she saw the doctored pictures he knew Neil was capable of, not to mention Neil making her look like she’d tried to buy him for completely different purposes than she had. Well, Xavier still hoped it was all for the hospital not for her father’s football team.

“And you’ll say nothing to anybody. I think Izzy will forgive you going for drinks with a friend, not so sure she’ll want anything to do with you after she’s been lambasted by the press and the pics with Malia come out. I know she doesn’t enjoy the limelight.”

Xavier clenched the gear shift in his hand, wishing it was Neil’s head. Why had he ever signed with this slime ball? But he had to protect Izzy. He wished he could say no one would believe Neil, but all of this coming from his agent would be pretty strong evidence against him and Izzy.

“Stop,” Xavier commanded in a low growl. “I’ll do the pics with Alexandria, but as soon as we sign a contract I want you out of my life.”

“Sure thing, as long as you promise not to breathe a word of this to Izzy. She’s in her father’s back pocket and they could ruin everything for us with Denver.”

“Whatever,” Xavier grunted.

“You shouldn’t be too far away from Taylor’s Lounge, and you only have to stay long enough to get a few pictures. Happy dance, baby.” Neil hung up.

Xavier sighed and dug at the ache between his eyes. He wanted to get home and eat Mama’s food and go to bed. He really wanted to go pick up Izzy, go eat Mama’s food, cuddle, and watch Izzy’s Dirty Dancing movie. He groaned. The innocence of this past week with Izzy was gone. He’d do what Neil said to protect Izzy. With any luck, he’d have some inspiration from above because even without the scuzzball move from Neil, he was more than confused about Izzy, about Knight, and about what he himself really wanted. Mama wanted him to be happy, but he felt like there was a noose tightening around his neck. If only he knew if someone besides Neil was waiting to kick the platform out from underneath his feet.