Allowing my heart to settle in my chest, I edged back in the armchair, my cell still in hand. “Codependency isn’t something I’d usually support people bragging about.”
The smile he gave was so smug he looked all levels of hot. “You know better than most I’m all about crossing lines.” He waggled his brows, and I huffed out a laugh. Of course I knew that. It was one of the things that endeared him to me while driving me insane.
“Okay, whose voice messages shall we listen to first?” He glanced down at his cell and clicked a few buttons. “It says I have fifteen.”
I didn’t bother to check mine since he already had his open. “Go ahead.” I gestured toward his phone.
“Here goes.”
“Give me a call when you can. We’ve received your medical details. I’ve spoken to Coach Brentworth and have calmed things down there. We have time before training, so no one’s worried at the moment. Rest up.”
I recognized Greg’s voice easily. He’d been Jayden’s agent for years now.
“Jayden. A heads-up would have been good, man. Call me ASAP.”
There were three more messages like that from Greg, and Monty, our team’s PR guy.
“Jayden, it’s your momma. You need to get your hiney on the phone or get Gale to call me if you’re busy sleeping and recovering, but baby—” A distinctive sniff followed, and Jayden’s mom’s voice filled with emotion. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell me, but I’m so proud of you, baby. Your dad and I love you. We’re so happy for you both. I’ve already spoken to your aunt Sammi, and we think a spring wedding would be perfect. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“Fuck.” Jayden’s gaze slammed into mine, and we both winced. “I expected it, but shit, when she knows the truth, she’s going to chase me around the damn house in that chair of hers with a broom and tan my hide.”
“Seriously, man, one of you needs to call me. It’s about your endorsement with Axle. They’ve pulled out of your renewal contract you were meant to sign off next week. I’ve already scoured the contract, and there’s fuck all we can do about it. We both can guess why that is, which they’d never admit, of course. Call me.”
Surprise at hearing the voicemail from Greg zipped through me. That surprise was quickly replaced with anger, especially at seeing the wide-eyed shock on Jayden’s face.
“The motherfuckers,” he spat. I clenched my jaw, my back molars grinding. “I should have pulled out myself or never signed up with the bastards in the first place.” We made eye contact. “And don’t start with an I told you so.”
I raised my hands. “Hey, there’s no point in any of that. You signed because the brand made sense so you could support Bounce Your Balls charity.” At the time, Jayden had hemmed and hawed about the sponsorship. The company’s ads tended to be on the cusp of cringeworthy but not quite pushing over the edge. The final decision was their over-the-top masculine ads targeting men while also encouraging them to check their balls. Axle had agreed to 5 percent of sales going toward a testicular cancer charity as part of the sponsorship deal. Jayden donated every single cent of his payment to the same charity. “Fuck, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry, Jay.”
“Don’t.” He shook his head, eyes blazing. “This is all on them, and apparently being gay or bi or whatever isn’t masculine enough for their bullshit brand.”
“Of which you’re neither,” I said, trying to be reasonable despite the growing frustration in my gut.
“That’s beside the point. If I was bi, so fucking what. I know the brand is about being a babe magnet. Being bi wouldn’t change that.”
I kept my mouth shut, not sure anything I could say would help this conversation at all. The whole body deodorizer range targeted uber masculine men who played the field… and with their balls. Jayden had supported that brand because of the charity deal he’d struck.
“I know they were a bit on the cusp of sexist,” he admitted. There was no argument from me, but his heart had absolutely been in the right place. It always was. “But who do the assholes think they are?” He shook his head. “And fuck, the charity money.”
The contract was worth five million, so it wasn’t exactly pocket change, especially to the charity.
“Just talk it out with Greg. See what he has to say.”
“I’ll fucking sue the bastards for prejudice.” Pink-cheeked and eyes still blazing, he looked so fucking sexy like this. Full of passion and indignation.
“But our being engaged isn’t true, and you’re not bi or gay.” The obvious needed to be said, but Jayden wasn't always the most rational when he got like this, full of indignation.
“I don’t give a shit. They don’t know that. And that’s not the point.”
While I wholeheartedly agreed, I wasn’t sure that there'd be anything to pursue based on the short message Greg had left.
“You want to listen to the rest of the messages?” I asked, my tone calm, trying to cut through some tension. Anger wouldn’t be doing his head any good. He was meant to be relaxing.
“I suppose.” The tone of his voice had changed. He sounded almost forlorn, which didn’t sit right.
“How about we listen to one more and take a break?” A glance at the time told me it was not long past six in the evening. After the days we’d had, we deserved a break, and all of this could easily wait till our morning. It was still early in the States, so we wouldn’t be making any calls until we woke anyway.
Once again, he hit play on the next message. When I heard Pearce’s voice, one of the younger players on our Eagles team, I angled my head, curious about what he’d say.
