The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel(62)

We stayed in bed for a little while longer. I pushed whatever immature jealousy I had aside.

“Tell me about her.”

“Marlene? She’s tough as nails and soft at the same time. She did nice things for people, but never wanted anyone to know she did them.”

“My father used to say altruism was spelled wrong, it was spelled a-n-o-n-y-m-o-u-s.”

“That’s how Marlene lived. When Willow was on one of her binges, she used to frequent this squatters’ den in Bushwick. It was a real hellhole—no heat or running water—yet a handful of addicts actually called it home. One snowy January, Marlene insisted on coming with me to look for Willow. When we went inside, the place was freezing. Most of the people who were passed out had newspapers piled on top of them for warmth. We took Willow home, and a few days later I was back there to drag her ass out again. Only I went without telling Marlene the second time. When I walked inside, everyone had a coat on—they were all wearing Marlene’s coats. She had went back the next day without telling me and gave away all her coats.”

“Wow. She sounds like a beautiful person.”

“She is. It killed her to go to those places, too. She had to watch her granddaughter follow in her daughter’s footsteps. I’m glad she got to see Willow sober for a few weeks before this happened.”

“I am, too.”

We talked about Marlene until I was going to be late for work. “I need to wash up and get to the office.”

“Take a shower with me.”

“I’m already running late, and you wanted to get to the hospital when visiting hours started. Showering together is definitely not a good idea.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I’m just going to throw my hair up and jump in the shower to wash off. I’ll use the guest bathroom.”

Brody pouted. “I like you with my scent all over you.”

I took a quick shower and was just about to step out when something shiny near the drain caught my eye. At first, I thought it was a coin, but when I bent over to pick it up, I realized it was a necklace caught around the grate.

I untangled it, and when I lifted it, a pendant fell to the floor. A pendant in the shape of the letter W.

I was already dressed when Brody got out of the shower in the master bath. “You’re done quickly.” He snickered. “And that wasn’t the first time today.”

I was inwardly freaking out but somehow managed to deliver my words calmly. Holding out my palm, I offered the necklace. “This was in the shower. It almost washed down, but the clasp was caught on the drain cover.”

He furrowed his brow and picked the necklace up, the W dangling between us. Symbolic. His eyes closed for a moment and then rose to look at me.

“It must be Willow’s.”

I held his stare but said nothing.

“She showered here yesterday. She must have dropped it.”

“She was here?”

“Yes. But by herself. I came home and took a shower, then when I went back to the hospital, I gave her my key and told her to use my place to shower. She lives all the way uptown, and we wanted to be there when the doctors came around.”

I nodded. Then I walked to my purse and fished out my phone, checking it quickly for no reason other than that I needed to focus on something else. Brody just stood there and watched me. When I put on my coat and remained quiet, he spoke again.

“Are you upset with me for doing that?”

“Should I be?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “I really didn’t think about it. It just seemed like the right thing to do. But now that we’re standing here, I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t.”

“How would you feel if I let Michael Langley shower at my house?”

Brody’s jaw clenched.

“And didn’t mention it to you.”

“Point taken.”

“I have to get to work.”

Brody reached out and stopped me from passing, pulling me in close for a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in my ear. “Forgive me. I should have thought about it more than I did. I don’t want you mad at me.”

I pulled my head back to look him in the eyes. “Nothing else happened? She was here alone, showering?”

“Nothing. I swear.”

I thought about it for a minute. “Okay.”

He blew out a long breath of air. “Thank God. I don’t think I could handle you being mad at me today.”

I forced a smile, remembering what the last few days had been like for him. With or without Willow in the picture, the man loved Marlene. It couldn’t be easy. “I’m not mad. Text me from the hospital. Let me know what the doctors say this morning.”

“Thanks, babe.”

In truth, I wasn’t lying. I really wasn’t mad. Nervous, jealous, scared—maybe. Strangely, I was dating a former player who’d never tried to hide that relationships weren’t his forte, yet I believed him when he said nothing else had happened. What worried me was that he was opening his heart to Willow again, more than his home.

Stepping out of the elevator, I bumped straight into a man who was waiting to enter, never even seeing him until my foot was on top of his. He fumbled before catching the coffee he was holding, but not before a splash of it hit his crisp white dress shirt. I apologized profusely and attempted to make it the rest of the way out of the lobby unscathed. I almost made it, too. Until my collision with the glass turnstile exit—my face actually smacked into the bright yellow Out of Order sign with the big arrow pointing to another door. That accident wasn’t my fault—I was paying attention as I walked. The problem was that my attention was on the beautiful woman sitting in the lobby, staring at me—and not on the electric door that wasn’t working.