Free Forward Passes (Seattle Lumberjacks) by Jami Davenport Page B

Smug with satisfaction, Tyler did another survey of the room. Good, all was as it should be. He settled back and focused his energy on Lavender fantasies.
    Tyler’s cell vibrated. He frowned, irritated at being interrupted and checked out the caller id, his cousin and best buddy Derek Ramsey. This better be good. He pressed the answer button. “What’s up, asshole?”
    “I could say the same of you.”
    “I’m fine. What the fu—fudge are you harassing me for?” Tyler shot a quick glance in Lavender’s direction. She stood too far away to catch his almost slip.
    Derek cleared his throat, followed by silence on the line. Not a good sign. Tyler’s instincts went on red alert. He drummed his fingers on the counter. His cousin remained silent.
    Tyler hated waiting. “Aw, shit. Put on your big boy pants and spit it out. Or did Rachel burn them all?”
    Derek made an odd noise then finally spoke. “I thought you’d rather hear this from me than from the media.”
    Tyler sucked in a deep breath and let it out. He shoved his fingers through his unruly hair. He needed to get it cut, but very likely that was the least of his problems. “Oh, crap, what now?”
    “There’s no easy way to say this, buddy. Brace yourself.” He heard Derek inhale then exhale.
    Tyler’s mind raced through a hundred possibilities. Somehow they did charge him with a DUI. Maybe some woman came forward and insisted he fathered her kid. Or he’d been cut from the team. Or his sisters ran off to South America with what was left of his money. He shouldn’t have ignored his agent’s many calls. “Dang it. Tell me. What is it?”
    “The Jacks signed Zach Murphy to a one-year contract.”
    Tyler went still inside, rendered completely speechless. He bit the side of his mouth just to make sure he hadn’t died from shock. The taste of his blood mingled with disbelief. “Zach Murphy? Are you frigging kidding me?” Across the counter, Lavender raised a brow. He raised a brow right back at her.
    “Yeah. I guess Zach took a big pay cut to play for us. He wants to go out with a bang his last year in the league. The poor bastard’s played with piece of crap teams his entire pro career. He wants a ring.”
    Tyler clenched his jaw and ground his teeth together. He wanted to hit something. How could the Lumberjacks do this to him?
    He dropped a five in the jar before opening his mouth. He knew this wasn’t going to be good. Even if he couldn’t use the “F” word, he had others. “Damn it. Everyone knows I can’t stand that idiot dickwad, and he feels the same. The asshole is a dirty player. Mother effing dirty. He’s tried to take me out more than once.”
    “Yeah, and he’s laid you flat on your back more than any other linebacker in the league. The guy’s good.” His fuckhead cousin almost sounded amused, which didn’t improve Tyler’s temper one bit.
    “He’s old, washed up. There isn’t room on the team for both of us.”
    “Tell that to the Jacks. If you haven’t noticed, you didn’t get a vote. This is your wakeup call, dumbshit. I’m not the only teammate who noticed your attitude this past season, or should I say lack of?”
    Tyler tightened his grip on the cell phone, wanting to crush the life out of this electronic bearer of fucking bad news. He thought he’d been so clever, fooled them all, but his teammates and coaches had seen through his not-so-incredible acting job.
    “HughJack loves Murphy’s fire. Says the team could use a little of it these days.”
    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Like he didn’t know? Maybe they’d disrespected him with this obvious vote of no confidence, but he was also guilty as charged.
    “They’re doubting your team leadership.”
    His cousin’s words cut right to the heart of the matter.
    Tyler jabbed the End button on the phone, cutting off his cousin. Without even a backward glance, he stomped out of the bar into the dark, rainy evening, which matched his mood just