In fact, during one of their drink breaks, Grant spotted Leo glued to the coach’s side as the coach was screaming obscenities at one of the wide receivers. Leo was doing his best to suppress a grin.

Yeah, the kid was doing fine.

So was the team. Rookies looked acceptable; the few guys they’d signed during free agency were a good fit. They’d shored up holes in the defense, and JP McClellan was back on the offensive line after an injury last season. Grant felt confident in his team this year.

Grant had been studying the playbook when Cole Riley came over.

“How’s it going, Cassidy?” Cole asked.

“It’s going so great that I think you’re going to have a good year, because I’m going to be throwing to you a lot.”

Cole grinned. “Of course you are, man. Because I’m a superstar wide receiver. And you’re the superstar QB.”

Grant laughed. “Yeah.”

“Isn’t that Katrina Korsova’s brother? The one you introduced me to the other day?” Cole asked, tilting his head toward the sidelines.

“Yeah. He’s interested in playing football, so I brought him along with me today to give him some insight.”

“Cool. So you’re dating Katrina? Since when?”

“Since, I guess that shoot I did with her in Barbados.”

Cole nodded. “She’s hot.”

“She’s smart and funny and beautiful. A lot more than just hot.”

Cole held up his hands. “Hey, you don’t have to convince me. I married smart and funny and beautiful.”

Grant laughed. “How is Savannah?”

“She’s great. She’s in Los Angeles right now, working on an image rehab for a basketball player.”

Grant slapped Cole on the back. “You got lucky getting her to marry you, since you’re such an asshole.”

“Don’t I know it.”

He and Cole met up with the other receivers and quarterbacks to go over a few plays with the coaches, then it was back to practice. The drills were going well, and they had a game plan for this weekend.

When practice ended, he fetched Leo from the coach.

“How did it go?” he asked as they left the locker room and headed for the parking lot.

“It was fantastic,” Leo said. “I mean, I mostly stayed out of the way and watched, but Coach asked me some questions. And when he found out I haven’t played football yet, but that’s what I want to do—like really wanna do—he gave me some tips on how to bulk up, and what I should be doing to prep for the upcoming football season. And he said if I really wanted to make the team, I should start working out at least four days a week and keep running.”

Grant smiled. Coach had given Leo sound advice. He wasn’t blowing smoke up Leo’s ass by saying it. “That’s great.”

“Yeah. And then he made me run drills with the receivers. Did you see that?”

He had, but he figured Leo would want to tell him all about it. “Is that right? How did that go?”

“They smoked me, of course. But Coach said I was fast.” Leo turned and started jogging backward. “Can you believe that? He said I was lightning fast. That’s good, right?”

“That’s really good. He thinks you have potential.”

Leo was beaming. Grant was glad he’d invited him along today. The kid needed a lot of big boosts in his self-esteem, especially as it related to football. He really wanted Leo believing in himself, that he could do it.

Today helped.

“So, you like baseball, too, right?” Grant asked Leo after they’d pulled out onto the highway.

“Sure.”

“My brother, Tucker, plays for the Rivers.”

Leo nodded. “I know. He pitches.”

“Yeah. I thought we might catch a game tonight, since the Rivers are finishing up a home series.”

“No shit. I mean, yeah, I’d love to go. Kat doesn’t really follow baseball. You think she’ll let us?”

“I already talked to her about it. She said it sounded like fun.”

Leo shook his head. “You’re a good influence on her. At least sports-wise. Before you, she would have never gone to a baseball game.”

Grant laughed. “Good to know.”

They headed back home. The girls weren’t back yet, so Leo went up to his room to take a shower and change clothes. Grant made a few calls and went through his mail. He had given Katrina the code for his garage door and keys to one of his cars, which she was a little unsure about, but he’d told her it had GPS, so she could plug in addresses, and she and Anya could go wherever they wanted.