I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 68: Ellie

"Works for me." My chest lifted slightly, then dropped as I sighed. "But I'd hate for you to come up here for for an hour or so, Mr. Reynolds."

At least, it'd better not be more than an hour.

He chuckled quietly. "You think Harper hasn't been looking for an excuse to come see you?"

"It'd be in two weeks, right?" I asked Logan.

"Yeah, works for me if you're there, Mr. Reynolds." Logan nodded, his eyes fixed on me as he answered, "I'm used to the attention but want to make things as easy as possible for Ellie."

"Understandable," Mr. Reynolds' answer struck a small pain of guilt in my stomach. "It's only a four hour flight, I can make the arrangements."

"Are you sure?" I knew he'd helped our family pro-bono because of his closeness with my parents but this sounded like a gigantic inconvenience for Mr. Reynolds.

"Trust me, a particular someone has been lamenting how much I do nothing but work, so maybe a weekend getaway trip up the Pacific Northwest will give that someone a little perspective."

"Selfishly, I'd love to see Harper again," I admitted with a smile.

"I imagine the feeling's mutual." Mr. Reynolds chuckled quietly, before his tone turned serious again. "Defining your relationship on your own terms is one way to handle the attention but you don't have to answer particular questions. Logan you're under the same NDA restrictions with Ryder but you can deflect or refrain from answering anything that's even remotely incriminating. Probably best if Jake's on the same page too, although if it's in two weeks for the interview to air in three, they'll probably interview Jake down in LA."

"Oh..." My chest lifted slightly, then dropped as I sighed and absorbed all that information the best I could. "Alright, we'll make sure Jake's on board. Thanks Mr. Reynolds."

"While I have you on the phone, speaking of Ryder..." His voice trailed off and he coughed again. "Sorry, mild cold. Ryder's case is up for trial again, set in about six weeks from now."

"I'm sorry," Logan blurted out suddenly with the first sign of tension in his face during this whole conversation. I also noticed his other hand on his farthest knee was clenched into a white-knuckled fist. "How is he not in jail?"

"I'm not allowed to be involved but I pay attention for your sake, make sure they hold up their end of the NDA," Harper's Dad reminded us. "Which reminds me, I should notify the Stevens of the interview and assure them their son won't be mentioned."

"So..." Logan's prompting now had me curious. "He hasn't had a trial yet?"

"No. Every time his case is put on the docket, there's a delay. Either an extension or delay, one of the witnesses I think the Stevens are working overtime on putting this off as long as possible, give themselves more time to work over the county's witnesses. I can't imagine that finding an unbiased jury pool selection has been an easy process either."

"Great," Logan grumbled. I slid my eyes closed because this topic had now churned my stomach with enough discomfort that I felt nauseous.

As if he sensed my discomfort, Mr. Reynolds offered, "I'm only telling you this because once Ryder finally does face a courtroom, there's a possibility you'll get subpoenaed, Eleanor."

Like tiny needles had pricked into my body, his words chilled from my skin all the way deep into my bones.

What? How could that happen?

"Me? How does -"

"I'll help you cross that bridge when it comes," he promised. "Just don't want you to be surprised if you get something in the mail, which would be mandatory for you to attend in person. The Attorney General's Office is calling in any and every one that could be related and I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't the only girl out there with an NDA from the Stevens."