whether they were faithful to them or not was one thing, but nearly every athlete in any of the leagues showed up to these award ceremonies with their spouses on their arms.  while there was a select few women travis had the pleasure of sharing his body with, he was largely a single man.  the interactions he had with these women were strategically balanced to be casual yet intimate, fulfilling and a tad bit transactional. then there was lauryn.  he very rarely admitted it, but she was special to him.  lauryn was breathtakingly gorgeous, incredibly smart, never stressed him out about anything, and had an affinity for home goods.  maybe he was falling for her, but that did not stop him from asking her to be his date.  being used to this casual thing by now, travis was fairly certain he could ignore any feelings he might have had for her.

Dad... it was an odd concept for the woman to wrap her mind around, the idea that the man that had raised her wasn’t actually her birth father. In fact it had taken weeks on end before she finally came to terms with it, after countless hours of research on adoption and other people who had cases just like this. Granted, that had meant hours on end spent at the library going through various books and a few agonizing hours staring at a computer screen to read other people’s stories ... but it had led her right to this moment right here and now. 

bobbie knew jamal always carried a little more weight than he should have to. sometimes the measure of a person’s light was a good indicator of the darkness they’d had to live through. jamal shone like a beacon: that meant something, it had to. he’d opened up about his mom taking off once they’d been dating for a while. it made bobbie angry, though she held it back, knowing that it wouldn’t do anyone a lick of good. she just couldn’t imagine leaving her own child behind like that. but her father had always told her not to judge someone until she’d walked a mile in their shoes. she did her best to abide by that.

she tried to make sure jamal knew how loved he was, not just by her but by her daughter, her family, his own–– even though she knew that he already knew. it killed her to see him hurting–– he was such a kind soul, one of the best she’d ever met. she wondered if simone ever regretted leaving. surely she would if she could see her kids now.

it was dark when bobbie woke up–– unusual for her. she’d rolled over in her sleep so that she was facing away from jamal, but he was stirring next to her, so she sat up, peering down at him.

“...baby?” his eyes were screwed shut, body shifting restlessly, and his lips moved though she couldn’t make out any sound clear enough to understand. she knew waking someone up during a nightmare could be startling, but she figured that was always better than letting them suffer through it. when she leaned in closer, one arm braced on the side of him furthest from her, she could see he was distressed. “jamal,” she murmured soothingly, “baby, hey... wake up. open your eyes, it’s okay...”

Left to his own devices, Saul is an acerbic kind of sharp. Wolves sense challenge in his blunt tone, his maybe-intentional, maybe-not sneers and remarks, and they get all riled up, bringing no small amount of fun for him and no small amount of trouble for Domingo. In Denver, he’s determined to play nice, however. As nice as he can, if only so the alpha stops being on his ass so much. 

“ you look good, mon ami. how’ve you been? last ah saw you, you were holdin’ a sign an’ chantin’ ya heart out. “ slowly, remy pulls his hands from his pocket and he opens his arms up to olayemi, offering her a hug and a bit of affection. his charming tongue is turned down but his genuine elation to see her was at an al time high.

the cajun could use a pick me up and she was definitely a pick me up for his mood, which has been down as of late. 

but when she finds out jamal is into illegal street racing