Thad rolled his eyes. They’d hardly talked all week. Gavin had been up to his eyeballs in training camp stuff, and Thad had been insanely busy too.
But he had a point. It hadn’t been the easiest week for him.
After that conversation in Graham’s car, it had been hell to see him everywhere around the practice arena.
They’d had a stilted and phenomenally awkward dinner at their favorite sports bar, which had been mercifully cut short when Erik Wyatt—one of the rookies—had gotten lost in Boston and had called Graham in a panic.
The look of relief on Graham’s face when he announced he had to head out and rescue the kid had told Thad it had been painful for both of them.
“Just focused on work,” he told his brother. Because while he’d like to be close enough to Gavin to whine about his feelings fora guy he couldn’t have, he didn’t feel comfortable talking about this particular situationorouting Graham.
Gavin shot him a skeptical look as he buttoned his crisp white shirt. “This doesn’t feel like a work thing.”
How would you know?Thad thought meanly, then regretted it.
Gavin was trying. He was trying to bridge the gap that still existed between them, and Thad didn’t want to completely shut him down.
He decided to keep it vague. “There’s … someone I’m kinda interested in but it’s never gonna happen.”
“Iknewit!” Gavin looked annoyingly smug about being right.
Thad was tempted to facewash him. Instead, he shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ll get over it.”
“No, don’t act like that. You can talk to me! What’s going on?”
Thad shrugged again, carrying his damp towels over to the bin. “Nothing. Seriously.”
“Oh, c’mon. You’ve gotta give me something! Is this person male or female? Non-binary? Genderqueer?”
Thad cracked a grin. “Male.”
“Nice. Nice. Okay, so what’s he like?” Gavin was practically grinning from ear to ear now.
Had he always been this obnoxious?
“Unavailable,” Thad said sourly, his mood plummeting at the reminder ofMadison. She was probably perfectly great. Shewasgorgeous in the pretty, white, blonde, rich girl way that Thad always associated with WAGs and influencers.
The happy expression slipped from Gavin’s face. “Shit. He’s married?”
“No,” Thad said shortly. “I don’t get involved with married people. Thanks for assuming the worst.”
Gavin winced. “Sorry.”
Thad waved it off. “He’s not married. He has a girlfriend though. It’s … it’s not going to happen, okay? We both know it can’t work out. It’s fine. I’ll get over it. I’m in a little bit of a funk right now. That’s all.”
“Well, maybe they’ll break up and he’ll realize you’re a great catch.”
Thad snorted. “Yeah, man, they’re really beating down the door for a forty-something ex-con with a crummy apartment and a car that’s falling apart.”
Gavin frowned. “You’re more than that. You’re?—”
“Skip the fucking pep talk,” Thad said with a groan. “I’ll come to you if I need one, I promise, but I don’t want it right now.”
“Do you need a new car because?—”
“You’re not fucking buying me a car,” Thad shot back.
The dude never knew when to fucking quit.
