“Of course I have,” he answered honestly.
* * *
Fletcher took another sip of his water, and his mind wandered back to that night on the plane. He and Taylor hadn’t spoken much since the other night when he got Taylor off in the back row of a fucking airplane like they were two ravaged beings. He couldn’t even try and blame it on Taylor because Fletcher was the one in the driver’s seat. Sure, Taylor was the one who had the balls to finally kiss him after what had been months of unacknowledged sexual tension between the two of them. But Fletcher was the one who tested the limit by reaching down to feel his best friend’s cock.
It was reckless. So reckless. There was so much riding on the line for the both of them. They had their careers and reputations to think about.
But the moment he had even the slightest taste of Taylor, he went feral. If it had just been the two of them on that plane then they probably would’ve had to make an emergency landing from how hard he wanted to crawl on top of Taylor’s lap and ride the fuck out of him.
They promised to forget. That was their rule. It had been their rule since that night in Jacksonville where Taylor first dared to cross the line. Fletcher kept thinking about it like he was picking at a scab.
“Compa,” Sánchez called out as he slapped a hand on Fletcher’s shoulder. “We are going to find you a girl, okay? Get rid of that look on your face. I hate it.” He gestured towards him.
“What look?” Fletcher’s eyes squinted. Had he really looked that upset? He tried to remind himself that his friends were all under the impression that he had just had his heart broken by Maude. He needed to keep up with appearances.
* * *
The night before they flew out to Boston, Fletcher and Maude were supposed to go and get dinner at some new restaurant that had recently opened. But then he got a call from his dad that he made the horrible mistake of picking up. His dad had called a few times since he last saw him and left him on the sidewalk in Downtown Jacksonville. But Fletcher had let all of them go to voicemail. He didn’t know what possessed him to finally answer, but he regretted it instantly.
“What do you want?” He immediately barked out.
“Your mother and I would like confirmation that you will be here for the camps this summer,” he asked plainly.
“Yeah. Fine. Is that all?”
He heard his dad sigh, which made atinypart of him think that maybe his dad did care about him even a little bit. That he was going to apologize for threatening to upend his entire life and find some way to bring him back to Jacksonville. But then he asked something Fletcher wasn’t prepared to be asked at all.
“Have you asked Piers if he’s still interested? The guys and I think he’d be a valuable asset. We’d love to have him be associated with the Little Manatees Foundation.”
Fletcher rolled his eyes and scoffed loud enough for his dad to hear his perturbation through the call. Of course he was asking about Taylor.Of coursehis dad would develop some weird little man crush on his best friend. It reminded him exactly why he was so eager to leave Florida in the first place.
Taylor was the best. Fletcher wasn’t. It was as simple as that. Why bother with Fletcher when he could capitalize on Taylor’s rise to the top despite facing adversity? His dad was willing to use Taylor’s image to boost his own fragile ego.
“No, Dad. I didn’t think to ask him.”
“Do me a favor. Give him my number and tell him to give me a call. I’d very much like to speak with him about a few things. You should be blessed to be able to play with a kid like him, you know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean exactly?” Fletcher asked accusingly.
“Your boy’s a wunderkind, son. Father dead and a mother in prison, somehow a first round draft pick. The media would eat it right up if they knew Seattle’s star rook had such a tragic backstory.”
Fletcher didn’t know Taylor’s mom was in prison. How didhis dad find that out? More importantly, why was he even bringing it up to Fletcher in the first place?
“Did you have him looked into?” he asked angrily.
“Like I said, the kid would be a great addition to the foundation. A humble rook who climbed his way to the top would be great if he associated himself with the foundation.”
Fletcher’s face flushed with heat as anger coursed through his veins. “You’re deluded if you think you can use Taylor to get under my skin. I’ve already told you I’m not playing for the Manatees again. You’ve obviously hit a brick wall trying to have my contract broken. I told you, it’s ironclad. You have no say in who I play for.”
His dad scoffed coldly through the phone.
“I didn’t understand you andTaylorwere so close. I should’ve suspected as much since you brought him to dinner. I really did think you invited him as a favor to me. But clearly he’s the oneyou’re giving favors to,” his father accused, sounding disgusted at the thought of it. “I will not sit by and let you tarnish our family’s reputation because you can’t control yourself. I have worked too hard—your grandfather has worked too hard for it. Just because you were traded to Seattle doesn’t mean you no longer have a responsibility to this family. To God. I will not let my son live as some wild—”
Fletcher lost any sense of restraint. He didn’t let his dad finish his sentence. “Whatever you think you’re accusing me of is a baseless fucking accusation. Leave his name out your fucking mouth,” he spat. “And as for you and me? Go fuck yourself, Dad. Your empty threats mean nothing. You don’t fucking scare me. Not anymore.”
Fletcher hung up and slammed his phone hard on the counter. He shouted “fuck,” so loudly the neighbors probablyheard him.
Fletcher needed to calm down. He picked his phone and scrolled through his favorites list. He was way too upset. He needed to call…
