Yet it was Ewen who stepped up.
“What did you say?” he said.
They were both so close that their chests were touching.
“You heard me.”
“That’s typical of you. Blame everyone else because you can’t find a decent spot. You stand there expecting the rest of the team to service you so you can tap the ball in. Get fucking real.”
Tito shoved him. “Fuck off, old man.”
Ewen returned the favour.
Then all hell broke loose. They became a tangle of limbs as they grappled with each other.
Adam threw himself in between them while Noah tried to drag Tito away.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Javier and Steven came in.
“What the hell is going on?” Javier shouted.
Steven hauled Ewen off Tito.
“I’m fucking sick of his antics,” Ewen raged. “He’s throwing his toys out of the pram because Farman passed to me.”
Javier glared at a sullen Tito. “Is this true?”
He could only nod.
“I’m done with this,” Javier said. “From now on if one of you plays, the other is on the bench. Maybe that will teach you we are a team. Everyone is equal.”
Tito wrestled himself free from Noah’s clutches and stormed into the showers. Noah’s heart was racing. They’d got through to the quarter finals. They should be celebrating, not fighting.
The coach trip home was going to be fun. Ewen looked furious.
Noah went back to his spot and sat next to Edi.
“Fuck,” he said. “That was a lot.”
Edi squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t get stressed. It wasn’t your fault. Those two have been building up to this since Lopes first walked through the door.”
“I hate drama. Why can’t we all work together?”
“You know some people don’t work like that.”
Noah nodded. Divas on the pitch were not a new occurrence. Still, it frustrated Noah.
“Did you get to speak to Carmine?”
“Yeah. His father is really sick. He couldn’t talk.”
“Shit. Sorry to hear that. What are you going to do?”
That was the big question.
“Not much I can do, is there?” he replied. “Carmine needs to be with his family now. I just hope I haven’t ruined things completely.”
Everything was going wrong.
