“Right.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
“Of course. Do you know your way from here? I got an elbow I need to pop back in for a defensive player. I’m assuming you’re going to see someone on the offensive team?”
I nodded. “They’d be down this hall on the right?”
“Yup.” Kyle took a left and walked backward for a minute to tell me, “Text me if you get lost. I’ll help you find your way out of here if it comes to it.”
“Thanks.”
I gave him one last wave before starting back to the hall. I’d only been walking a few seconds before running into David. His short, brown hair stuck to his forehead from sweat. He’d already removed his padding. He stood shirtless with his football bottoms still on. His back was pressed against the wall. There was one nail in his mouth that he chewed on while looking down at his phone.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“What?” He looked up, confused only for a moment. “Oh, you.”
I didn’t have time for his sullen responses to my presence. “Where’s Dakota?”
“Inside.” He jerked his chin towards a half-closed door. Before I could start toward it, he added, “You know about him? About what happened between him and Bill last year?”
“Only parts of it,” I said.
David nodded, not looking too pleased with my response.
“What?” I asked, with a little fire behind my voice. I was tired of being on the outside. “Is there something else I should know?”
“He’ll tell you if he wants.” David’s jaw tightened. “Don’t force him, okay? This is hard enough as it is.”
“Of course I wouldn’t force him,” I said in a clipped tone.
David raised a brow at my response. “One more thing. Has he told you anything about me?”
“Why would he tell me about you?”
He pushed off the wall then, ready to leave in the opposite direction. “That’s a no. I figured. I wanted to be sure.”
I opened my mouth, ready to call him back for an explanation. Except did I care that much? Not now. Not when my heart pulled me towards Dakota.
I let David disappear down the hall. His response would be something to seek another time. The door swung open when I neared it. Kevin walked out not even casting a glance in my direction. He looked heated with fingers tightly gripping his helmet. He still wore his padding which most likely meant he was still allowed to play.
When I slipped inside, I spotted Dakota laying on a bench in the furthest corner of the room. One of the assistant coaches said something to him before pushing away. He headed out of the room too, looking as determined as Kevin was to get back to the game.
“Dakota?”
My voice startled him. Dakota pulled his hand away from his forehead in an instant and sat up on the bench. I lingered a few feet away, unsure if I should move closer.
He’d stripped. Bare chest and white bottoms like David. There was purple bruising on his ribs and dried blood on his knuckles. He stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read. His eyes scanned my face as if looking for something he could make sense of too.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice harder than usual.
I blinked, wanting to take a step back but moved forward instead. “I thought you might need someone right now.”
He let out a laugh, no humor in the sound. “Right.”
“Dakota.” I closed the remaining space between us and kneeled in front of him. “What’s happening?”
“Did you read the articles? Hear what they’re saying?” He rubbed the side of his face as he spoke.
“Yeah, some of them. The stories are all over the place, though.”
