Jett’s glance at Gray was sharp before he looked at me. “You slept with her?”
“No. Ava’s bed is tiny, hers is longer, so I took hers.”
“You kicked her out of herownbed?” Gray asked me with an incredulous look, his eyes widening in surprise.
“I’m six-four, she isn’t.” I drank more of my smoothie. “This is still disgusting.”
“Stop whining.” Jett punched my shoulder as we headed to the side of the stadium, to the players’ entrance. “I don’t have two hours in me this morning for this,” he lamented as he pulled the door open.
“Are you training today?” I asked Gray as I gestured to his hand that was still strapped.
“Yeah, got to keep all of you honest,” he replied with a smirk.
“Honest? You? That’s new,” I muttered as I finished my drink.
“Stop it,” Jett warned as he looked over his shoulder at me with a scowl. “Not today. Not here.”
“I said nothing,” I lied as I walked past them both. Gray’s good hand shot out and caught my arm, stopping me. “What?”
“We’ll deal with our issue soon.” He held his splint up to show me his hand. “Until then, play the fucking game.”
“All I do is play thefuckinggame. Whether on the field or off it,Iknow where my loyalties lie,cousin.”
Gray stepped into my space, not the slightest bit bothered that he was three inches shorter. “Get over it and do it soon. This is bigger than your ego . . . though Christ knows that’s saying something.”
Turning to Jett, I asked, “How long before the splint comes off?”
“Two, maybe three weeks.”
Grunting my disapproval at the wait, I carried on to the locker room. I already knew Gray and I were going to come to blows, but even though he had offered me the punch, I wanted to hit him when he could defend himself. Hitting a man with a splint was a coward’s thing to do. I couldn’t help but grin when I remembered Gray had hit Onyx with the splint, but in hisdefense, and I would grudgingly give him that, he had been so enraged he forgot his hand was broken.
I may be three inches taller than Gray, but he had three times the amount of anger. Still, I was looking forward to beating the shit out of him anyway.
Coach was already screaming orders when we entered the locker room, and the three of us collectively held our breaths, hoping he wouldn’t notice we were here. Eyeing our locker area, we moved stealthily toward it as one, while also keeping an eye on the coach. Once I was in front of my own area, I started pulling off my hoodie, remorseful that I hadn’t had a morning shower. Or an evening shower. I liked to be clean. At the moment, I felt dirty.
Cranking my neck, I reached for my jersey with one hand, while I undid my belt with the other.
“Why are you three late?” Coach asked from behind, and I turned to look at him, noticing that Jett was still getting dressed and Gray was on the bench, his head back against the wooden post, his eyes closed.
“We’re not late, Coach,” Gray said without opening his eyes. He pointed toward the area of the locker room that held the clock. “We’re still three minutes early.”
With a quick glance, I saw that he was right. Smug bastard.
“The captain should be here before the rest of the team,” Coach retorted sharply. “Some of you live together, so why weren’t you allhere. . . together?”
“Sorry, Coach,” Jett mumbled as he pulled his shorts up at the same time as slipping his feet into his cleats. “I’m ready. What’s the drills for today?”
“Laps.” Coach looked at Gray, who still had his eyes closed. “Even you can run laps, twenty-two, let’s move it.”
With a flick of his finger behind Coach’s back, Gray stood.
“That’s an extra ten for everyone, Santo. I’m not fucking stupid.” Coach’s cold laughter could be heard reverberating around the room as he left to go out onto the stadium.
“Well done,” I snarked at Gray, who answered me with that same raised middle finger.
It took him longer to get undressed and dressed due to his splint, and I could have helped him, but I really just enjoyed watching him struggle. What that said about me, I wasn’t sure, but I was hoping it was simply that I was an almost twenty-year-old man with a bruised ego. I tried to tell myself he was my cousin, my blood, like a brother, and, because of that, the anger at his betrayal would fade.
Wouldn’t it?
