A yellow flag landed on the turf between them, and the first penalty of the afternoon was called before the clock had even begun. Because the overseeing eyes known as referees had also gotten the message.
Loud and clear.
Cooper Callahan and Nico Fallon were officially rivals.
Nico rolled his eyes as he finished his last interview, and made a beeline for the tunnel with his head bowed down. Salty sweat burned at the corner of his eyes but that was nothing compared to the sting in his heart.
The stadium was quieter than he expected for his debut as a Hollywood Knight. But hey, nobody wanted to cheer on losers. And with the Knights trailing the Cobras with a fourteen point deficit at the half, he was surprised the fans even stayed until the final few minutes.
The blistering Los Angeles sun gave way to the shadow of the tunnel, but just as Nico sighed a breath of relief having escaped another embarrassing interview, a familiar voice called out to him.
“Good game, Rook.”
He turned in a slow circle, his tongue punched against the inside of his mouth. “Fuck off, Callahan.”
Cooper smirked, holding his helmet in his hand. “I haven’t seen you in five months and that’s all the tact you can muster?” He punched Nico playfully on the shoulder. “Rember what I taught you about good sportsmanship?”
Nico shook his head, not able to recall a single damn instance of such a conversation. “I vaguely remember you saying something to the effect of spitting on the corpses of the enemy.”
“No,” Cooper said, his eyes searching both directions to make sure they were alone in the tunnel. Which they weren’t, but nobody was within earshot. Still, the ever-careful Cooper, took a step closer to Nico and whispered, “I think the instruction was to spit on holes.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not flying out until the afternoon tomorrow. Have someofficialthings to take care of.” Cooper tugged at his earlobe. “I could stop by your place.’
In the five months since he’d seen Cooper last, Nico had a lot of time to think about what he’d say to his former coach when he saw him again. Nothing ever seemedright.Words were never enough.
So, he settled on a lie. “I have a hot date tonight.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes—lust-filled, fuck-me-please blue eyes—on Nico. “Are you saying that to make me jealous?”
“Yes, because that right there…” Nico pointed at Cooper, circling his finger in the other man’s face. “I love that look in your eyes.”
“I’ve missed you,” Cooper said, somehow even quieter than a whisper.
“You missed putting your thing in my thing. There’s a difference.”
“I see no difference.”
“You threatened to kill me,” Nico pointed out, and it felt great to get that off his chest. He considered himself a changed man since that night. Vowed he’d never let someone threaten to kill him again and not at least try.
“Be serious now,” Cooper scoffed. “That wasn’t a real threat.”
“You said, and I quote,that’s a real threat, by the way.”
“You’re mad about that?” Cooper asked, and then, “About what you saw?”
Nico gritted his teeth. It was the only way he couldn’tscream. “I don’t give a fuck about whatever that was in there. It’s none of my business?—”
“You’re right. It’s not.”
“I’m not finished,” Nico cut him off. “Whatever hurt you carry inside your heart, it doesn’t give you the right to hurt other people.” Nico looked away and cleared his throat. “I’m not saying I was hurt, by the way. Just a general point for you to consider moving forward in your life.”
He was in fact more than a little hurt.
“I’m glad we hashed this out.” Cooper nodded. “Now, what are youreallydoing tonight?”
Nico wanted to give in, but needed to hold firm. Needed to stand his ground. Besides, his former coach and his former team had just fucked his new team, hard and raw. He wasn’t about to give the other man the satisfaction of fucking him in the afternoon and again at night.
