“I’m getting laid. I suggest you do the same.”
“What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do?”
“Failing,” Nico said and walked away, leaving Cooper at the end of the tunnel.
Every step away from the other man felt unmanageable, as if the further Nico walked, the more difficult the ground beneath him. Nico wanted to look over his shoulder just to get one last glance before he’d see him again, most likely the next time their teams met in December. Wanted to turn around and give the piece of shit his address.
Unfortunately, Nico had made a deal with a teammate and everyone who knew Nico understood he took bets seriously.
The wager? If the Knights won, they’d go out to the club, get drunk, and fuck some women. If they lost? They’ddo the same thing, but maybe cry somewhere along the way.
Anyways, he couldn’t renege. Clearly, he and his team still had some bonding to do in order to build chemistry. Because what the fuck ever happened on that field was not camaraderie and Nico was damned if he’d be responsible for two losing seasons, back-to-back and on two different teams.
The fifth-year wide receiver Dominic Smith Jr. was a ladies man, but showed restraint in public. He stood at the stairway leading down to the public area of the club, leaning against the railing as he macked on the bottle service girl.
He’d never find himself in the position Nico found himself in—sitting overly relaxed on the black leather couch as neon pinks and blues cascaded over him. Hot, hungry mouths on each side of his neck. Long fingernails brushing over his burnt skin.
Two beautiful women, but he couldn’t be bothered to remember their names. It wasn’t his idea to bring them up to the VIP section. No, that honor belonged to Romeo Bourne who was suspiciously nowhere to be found.
Fingers caressed Nico’s cheek, guiding him to the blonde with piercing blue eyes. He arched upward, brushing his lips against hers but with restraint. Her hand fell to his hard cock and palmed over it, eking a moan from the back of his throat. He grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her deeper into his kiss.
Every girl in this fucking city was hungry for him and he was hungry too, but when he pulled away to catch his breath, it was Cooper fucking Callahan looking at him. He retreated slowly, knowing his mind was playing tricks on him.
He jumped to his feet, shuffling away from the brunette, and reached down to take the blonde’s hand in his own. The chivalrous man that he was, he helped guide her to her feet. He flipped her hair from her ear, pressed his mouth against her ear, and asked her to leave with him.
“What about my friend?”
Nico shook his head and whispered again, “I’m not into brunettes.”
He fist-bumped Dominic on his way down the stairs, feeling the tiniest bit guilty for leaving the blonde’s friend behind.
Nico woke up like he always did, by dragging his palms over his face and groaning because it was way too fucking early to be awake. Especially on a Monday morning after having partied the night before. Thankfully, he didn’t experience hangovers like some of his older teammates.
He sat up in bed and saw the, admittedly, beautiful woman lying naked beside him, wrapped up in his covers. Under the harsh light of the California sun, she looked nothing like Cooper Callahan.
He clearly had a type.
All the women he’d been with since arriving in Los Angeles were all tall blondes with blue eyes. Surely,coincidental. Surely not because Cooper was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed.
He carefully climbed out of bed, his bare feet landing on the hardwood floors. He swiped his phone off the nightstand and climbed into a pair of blue boxers. He danced on his tip-toes, doing his best ninja-walk as he made his way out of the bedroom and into the living room.
The condo was small, cozy, and temporary. He hadn’t found a proper place to stay in time before the season started and so he was stuck there until after the season was over.
He crashed onto the couch and began his morning ritual of scrolling endlessly through social media apps until he had to inevitably get dressed to go to the facility for tape review.
A compilation of orange cats terrorizing their owners, which reminded him how much he wanted a cat.
Multiple videos of book reviews, which reminded him he hadn't read a book since pre-season started.
A recap video of the previous night’s episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, which was his favorite in the franchise but that secret would die with him.
A carefully curated barrage of half-naked men working out, which was strictly educational.
A video that mesmerized him, a man “dancing” in basketball shorts while clearly not wearing underwear with the caption,Dwerking.Nico clicked the hashtag and it brought up an endless scroll of men participating in the trend.
Fuck, he missed cock.
He went back to his feed and a video titledBad lipreading - Football editionpopped up. He zoomed in and it was a video of Cooper and him arguing in the tunnel. His heart pounded and his throat tensed as he shot up on the couch.
