They should have known better. Should have known cameras were always watching.
“Cooper, you fucking idiot,” he cursed under his breath, becausereallyMr. I Live My LIfe In a Cage should have been more careful. This was all the other man’s fault.
Nico turned the volume up on his phone as the lip-reader narrated the argument, but with Cooper’s back to the camera, it was only Nico’s half of the conversation under scrutiny.
Nico smiled at his former coach. “I’m having a latte tonight.”
“Because of that goose over there.”Nico pointed at Cooper.“I love porridge and rice.”
“You missed bussing and putt-putting.”
Nico thankfully disappeared behind Cooper’s body for the next thirty seconds, and then he was in plain view again.
“I’m getting eggs. I suggest you do the same.”
Nico chuckled at that last line. So fucking ridiculous, but also so fucking close to what was actually said—I’m getting laid. I suggest you do the same.Nico breathed a sigh of relief as he copied the link to the video and texted it to Cooper.
Nico
Close call, asshole
Cooper read the message, but did not respond.
Chapter Thirteen
november 2021 - columbus
The locker roomwas electric after a four-game winning streak for the Cobras. A streak that Cooper was adamant would not be broken, not on a Thursday primetime game where the whole country would be watching.
“Kansas City came here to fuck us,” Cooper screamed at his team, who had gathered around him. “We are not going to let them fuck us.”
“We do the fucking,” Razer screamed back.
To which, Matteo added, “How about we just beat them? No fucking necessary.”
“We’re a team, a family.” Cooper looked to Razer. “Every single one of you is my brother.” He looked to Matteo. “I’m rich in this life because I get to play with y’all.” He clapped his hands together. “Now, let’s go play some fucking football.”
The team, offense and defense, holleredas they fist-bumped each other as part of their pre-game ritual. Cooper wasn’t normally like this. Wasn’t this animated in his day-to-day life, but he became someone else in the locker room.
He became someone else when he was winning.
Because yeah, football players played so much better when they were horny and it’d been a long seven months since Cooper had been with anyone.
He was the last player out of the locker room and was the first one back in when they won the game by seven points.
Five games in a row and he was on top of the world.
Nothing could bring him down.
A single tear managed to escape Cooper’s eye, breaking through the iron facade. He sat alone at an empty table in the ballroom with the lights dimmed.
The second annual Luke Davies Memorial was a success, but the donors were gone and all that was left was the silence that always came after, when he’d sit alone in his grief. On his best days, he could pretend he wasn’t a broken man. On his worst days, he couldn’t lie to himself. Couldn’t shield himself from the echoes of Luke’s voice that lingered in the dusty backrooms of his mind.
“I can’t stay in this cage forever,” Luke’s voice whispered like a ghost in the corner of a room.
But in Cooper’s memory, the love of his life sat beside him on the edge of their shared bed. “You know the deal. When this is over. When we’re done playing football, we can be together.”
“We’re together now.”
