CHAPTER FIVE
ALEXIO
“…andI’m trying to be understanding here, babe. Really, I am. You know I love you more than anything, but I can only excuse so much. That was a fucking shit show, and you and I both know it.”
“I get it. And you know I don’t want any special favors from you.”
For a moment, I had no idea where I was. Then, as I peeled an eye open, I remembered. I was in Tucker Banks’s office. And now, I wasn’t alone. Tucker—it had to be him, considering the other man beside him was Jonah, was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Jonah was standing in front of him, fingers squeezing tightly on the handle of his cane.
The mood was tense, and I couldn’t help but wonder why the fuck they were saying all of this with me in the room. It sounded like a goddamn lover’s quarrel.
“It’s not exactly easy to set everything aside, considering how long we’ve?—”
“This is why I was hesitant telling you about the fucking coaching job,” Jonah said, throwing his free hand into the air.“Fuck. Can you just ream me out, tell me I fucked up, and move on with your night?”
“You want me to call you a bad boy?” Tucker asked with a small grin.
My heart leapt in my chest. Oh, holy shit. Jonah was fucking his coach. That was…interesting information. And I still had no idea why Tucker was allowing this to happen with witnesses.
“Shut the fuck up, Tucker, or I’m going to tell Amedeo you were trying to seduce me in your office.”
Tucker smirked, then sighed as his smile dropped. “Look, obviously, something’s going on with you?—”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jonah snapped. “I just need a fucking minute, okay?”
Tucker sighed. “Whatever. Hit the showers. But if you’re this fucked in practice tomorrow, I’m going to hog-tie you and let Ford sit on you until you tell us everything.”
Jonah swore under his breath, then reached out with his free hand and felt around until he found the door handle. Between two tense breaths, he was gone, and Tucker collapsed in his chair, putting his hands over his face.
I figured it was probably time to address that whole awkward mess. “So, uh…”
Tucker reared back so fast his chair tipped over, and he only barely caught himself on the wall. He struggled to stand for a second, his legs like a newborn giraffe, but he was breathing heavily and looked terrified.
“Who the fuck is there?” He fumbled across his desk with his hands, and that’s when it struck me. He couldn’t see that I was there.
“The coaches are blind too? How the hell do you know what’s going on during plays?”
Tucker sat up straighter, and that’s when I realized he had glasses in his hands. He shoved them on his face, and his eyes narrowed. “You—wait. Zeki?”
So he could see me?
“How the fuck did you get in my office?” he demanded.
I shrugged and took a step closer. “Uh, some little intern let me in.”
“Coby. I’m going to fucking kill him.” He ran a shaking hand down his face, and then his gaze snapped up as I sat down across from him. “Anyway, first of all, fuck you. Blind coaches can do the job just as well as a sighted one. That was a shitty-ass take. Secondly, for the love of Christ, announce yourself if you’re in a room around here. No one likes that kind of prank, and no one needs a heart attack right now.”
I licked my lips, feeling like shit because I hadn’t meant to come across that way. “I wasn’t playing a prank. I was asleep.”
Tucker stared at me. “Asleep?”
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” I told him. It had been a rough couple of months, but I wasn’t going to talk to him about that.
Tucker opened his mouth, then shut it and fell back into his chair before taking a breath and asking, “What can I help you with? I’m assuming you aren’t here to hang out.”
I almost laughed, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t seem to make a sound. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts. “This…thing. This ambassadorship,” I said, fumbling the word a little.
