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“Are you really one to talk when you’re late to everything?” Nico challenged him.
I laughed and nodded at Nico before looking back at Wes. “The only reason you’re on time is because Nico brought you here.”
“Hey, this isn’t attack Wes time,” he said, feigning innocence as he raised his hands in the air. “Sit down and drink up. First round’s on me.”
Lincoln didn’t hesitate to grab the drink the bartender slid in front of him. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“What took you guys so long, though?” Wes questioned us, unable to keep his curiosity to himself. He was always nosy and never hesitated to probe and ask questions.
I grabbed my drink and swallowed a mouthful as I ignored his question, hoping Lincoln would do the same. He didn’t, and I avoided eye contact with the three of them.
“We ran into Mac’s new neighbor in the hall. Want to tell them who it is?”
Shaking my head, I stared up at one of the TVs hanging above the bar. I could feel Wes and Nico staring at me, but I wasn’t going to take the bait. Lincoln was going to tell them anyway and it was better if I just kept my mouth shut.
“Coach Anderson’s daughter,” Lincoln said after leaving them in suspense for a moment. “She moved into the condo across the hall from Mac.”
“No way,” Wes said with a lilt of laughter in his voice at the same time Nico spoke sternly.
“No, Mac.”
I slowly turned my head to look past Wes, and directly at Nico. “Excuse me?”
I didn’t know how the hell he became the dad of our group, but it was really fucking irritating sometimes. He was the last one to be lecturing anyone after he ended up with one of the photographers from our team who got fired because of their relationship.
“You know you can’t even entertain any thoughts about her.”
My brows furrowed. “Who said I was even thinking about her?”
“Why was it such a big deal that you didn’t want to tell us who your new neighbor was?” He pursed his lips. “Seems suspicious that you casually avoided engaging in the conversation then.”
“Because there’s nothing to talk about,” I told him with a bite in my tone.
Nico gave me a look that said he didn’t believe a single word I was saying. I was clearly a liar, because yes, I had thought about her. But I also knew Juliette Anderson was off-limits and she obviously didn’t even like me.
“She came over the other night because she was locked out of her condo. That was it.”
“Oh shit,” Wes said with amusement. “You said there was nothing to talk about, yet you’ve already hung out with her.”
“I didn’t hang out with her. She just came over for a little while until the property manager came to let her back into her place,” I explained, even though I didn’t owe either of them an explanation.
Nico’s expression softened. “Listen, I’m not saying any of this to be a dick. This is all coming from a place of experience.” He paused for a moment, taking a sip of his drink. “You don’t want to go there, man. She’s our coach’s daughter. If they find out, you’ll be off the team without a second thought.”
“Oh my god,” I groaned, running my hand down my face. “She literally moved in across the hall. Please stop acting like I’m doing something bad by being nice to her.”
“That’s how it always starts out, my dude,” Wes said with a smirk. It was like he and Nico were playing good cop and bad cop. Wes was always the good cop. Nico was the hard-ass through and through. “You start off being nice, next thing you know, you’re waking up and she’s walking around your condo wearing your t-shirt.”
I glared at him. “Please just shut the fuck up.”
“Hold up,” Lincoln finally chimed in. “Stop acting like Sullivan is a dumbass. He’s a grown man, he can make his own decisions. There’s nothing going on between the two of them, so stop with the third degree, Cirone.”
Turning to look at Lincoln, I silently thanked him for jumping on my side. This was typical with Nico and sometimes he needed to be knocked down a peg or two.
“Plus, you jeopardized your girl’s entire career after you got involved with her,” Lincoln reminded him with an eyebrow raised.
Nico looked between the two of us and Wes pulled out his phone as he dipped out of the conversation. He hated confrontation and had added enough fuel to the fire. A sigh escaped Nico and his nostrils flared as he subtly shook his head.
“Okay, my bad,” he said with a solemn expression. There was a touch of regret in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat about it. I just know how these kinds of things can go and we can’t afford to lose you on the team.”
