“Texting me during the game? Yeah.”
Wes grinned. “It’s a sign of love.”
Nate knew what he meant—that it was a sign that Ramsey gave a shit, not that helovedhim—but it was hard to stop his brain, but more his heart, from grabbing onto that turn of phrase and believing it meant what he wanted it to mean.
“Yeah,” Nate agreed. Not asking more. He wouldn’t want to do it here regardless. He could already sense that the half of the locker room not currently celebrating the win against San Francisco were all paying attention to what he and Wes were discussing. And Nate didn’t need to give them any more gossip ammunition.
He turned his attention back to the string of texts.
Fucking killer tackle for loss. Shit baby, you’re good at this. You sure you don’t wanna become a hockey player?
Nate laughed again.
Then,you’re gonna have to talk to Jordan again—he was out of position. Gave them that first down, plus more.
Inwardly sighing, Nate scrolled and there it was. He’d had a feeling the cameras had caught him talking to Jordan on the bench after that drive—after the 49ers had scored their only touchdown of the game—and sure enough, there it was.
Shit, of course you already know that. You’re a good C.
The first time Ramsey had referred to him as the “C” Nate had asked what that meant. “Captain,” Ramsey had clarified. “It’s what we call it in that other, real sport.”
Nate had only been able to laugh. Especially now that he knew that Ramsey respected what he did, just liked to give him shit about it.
A pattern that had definitely begun to go both directions.
He seems better after you talked to him.That text came in about fifteen minutes after the last one, about the time it hadtaken the Thunder to go on their next offensive drive, score a field goal, extending their lead to thirteen.
And yes, when the defense had taken the field again, Jordanhadbeen better, but it was worrisome that he had to keep making these corrections.
He knew he was going to end up having to talk to Sterling about it. Probably Coach Dell too. They would see it all on tape and Nate hoped that Jordan was ready to have alongweek of practice.
He could shelter him only so much. Didn’t evenwantto shelter too much, because no matter how much natural skill Jordan possessed, he was going to have to take coaching better.
It’s still crazy to me how long your shifts are. Wait, they’re not called shifts, right?
Ramsey was getting better at parsing out plays—that was probably entirely due to Wes playing so much tape in their apartment—but his terminology still sucked.
Nope,Ramsey texted next, before Nate could decide they needed to have some kind of sexy flashcard session in bed,I was right. They’re not called shifts. Drives. Huh. That’s weird. You football guys are so weird. Hot, but weird. Also a fan of the pants.Especially you in those pants.
Twenty minutes later,damn baby, you shut them right down. Guess that good luck blowjob did its work.
I know I said it last night, but make sure everyone comes out to Vault tonight. You earned a decent celebration.
Decent? That’s all I (we) get for holding the 49ers to thirteen points?
Could’ve held them to zero,Ramsey texted back.
Nate just laughed, not feeling bad at all about the result or how he’d played. By the time the 49ers had scored their touchdown, the Thunder defense had been hanging back, mainly trying toprevent big chunk plays, which of course, Jordan had essentially given up, by being out of position.
They’d recovered well after that, shutting the 49ers offense back down and only allowing one more field goal in the fourth quarter, but it had been a wake-up call that the game could’ve gone a different direction.
I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Gotta put that work in to earn a legit celebration.
Oh,Ramsey texted back right away,never said it wouldn’t be legit. I’ll meet you down there?
Sounds good.
Before he headed to the showers, he turned to the room and raised his voice, “Big party tonight at Vault. Ramsey wanted me to let everyone know they’re welcome and they’ll be on the door list.”
