I nodded, and Troy offered a few other pieces of advice. Raina had her own words of wisdom, but in the end, it all boiled down to the same thing: I needed to talk to him.
I couldn’t find a time to talk to Milo the next day. We flew to Roswell, New Mexico, and the team plane was hardly the right place to have that conversation. Once we reached the hotel, I had to focus on getting my head straight for the game. I locked myself in my hotel room, only opening the door for room service, until the next morning when we boarded the team bus and went to the Marauders’ stadium.
I’d like to say that the mental work I’d done the night before had helped, but I couldn’t get my head into the game. There were times when I’d catch sight of the sun glinting off Milo’s platinum blond hair on the sidelines, forming a halo, at the most inopportune moments. Like right before the opposing quarterback snapped the ball. I missed a few tackles that should have been easy. I’d misjudged one of their running back’s routes and let them get a first down and then some. At half time, I was almost convinced that Coach Cal would pull me, but he didn’t.
Coach North pulled me aside though and gave me a quick talking to. It had to be bad to pull our defensive coordinator from the booth where he watched the games and called the plays from his eye-in-the-sky position. I felt like an ass, and I knew I had to do better and be more focused.
When I went back out onto the field, I refused to look at the sidelines. I watched Milo when he was on the field, but I didn’t let my mind stray toward him once. If I wanted there to be anything between me and Milo, then I couldn’t let this be a one-year deal. I would need to prove to the Scorpions’ front office that I was worth a long-term investment. That had to start now.
My second half of the game was a lot better than my first, and it made a difference with the rest of the defense. Once we started holding back the offense, our offense kicked in. We never took the lead, but we got closer than I thought possible. In the end, we lost by four points.
Everyone on the bus back to the hotel was riding high on our near victory. Players sang out our fight song like we’d won. Plans were made for celebratory dinners and drinks. The entire time, all I could think of was one thing. I was riding high, and it was time.
My heart raced as the bus pulled into the hotel. Unfortunately, Milo rushed off with Jonesy and Liam. That wasn’t the right time.
I went to my room and took a shower. I changed into the jeans and tee shirt I’d packed for the weekend, and I made up my mind. I was going to talk to Milo. Unfortunately, I saw him, Jonesy, and Liam boarding an elevator as I started toward his room. I ate a quick meal in the hotel restaurant and went back to my room to wait.
Instead, I fell asleep.
We boarded the plane back to Tucson early. Press was waiting to talk to a few players, and I was, unfortunately, included in that list. Milo wasn’t. I was stuck at the stadium doing press and filming a few bits for the team’s social media for almost two hours after we got back. The entire time, I was just waiting to be released.
I was going to talk to him.
I was going to do it tonight before I could chicken out. Before another week of practice and another game made it impossible.
When I got back to the condo, I dropped my stuff just inside my unit door and went across the hall to his. I drew a deep breath before knocking.
Milo answered in less than thirty seconds. He had changed out of his travel clothing into a pair of black Scorpions shorts and a tank top that fit his body perfectly, showing off the muscles of his arms and clinging to the definition of his torso. My mouth dried up at the sight of him.
“Rowan?” he asked when I didn’t say anything.
Right. I needed to speak. I had kissed him. We’d barely had time to speak until then, and now I was showing up at his doorstep. I had to say something. I took another deep breath.
“We need to talk.”
Probably not the best place to start.
10
Notes
You didn’t think I’d leave you hanging like that, right? There had to be two chapters this week, because what was the other option?
Milo
“We need to talk.”
Had there ever been four worse words in the English language? I didn’t think so. I’d heard them before, and they were always paired with bad news.
I already knew what was about to happen. Rowan was going to say that kissing me had been a big mistake, and he regretted it. That was probably why he hadn’t left his room the entire time we were in Roswell. It was why he’d pretty much ignored me on the flight thereandback. I thought I’d seen him looking at me a few times during the game, but there were other people on the sidelines.
He could have been looking at anyone.
And now he was at my door, starting a conversation with the worst combination of words known to mankind.
Okay. I could do this. I took a deep breath and stepped back, opening the door wide for him. He stepped over the threshold and walked inside. I followed him, only to collide directly into his back when he stopped after a few steps. I grunted, and he laughed.
“Just realized that I should probably let you lead me,” he explained as he stepped aside.
