Page 360 of Power Play

“So come have a beer first.”

I should’ve left. My body was exhausted, my head ached, and everything inside me wanted the silence of my apartment even though I already knew that silence would turn against me the second I was alone.

Rider reached into the cooler and held out a bottle, and I walked over.

No one acknowledged the decision or looked relieved when I took the beer. Easton slid the bottle opener across the tailgate. I popped the cap and drank while leaning my weight against the SUV to give my left knee a break.

Cade’s gaze dropped toward my leg. “You’re limping.”

“I’m stiff.”

“You’re limping, Ry.”

“I know how I’m walking.”

Briggs looked over the top of his sunglasses. “I offered to carry him this morning.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I considered it privately.”

“You were too busy screaming about the pool lights.”

“They change colors.”

Easton’s eyebrows rose. “You weren’t exaggerating?”

“I never exaggerate about recreational lighting.”

Rider pulled another beer from the cooler. “You exaggerate about everything.”

“I’m six-five. The truth arrives exaggerated.”

Their stupidity settled around me without asking for anything in return. I took another drink and looked across the parking lot toward the darkening sky. Most of the team had already left. A few vehicles remained near the players’ entrance, and maintenance trucks lined the far side of the building. No women lingered near the doors, and no strawberry-blond hair moved between the parked cars.

It was only my guys standing in a freezing parking lot, waiting for me to finish pretending I didn’t need them.

“What happened at the lodge?” I asked.

Easton winced. “You’re going to need to define happened.”

“You all said you had it handled.”

“We did,” Rider said. “They were the problem.”

Cade turned toward him. “You called everyone dumb fucks.”

“They were behaving like dumb fucks.”

“You included yourself.”

“I believe in fair criticism.”

I looked at Cade. “What happened?”

He rubbed one hand over his jaw. “Briggs carried Charm inside after you left.”

My attention moved immediately to Briggs.