Page 34 of Forever Relentless

“No, I don’t think I will.”

He leaned into me, his breath at my ear. “I don’t give a damn what you think, you sit your ass on that seat, and don’t move until I tell you to. Got it?”

I didn’t move, and neither did he. I moved my head a fraction and saw Dustin and Jason deep in conversation, and Dante standing a foot apart, his eyes on me.

Yeah, I was fucked.

“I said go sit down,” Noah rumbled behind me.

I knew I was stuck, so reluctantly I did as I was told. Ordered around by a twenty-one-year-old.

Ugh, my pride would never recover.

Chapter 8

Noah

I didn’t say much as we wrapped up the social media pics; even though we hadn’t been ‘purposefully’ posing for them, it was still good to take the hideous yellow off.

Dustin had done his best to lift Moore’s spirits, but the guy was wiped out. I got it. Kind of. She was his girl; he’d been stupid. Was it worth hiding his stupidity from her? I didn’t think it was. But then, I’d never had a serious girl.

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help concluding that this was how Head Coach Sutherland controlled his locker room. Not through discipline, or respect, or even intimidation. Through fear.

We were jocks; we weren’t known for our sensitivity. But in reality, there were way more Jasons in the locker rooms than there were Dustins. More guys with serious girlfriends than guys without.

I turned to watch Dustin and Jason sprint down the field chasing after Dante’s throw.

“You ever think football’s just playing fetch for humans?”

I turned to look at Briar. She was sitting on the seat where I told her to, her legs were crossed, her camera in her hand, and she looked for all the world like it had been her choice to sit there.

She looked up at me. “Think about it. If he throws that ball for a dog, any dog, they’ll break their necks to run and catch it.”

I pulled my usual training shirt over my head. “So we’re just a bunch of dogs?”

She scoffed. “Did you hear the hand-job story?”

“Yeah, and you shouldn’t have.” I reminded her, and she put her head down as I looked back down the field. “Not all of us get lonely enough to embarrass ourselves publicly.” When I looked back at her, she snapped my picture.

She lowered the camera and looked at me. “What’s your story, middle linebacker?”

She looked at me expectantly. It was a journalist’s question — the kind that sounded casual and wasn’t.

I shook my head slightly. “No story here. Just a guy trying to stop the other guy from playing fetch.” I gave her a pointed look. “Stay there.”

I walked away from her before she could ask another question, or I made a dig that she was a good puppy because she stayed exactly where she was. I joined Dante.

“Moore might not have been the best one to start with,” I told him with a slight smirk.

Dante rolled his shoulder. “Yeah, wasn’t expecting ‘I walked into an orgy and stayed’ to be in the conversation, I admit.”

I held back my laugh. “Not from him anyway. He really sells his brand well.”

“Yeah, which is exactly what Bobby Ray will have capitalized on.” He scratched his cheek. “How many more are there?”

“How do we even start the conversation?” I countered.

“It could be a coincidence.”