Page 58 of Forever Relentless

It wasn’t about pretending the anger wasn’t there. It was about choosing where to put it.

I stood, walked back to the forty, and dropped into stance one more time.

Eyes up. First step, clean. When I exploded forward, it wasn’t because I was angry. It was because I chose to. I finished the sprint past the goal line and didn’t look back up the field.

“You fighting demons out here, Matthews?”

Dustin was sitting on the sideline. I hadn’t even seen him come out. I looked around, looking for the QB, but Dante wasn’t here.

“Yeah.” My nod was tight and brief. “You could say that.” Dustin was in jeans, a hoodie, and a ballcap. “You waiting for me?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Haven’t seen you for a few days, thought you might want to hang.”

“You see me every day.” I caught the towel he threw my way and wiped my face and neck. “What’s this about?”

He pushed himself to his feet and gave me an eye roll I’d come to know well. “Maybe I just want to talk to you.”

“Why?”

I heard him mutter ‘oh my God’ under his breath as he walked over to stand beside me.

“I don’t want to do deep and meaningful shit. Can I not just want to hang out with you?”

My hand stopped rubbing the towel over my head. I took in his ultra-casual stance, the blank face, but the corner of his eye twitched.

I grinned widely. “You miss me, Dust?”

He was already turning away. “No, you’re a prick, and stop eating my snacks!”

I caught up to him, and we walked the field in silence. “So . . . you miss me?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled.

“Did you fall out with your girl?”

Dust looked affronted at the suggestion. “No! Hadley is . . .” He took a deep breath. “She’s just great, really.”

“Then why are you frowning?”

“Am I?” His look of surprise convinced me to go easy on him.

The change in his character since hooking up with Hadley was a complete one-eighty; he was a new man. There were so many players who were players, and Dustin had fit into the mold perfectly.

“Who knew the sharp-eyed reporter was going to be your downfall?” I teased.

He grimaced but said nothing. We headed to the locker room, and I wasn’t surprised to find it empty.

“I’ll wait for you.”

A simple statement and I nodded in agreement. He’d waited for me, no doubt watched me practice when I thought I was alone. Whether it was out of friendship or he had an agenda, I realized now that I wanted his company rather than be alone with my thoughts.

The shower didn’t take long; it cleaned me of turf and sweat, and I was dried and dressed in record time.

“You have the worst personal care I know,” Dustin grumbled as he watched me pull a hoodie on.

“Huh?”

“You’re twenty-one, Noah. We play an outdoor sport. You need sponsorships when you go pro, dude. You need to take care of your skin.”