Page 87 of Offside Angle

By the time we reach it, I’m fighting the urge to laugh despite the fact that five minutes ago we were apparently both on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

“Bottle of tequila,” I tell the bartender.

Cole stops complaining long enough to stare at me.

“A bottle?”

“Yes.”

His eyes narrow. “Are we fixing our friendship or making several new problems?”

“Probably both.”

The bartender snorts while reaching for the bottle.

Armed with tequila and absolutely no real plan beyond get Cole somewhere the entire team isn’t watching us cry, I steer him back past the table.

Viktor’s eyes follow us immediately.

Of course they do.

I stop long enough to point at Cole. “I’ll bring him back in one piece.”

Cole looks offended. “Why are you telling him that like I’m being kidnapped?”

“Because you’re whining like you are.”

“I was eating.”

Viktor looks between the two of us, then down at the tequila in my hand before giving me one slow nod.

I’m not entirely sure whether that means have fun or if you break him, I’ll break you.

With Viktor, probably both.

Cole is still muttering about his abandoned dinner when I pull him toward the elevators.

We ride up in silence. Cole crosses his arms and glares at the floor the whole time. When the doors open on the top floor I drag him out and up the last flight of stairs to the roof of the hotel. The night air is cool and quiet up here, the city lights stretching out below us. I sit him down on one of the benches, open the bottle, and take a long sip before handing it to him.

“We were best friends in high school,” I start, staring out at the lights. “Grew up together.”

Cole doesn’t say anything. He just takes the bottle and drinks, waiting for me to keep going.

I rub the back of my neck, trying to find the right words.

“Santi and me… we were inseparable. Everywhere I went, he was there. Practices. Games. Late nights talking about nothing and everything. And one night… we almost kissed. I pulled back. I laughed it off. Told him he was drunk even though neither of us were. And I spent the next ten years trying to pretend it never happened. Pretending I was straight. Pretending I was fine.”

I take the bottle back when he hands it to me and take another sip.

“Then he showed up again. And everything I thought I knew just… fell apart. I tried to hold onto Lena because she felt safe. Because she felt like home. But Santi… he makes me feel alive. Like every part of me is finally awake. And I didn’t know how to tell you that.”

Cole is quiet for a long time.

I don’t look at him. I just stare out at the city and wait.

Eventually he takes another sip and glances over at me, a little smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Did you guys do it?”