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I downed half of it alongside Wyatt and Jude because why not? As I paused to catch my breath, my phone vibrated again in my pocket. I pulled it out for a quick glance and paused at the message from Rhodes.

HORNY DEVIL: You’ve got the whole season ahead of you, Theo, and you’re going to be brilliant. I believe in you.

The words from him were more sobering than a cold shower and time combined. The party vanished around me as I stared at the message, unable to look away. He believed in me?

I read it again.

He believed in me.

Did he even understand what words like that did to me? Or how confusing he was? How words like that made me want to go running to him? For comfort. For a distraction. Or for whatever else he was willing to give me.

The smart thing would’ve been to put my phone away and go back to the party—to drink enough to make the game stop replaying in my head. That was guaranteed to end positively, or at least have me be drunk enough to black out and not feel much of anything.

I stared down at Rhodes’ message one last time. I didn’t want to do the smart thing.

I just wanted Rhodes.

CHAPTER 22

Rhodes

Maybe the message was out of line, but it was so damn hard to watch him beat himself up. I knew him. I knew just how he’d carry his guilt over a bad game. It wasn’t my place to comfort him—he had Jude and Wyatt for that—but I just couldn’t do nothing either. I worried about him, far more than I should’ve.

And so I sent the message, letting the feelings I didn’t want guide the actions I shouldn’t have done. Afterward, I focused on planning how I wanted to handle practice tomorrow, how I wanted to talk to the team, and how I wanted to approach the other coaches with future team meetings. I buried myself in the tangible things to avoid thinking about the mistake that message was.

Around midnight, I packed up my things to go home. If I was lucky, I’d get a few hours of sleep—though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to turn my mind off. Not with everything going on. Still, I’d try, pretend I had, and lie to myself that the stress of everything wasn’t getting to me.

At least, that was the plan until I opened my office door to find Theo with his hand raised, ready to knock. I froze, and so did he. He was breathing hard, chest rising quickly beneath his shirt, and his hair was slightly disheveled. His cheeks were flushed pink like he’d gotten here in a hurry. There was a look on his face, something between desperation and determination. Or maybe both. Whatever it was, it made every exhausted thought in my head disappear at once.

“Theo,” I began, my brows furrowing together with surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” he faltered. His mouth opened and closed while he battled whatever thought was going through his head. “I… uh…”

His voice trailed off, and he muttered something to himself—something I wished I could hear. He moved before I could react, closing the distance between us and grabbing my face. His mouth crashed into mine, and every alarm I had went off at once.

The taste of alcohol slid across my tongue as he invaded my mouth. I should’ve pushed him away—should’ve stopped it before it started. Shoving him back in the hall and slamming the door would’ve been the smart thing to do, but I wasn’t smart where Theo was involved. Everything about him challenged me right down to my foundation. It didn’t help that Sariah had gotten under my skin.

Grabbing the front of his shirt, I dragged him into my office and kicked the door shut as I broke the kiss long enough to make sure the latch caught. The last thing I needed was to be caught trying to handle one of my players kissing me. Theo was on me again, or maybe I was on him. I couldn’t tell who closed the distance first, and I didn’t care. His hands caught at my sides as my fingers tightened in his shirt, dragging him closer until there wasn’t enough space between us to pretend this was anything but what it was.

“Theo—”

“Please,” he begged, cutting me off. “Please, Rhodes. I need you.”

The desperation in his voice tested what little restraint I had, traveling straight to my cock. Fuck, I loved when he begged for me. It didn’t matter how wrong it was. All that mattered was the way he needed me.

He tried to kiss me again, and I grabbed a fistful of his hair to pull him back. His breath hitched in his throat with anticipation, and my gaze dropped to his parted lips, inciting a slew of filthy thoughts about that mouth of his.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I told him gruffly.

“I know.”

“It can’t—”

“I know.”

“We can’t—”

“I’m not a fucking idiot,” Theo whispered. “I don’t care. Today was awful, and I just want… I just want to feel good, Rhodes. Please.”