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"Cool," I shrugged.
"Cool?" Rhys questioned. "You used to play with him in League One, right?"
"Yep."
"Is there a problem I don't know about?"
"Nope."
Rhys could tell I was lying, and I knew if I told him the truth, he would kick Hunter's ass for me, so I didn't have to. But I just couldn't risk it. Not when there was a picture of me and some random dude in a club doing indecent things. Fuck, that shame would haunt me forever. The fact that I didn't even remember letting myself get that drunk was a cherry on the wildly fucked up top.
* * *
The meetings went fast, and we did a light workout. With the season being over, we didn't hurt ourselves, but we had to keep our stamina up. It felt good to be with the team without pressure from the pending games or outside craziness messing with our flow. I was even feeling light and sound when I showered and left.
Driving down the main beach road in Shelly, I smiled at how beautiful the evening was. The only thing missing was Coconut, and it would have been perfect. But I hadn't spoken to her in days. She wouldn't return my calls, and every attempt I made at showing up at her place was thwarted when I remembered I would just end up fucking her, getting angry, and stomping out. She didn't deserve that shit.
The day I met Tatum, she was celebrating, and it felt like, from that moment, it'd been nothing but chaos for her. It was easy to blame it all on Hunter, but whether he existed between us or not, I wasn't a relationship kind of guy. She wanted something I couldn't give her, so it was better if we didn't make it harder on ourselves.
Still, I couldn't help but think about her in bed. In the shower. When I was on my board in the ocean, picturing her gasping as I drove my dick into her beneath the water. I hadn't even tried returning to Nikki's, even though I loved the waves down on that side of the beach near the inlet.
For now, I stuck to the waves right outside my front door. Not that I was actually surfing. Most of the time I spent on the board, I was thinking of her. I ended up with my dick hard and holding the board in front of me until I got back inside so I didn't risk any more public indecency pictures.
On the night before camp started, I couldn't even sleep. Knowing Hunter would be there was killing me, and I had to act like nothing happened. He got his way when I showed Tatum that picture. We were done, and I bet he was sleeping like a fucking king, knowing it worked.
When I got to the stadium, I just kept to myself and ignored him. He wasn't the only invite, and they usually had a few days of meetings to get caught up anyway.
Cruz was back and seemed better, but I didn't talk to him or Rhys either. We were done babysitting Cruz, who had clearly not told Rhys that I had issues with Hunter, and it seemed as though all I had to do was just survive.
That was all easier said than done because as soon as I took the field and started dribbling the ball toward the goal, I looked up and saw Coconut. She was standing with our head of team marketing, holding a clipboard and nodding with a big smile.
She looked up and saw me, her gaze giving nothing away. Then, just as quickly, she turned away, like she didn't know me at all. It fucked with my head because that was how it was supposed to be, yet I wanted her to run toward me and jump into my arms.
Maybe she would have if she weren't working, but she was in a tight skirt that went to her knees with a jacket and heels. Her hair was up in a twist, and she had a press tag around her neck.
Turning back to the team, I started to run back onto the field when I stopped and looked back at her. She was working. Why the fuck was she working?
ChapterTwenty-Six
Tatum
It took everything I had to not run to Tripp, but after so many days without talking to him, I was sure he didn't even care. No matter how he felt, I was still there for him to ensure Hunter never had a chance to ruin Tripp's career. Especially when this all started because Tripp was trying to help him.
"We would like to start planning a promotion for the kids camp that starts after the new year," the woman, whose name I had already forgotten, told me. "Obviously, we have a team here, but we need an outside take for the events. We will use the main field, but also the practice fields on the outside of the stadium. Our goal is to attract kids from all over the country, not just in South Florida."
"Of course," I smiled. "What about the players? We can attract more kids if the players are involved in the marketing efforts."
"They should all be extremely helpful. There is also a team of invitees that will be working out for the next couple of weeks as well. Even if they aren't on the team, they love coming back to help, so pull them into the efforts as well."
While writing down some notes, I peeked back up to see Tripp looking at me again. He was confused, and I knew he would be. I told him I'd fix it, and he needed to trust me.
But dammit, he looked so good. He wore his number five practice jersey, and his hair was pulled back in a headband. His thighs flexed as he pulled at his shorts, and I immediately thought about all of the things those thighs and I had been through.
Being around him was going to be more challenging than I thought it would be, and then knowing Hunter was lurking somewhere made it even worse.
"It's exciting, isn't it?" The woman crooned. "The players always take a week off and then come back and get to work. After camp, the coaches and big wigs will decide who keeps going forward, and sometimes we sign new and exciting players. We are hoping to sign more locals like Cruz Martin. He attracts a ton of people to the games so they can see the hometown kid play."
"That is exciting." And I truly meant that, but it made me think of Hunter's odds of being signed. He knew the Inferno liked hometown players, so he took it to heart when they passed on him the first time. Would they look closer now that he was right in front of their eyes?
