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“I said,” Novek spoke, wearing only his cup and jock. “I also like to listen to her.” He put his hand over his dick and stuck out his tongue like a fucking deviant.
I stood up to shut that shit down, but I caught Ron’s smirk and turned to grab my phone on the shelf behind me, pretending to check my messages.
“Novek,” Coach McKay said, sounding good and pissed off, which I liked. “Shower, get dressed and meet me in my office. We’re going to have a discussion about how you respect staff on this team.” Coach stormed out of the room and all the boys oohed.
“Someone is in trouble,” Smith said.
“Fuck you guys,” Novek snapped, all petulant baby. He shucked the last of his gear and walked naked, big dick swinging, to the showers. The rest of the guys went in after him and I heard them all laughing.
Novek was a dick, and I hated the way he talked about Liv, but the team was managing it. That was the thing I loved about teams, you could be the hottest shot in the world, and the boys would still bust your balls. On a good team, on a team firing on all cylinders, everyone pulled in the same direction and no one got special treatment.
Egalitarian as fuck.
“Cap,” The rookie said. I didn’t realize he was still in the room. He sat in his compression shorts looking down at his phone. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot, kid,” I said, stripping off my gear.
“Do you think they’re going to send me down to Maryland?”
Maryland was where one of our feeder teams was located, and if I was being honest, at the start of preseason it would have been an unequivocal yes from me. I would have said the kid didn’t stand a chance at staying in Portland. Most rookies coming directly out of college didn’t.
“I’m asking because my wife-”
“You’re married?” I cried, dropping my shin guards. “How old are you, ten?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Jesus, kid, what did you go and do that for?”
The rookie looked at me like I was the one who was out of my mind. “Childhood sweethearts, Cap. What can I say? When you know, you know. Anyway, she found this house in Portland that she loves and…I don’t know. It kind of feels like I have a shot of making the team.”
I took a deep breath and looked at this kid. Really looked at him. He was hard-working, respectful, extremely coachable. Smart as all hell. “What does your wife do?” I asked.
O’Rourke blinked. “I mean, she went to school to be a teacher, but you know with my position on the team it’s not like she can just get a job if we’re going to move.”
“She doesn’t mind that? Putting her career on hold like that?”
The kid blew out a big breath. “She doesn’t love it, but she understands. It’s our life. We’re in it together.”
I tried to imagine Olivia’s reaction if I said:Hey, babe, you need to stop doing that job you love so much and follow me around the country because I just got traded to Tampa.
There was no fucking way. No way I’d say it, and no way she’d go for it.
“So?” O’Rourke asked. “What do you think?”
I think you’re an idiot and your wife is going to grow to be resentful. In five years you’re going to be paying alimony and maybe child support.
But that wasn’t what he was asking me.
“Yeah, kid, you keep working like you’re working and I think you have a real shot. But don’t buy a house. Not yet.”
I don’t know if it was the answer he wanted, but he typed something on his phone and a second later he was smiling at whatever came back at him. He threw his phone back in his locker and went to the showers with the rest of the team. I heard another round of laughter but didn’t move.
I grabbed my own phone and pulled up the text thread with Liv.
The smart move was to tell her to forget Calico Cove. Meeting there was a mistake. On every level. Why risk her career for something that didn’t have a future?
I had no intention of taking this anywhere, except to the bedroom.
