pick for a good reason—he was a monster on the football field. One jealous, idiotic player’s bad decisions had given his career a total one-eighty. He’d probably be super bowl bound, not held up in some semi-pro team in Montpelier, Idaho. No wonder he had a chip on his shoulder. No pro team was going to pick up someone who’d probably fight with leg weaknesses for the rest of his career. If the coach of the Vipers hadn’t been a Zeke Matheson fan and willing to take a chance on him, Zeke would probably be coaching a high-school team somewhere.
Suddenly, I felt like week-old trash. All I’d done was mock his dreams to go pro, not realizing that he was just chasing after something he’d beyond rightfully earned. I closed my laptop and wiped my eyes free of the tears. I owed him an apology. I’d been specifically instructed to stay home and rest during my day off, but I couldn’t do that. If Zeke could recover from that horrendous injury, he deserved to go against someone who was going to fight until the last drop of blood had drained from their body. Tomorrow, I would go and apologize to him, and if he challenged me again, I would meet him head-on.
The sound of keys jingling in the front door pulled me to attention. A glance at my phone showed it was two-thirty in the morning. The door opened, and Alec stepped in. He took one look at me and frowned.
“What are you doing up?” He got closer and noticed my red eyes, and he dropped everything in his hands and ran over. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m okay,” I replied. “I just got done Googling Zeke. He was huge, Alec, like a huge deal. He was number one to the pros until some asshole tackled him, trying to hurt him, and shattered his leg.”
“Jesus,” Alec replied. “No wonder he’s like that.”
I nodded. “I’m going to go apologize to him tomorrow.”
“And?” Alec raised an eyebrow. I looked at him with confusion, so he continued. “And then you will ask him out?” I looked over at Alec through a half-lidded gaze, and he held his hands up. “Fine, but I maintain that you like him.”
Alec stood up to walk away, and I grumbled, “I don’t not like him.”
Alec’s face shot back to me, and he plopped back down onto the couch next to me. “I knew it!”
“Okay! Don’t get all—you—about this. I don’t really know how I feel.” I sighed. “I know that the other night was the most fun I think I’ve ever had playing football, and knowing this,” I motioned to my computer, “I think I understand him better. I know what it’s like to constantly be fighting.” I lowered my voice. “And he is gorgeous.”
Alec yelped, and I stuck a finger in his face.
“But! He’s been on a relentless warpath to end my football career. Sure, his display today, or yesterday, suggested maybe that has changed, but I can’t go and crush on someone who doesn’t want me to play football.”
“That’s fair,” Alec replied, “but if it has changed, and you go there and apologize, and he were to, say, ask you out for a drink?”
I shrugged. “Wouldn’t say no.”
Alec jumped up off the couch, shooting both arms above his head. “Yes! Ha! Zeke for the win! Alec is right!”
I slapped his stomach. “Shh! We have neighbors.” I chuckled. “Why are you so excited about this, anyway?”
“Let’s see, why am I, your best friend, excited to see you lusting after something other than sewn together pigskin?” He massaged his chin. “Which reason do I start with?”
I waved my hand through the air. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”
I leaned back against the couch and pulled the blanket I had over my legs up to my shoulders. Alec started to tell me some story about something that happened at work, but it was far from my ears. I was already thinking about how I would truly react if I felt like Zeke felt differently about me than I first thought.
15
Zeke
“You can go fuck yourself,” Darius growled at me. “I am not running end zone to end zone suicides on the fives. You have lost your goddamn mind.”
“Yeah, what the hell Matheson?” one of the guards, Desmond, huffed. “We’ve only ever done half-field on the tens. We won our last game. Why are you doubling up?”
The team’s backlash at my most recent suggestion wasn’t unexpected. I was shocked when Quinn suggested it. “We