Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
It was Tucker’s reaction that interested me, though. The dude never missed an opportunity to dog Whitt. “Thought I was about to have to break up a fight,” I said.
Tucker hitched one shoulder. “Not worth causing a scene over at this point. We lost, you’re one of their coaches. It would look bad.”
“You’ve got more restraint than me.” Cullen chuckled. “I was ready to jump in and punch him, too.”
“Would you really have?” I slung an arm around him, hoping he’d get the message I was ready to leave. That was enough potential drama for the night.
“Eh, hard to say. Tucker makes a good point. Wouldn’t want to mess shit up for you.”
“Aren’t you a sweetheart.”
He smirked at me, and I thumbed toward the door. “Let’s get out of here.”
After making sure Ramsey had G under control, Cullen and I said our goodbyes and made our exit, heading back to my apartment.
Once we’d fucked each other senseless, we lay in each other’s arms—something I’d grown scarily accustomed to. Sometimes we bullshitted about football, each other, but sometimes it was more serious.
“How disappointed are you about the loss? For real,” I asked, threading my leg between his. His skin was sweat damp, the smell of him still intoxicating. I missed it more and more when he was gone.
“It sucks, to be honest, but hopefully there will be another season for me.” Cullen ran a hand down my chest before settling it around my waist and squeezing. “Nothing I’ve said was bullshit, though. I was excited for y’all to win because I know what that means for you, and that makes me happy. Or at least very close to as happy as I’d be if we’d won.”
He flashed me a wink, and I chuckled before sobering. “At some point, I guess we need to start talking about our exit plan?” I watched Cullen’s face carefully and couldn’t deny a big part of me wanted him to say “screw the plan.”
He rolled onto his back and fixed his gaze on the ceiling. “Yeah.” His gaze slid toward me. “But maybe we can table it until your season ends, one way or another. You don’t need distractions right now.”
Goddamn, the man was gorgeous, and I couldn’t help but wonder. “I guess this is what it would have been like if we’d stayed together back in college, gone to separate teams? It would’ve been…”
“Difficult,” Cullen finished for me, and I reached over and flipped off the light.
Difficult, yes, but maybe not as impossible as I’d thought it would be back in college. “Get your ass over here and be the little spoon. It’s your turn.” As I yanked Cullen’s arm to pull him closer to me, I wondered if we might even have been able to make it work. All I knew was that the past few months had shown me I was still, for better or worse, in love with Cullen Atwood.
23
CULLEN
“I can’t fucking believe Houston is coaching the Royals and they took us out of the playoffs. What a traitor,” Hammond said. We’d just finished our last team meeting after getting back from LA. I couldn’t lie; the morale on the team was pretty fucking low. It sucked to get taken out of the playoffs at any point, but to lose to the Rush’s longtime rivals just made everything worse.
Still, I wasn’t going to let anyone talk shit about Houston. “Fuck off. Leave Houston out of this shit. He’s a good coach who got offered a job and took it. We don’t have anyone to blame for the L but ourselves.”
Hammond held up his hands in defeat. “I like Houston; I’m just saying he could have done us a solid. Didn’t mean to insult your boyfriend.”
“Don’t do it again,” I warned. I was happy on this team. I’d never felt so at home, but I didn’t play around when it came to Houston. So why won’t you tell him how you feel? Tell him you’re not letting him walk away this time?
“Atwood! In my office!” Coach Baker said, pulling me out of my thoughts. My heart immediately dropped. I’d been stressing the fuck out ever since we lost, waiting for the Rush to tell me they weren’t offering me another contract. They still had loads of time to decide, but the longer it went, the less my chances were. Maybe they weren’t as happy with me as I was here? Maybe it would end up like every other team I’d been on and I’d been fooling myself.
“I’ll wait for you,” Tucker said. Ramsey and G had already left before Hammond opened his big-ass mouth, which I was thankful for. They didn’t need to hear people giving Houston hell.
“Thanks, man. Also, I’m pretty sure that mark on your neck isn’t a bruise…unless you count the one that comes from it getting sucked on.” A dark purple mark colored his light brown skin, not too far from his collarbone.