Page 138 of The Play

Carter rolled his eyes, but Deacon could see the way his jaw tightened with determination. Carter might talk a lot of shit—a lot of shit—but he was as competitive as any of them. Maybe even more.

“Yeah, you got it for me this week, Maxwell?” Riley challenged.

“Oh, I got it for you, Flynn,” Carter said, and the fierceness in his face melted away, revealing his goofiest smile.

Landry smacked him. “Stop flirting with my boyfriend,” he teased.

“Tell him to stop being so hot, and I will,” Carter retorted.

“Maybe I’ll tell Ian,” Landry said.

“You’re assuming Ian wasn’t the one to point just how delectable our quarterback is. He’s taken, not blind.”

“Ugh,” Landry said. “You two are kinda the worst.”

“You mean the best,” Carter said with a leer. “The most terrible twosome.”

Deacon sighed and picked up his helmet. “Carter, at least try to remember Ian was brought here to . . .” He couldn’t find the best way to describe it.

Control wasn’t it.

Monitor wasn’t it, either.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Carter’s eyes were twinkling now, his face softened into undeniable affection. “I remember exactly why he was hired. And how fantastic a job he does, every single day.”

“Ew. How many times do we have to tell you we don’t want to know about your sex life,” Beck retorted. “Deac—stop him. Please. Before all our ears start to bleed.”

“Better him than me,” Deacon said, laughing shortly.

“Don’t worry,” Riley said, patting him on the shoulder, “if you ever did decide to share, we’d all be plenty interested.”

“Yeah, you two are fire together. So much hotness,” Carter echoed. He leaned down. Picked up the pages he’d dropped earlier. “Speaking of hotness—”

“Ugh. Forget I said anything,” Deacon interrupted.

“Yeah, respect your elders,” Micah said, smacking Carter upside the head.

When Deacon headed out towards the tunnel, leading to the practice field, he wasn’t surprised to see Riley and Beck join him.

“You know he means well, right?” Riley asked as they emerged onto the field.

“Yeah, he might be kind of an asshole sometimes, but he’s doing it because he’s happy for you guys, genuinely. We all are,” Beck said.

“I assumed you would be,” Deacon said dryly.

“Huh,” Beck said, glancing over at Riley. “I kinda thought he’d be freaked out—but he’s like all calm and shit.”

“That’s ’cause he’s in love,” Riley said.

“Guys—” But Deacon didn’t get any more words out.

“It’s alright, we get it. You don’t want to talk about it. But if you did,” Beck said, “we’re here. We’re all here, for you.”

“Maybe not Carter,” Riley joked.

“Not if you want to give a rundown in the middle of the locker room,” Beck said. Though they all knew Carter could run his mouth, Deacon knew the man could also keep a secret. After all, he’d known Deacon was retiring after the end of this season long before the rest of the team, and he’d never said a word.

Every time he even thought about how few times he’d jog out here like this, as a player, on the way to practice, it made his heart hurt.

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