Page 3 of The Trophy

I’m not entirely convinced though. “That’s all fine and dandy but if you care so much about Lake, why did you open your big mouth earlier with Topher? If she wasn’t just a hookup for you, why brag about it in the locker room?”

Luca’s reaction tells me I hit a nerve. “Perché sono una testa di cazzo, ok? (Because I’m a dickhead, ok?). My fucking Italian temper got the best of me. I hated the way you two tried to call dibs and then Topher proposed that disgusting bet and I saw red. I thought if I told him that we all had slept with her, there would be no point to Topher’s bet. I could never have imagined that he would say that to be captain, we have to get her to choose.”

I believe him.

This is a fucking mess.

“I care about Lake too,” I admit. “What the two of you said about chemistry? I felt that too with her. But for me it goes beyond that. Lakyn and I have a lot in common. We like the same books, we really get each other. I’m not just interested in fucking her, she could become my best friend too.”

Cash runs a hand over his face, his voice laced with the same bone deep tiredness I’m feeling. “So you aren’t backing out of pursuing her?”

I shake my head. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think she could be the one.”

Luca and Cash both nod and the understanding in their eyes is the last thing I wanted to see.

Cash asks another hard question. “What about the captain spot? Do you both want it?”

Once again, we both dip our heads to confirm that we do.

“Fuck,” Cash bites out, voicing the same feeling of frustration I feel. “So we all want her to choose us. We all want her and now getting the girl also means becoming team captain.”

Luca barks out a laugh. “Che situazione di merda (what a shitty situation). So what are we gonna do? Compete for her? Date her until one of us wins her over? Because there are no dibs here.” His gaze is set on Cash when he says that.

Our goalie shrugs. “I guess there’s no other choice since none of us wants to give up on either Lake or the captain spot.”

“Then I guess it’s game on,” Luca says. “Ok. So it’s up to Lakyn to choose her man. So we need to find a way to make this fair. To pursue her without getting in each other’s way. Date her and let our individual relationships grow until she makes her choice.”

Cash considers Luca’s words. “And how do you propose to do that and keep things fair? Are we gonna make a schedule to divide her time between the three of us? Is it first come first serve, or do we leave it totally up to her?”

“It’s her choice in the end?—”

I’ve been watching the two of them the same way you watch a tennis match, but it’s time to give my teammates a reality check. “You’re right that it’s up to Lake in the end, but you’re forgetting something very important.”

I have their attention as they both turn to look at me. “What’s that?” they ask in unison.

“We need to tell her about the bet.”

For once Cash and Luca are on the same page. Their reaction to my words is very similar.

“Sei impazzito? (Are you crazy?)” Luca gasps.

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Cash scowls. “Why would we do that? If she knew about this stupid bet, she’d kick all three of us to the curb.”

Luca nods, crossing his arms over his chest. “Cash is right. There’s no reason to tell her. After all, she already knows we want her. It’s not like we made a bet before we went out with her.”

I sigh. “You don’t get it. True, we all liked her before the bet. But I’ve read too many stories like this one in romance novels. If this comes out, it’s not going to matter that we all liked her before. She’s gonna think we planned it from the beginning. Or that after the initial spark, we continued to pursue her to win a bet.”

I know my words hit their intended target because Cash and Luca are both looking at me with pensive expressions.

“The only way to make sure this doesn’t explode in our faces,” I continue, “is to come clean about the bet right away. If we tell her now, she won’t have any reason not to trust us later.”

Cash shakes his head. “I don’t like this. What if she gets mad now? There’s no guarantee that she’ll appreciate our honesty. I don’t like the idea of lying to her, but we all know that we don’t just want her because of the bet. We know our hearts are in the right place. I say we keep our mouths shut and just fight for her.”

I’m about to argue with Cash’s assessment of the situation, but Luca intervenes.

“Blaze isn’t wrong,” he muses. “You’re right that there’s always a risk that she could get mad if we tell her now, but the more we play this game, the worse we’re gonna look if this comes out. Besides, I don’t know you, but if Lakyn chooses me, I don’t want a lie to be the foundation of our relationship.”

Cash isn’t easily convinced. “You aren’t looking at it the right way. If we tell her, she’s gonna think that everything we do from now on has an agenda. We’re gonna ruin everything. I care too much about her to risk losing her before I even have a chance to be with her.”

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