Page 60 of Sidelining the Safety

“Jeff’s there. Your other cooks are there, and Amy’s always there by seven. They’re fine.”

Mac growled. “I hate you. I love you, but I hate you right now. Where are my clothes, damn it?”

“Living room,” Lee said, poking his head out and eyeballing Mac’s naked butt as he ran from the bedroom. He raked a long glance down Drew’s body. “You better get a move on, too, since you have to drive him.”

Drew’s eyes widened. “Shit. I do, don’t I?” He sprang up and swapped places with Lee.

Once he was dressed and his bag packed, Lee hustled into the kitchen to grab a protein shake and throw a pod into the coffee machine. They gave him goodbye kisses while he was texting Yowie he’d be late and took off, slamming the door on their way out. He texted Coach Mike his apologies, too. He was out the door not five minutes later.

He should have known he’d get a ribbing the moment he walked through the weight room doors to join his line for warm-ups. Lee blushed under the catcalls and whistles.

“Somebody got lucky.” Yowie sang, pumping his hips. “All night long. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.”

Lee walked right over to him, smiled, and punched his arm. “Quit it.”

“Young’s got free rein to make your life miserable today, Matters,” Coach Mike said from where he stood in the corner talking with Fitz. “I hope it was worth it.”

Lee covered his eyes with both hands, but he didn’t miss seeing the matching smirks on both Coach’s and the GM’s faces first. “I hate you all. I love you, but I hate you right now.” He laughed under his breath, realizing he’d just repeated the same thing Mac had said to Drew that morning. He turned in a slow circle. “I humbly apologize for getting laid last night. It was definitely worth it, and I will accept my punishment gracefully.” He put his hand over his heart and blinked at Coach with his best puppy-dog eyes.

The cheers were nearly deafening. Why did talking about sex turn men of any age into horny, hormone-driven teenagers? Lee rolled his eyes, remembering how his mom would say, “It’s one of life’s great mysteries.”

“How about a deal, Coach?” Yowie slid over to stand beside them. “Lee turns that energy into a win for us on Sunday, and you and I will forget all about him being tardy today. We lose, though, you run wind sprints and lift weights till you ain’t got nothing in you for those boys. They’re gonna have to drag your tired ass out of here.”

Lee grimaced. With as much ribbing as Yowie had been giving him, he’d forgotten that showing up late meant he’d be slapped with a fine. The money—ultimately a donation to one of the team’s charities—was a drop in the bucket, but Lee prided himself on his work ethic. He’d rather give because he wanted to, not because he’d had sex all night and then forgot to set his alarm. Although… now that he thought about it…

“I like it,” Coach Mike said. He clapped Lee on the arm. “Better warm up. Big game Sunday.” He walked away, laughing his head off.

Lee groaned. He turned and stared daggers at Yowie. “I hate you.”

Yowie grinned. “So you’ve said. Well, come on. You heard Coach. Warm up.” He wiggled a finger at the treadmills.

“Loathe. Abhor. Despise.” Lee rattled off every synonym he could think of as he strode toward his doom.

Caitlin wants to meet us after practice.

Lee reread the message from Drew. How, why, and every other question popped into his head. What the hell?

And then he realized he had over a dozen missed notifications from Caitlin, Fitz, and his mom. Lee dropped onto the closest bench to read them. He started with his mom as she’d be the least of his problems. Did he even have a problem? Nobody better label Drew and Mac as problems.

“You okay, Matty?” Anders bumped Lee’s shoulder as he moved to his stall.

“I think so, but…” He waved his phone. “Looks like everyone wants a piece of me.”

Anders snorted.

Lee huffed. He’d walked into that one. “Caitlin wants to see me, Drew, and Mac. ASAP.”

Anders’ smile faded. “Did someone leak a picture?” He sat next to Lee and bumped their arms together.

“I don’t know… I don’t think so. It might be about the arson.”

Ander’s eyes widened. “Arson? What the fuck?” He grabbed Lee’s wrist. “Where? When? Holy shit.”

“What’s going on?” Yowie asked, standing in front of them in nothing but a towel around his waist. Jakes stood just behind him, looking on, also in a towel, his dreads falling in disarray around his shoulders.

“Someone set a fire behind the diner last night. I saw the guy running, saw the fire, and then ran inside to report it.”

“Shit. Is everyone okay? Was the diner damaged?”

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