Page 9 of Touchdown

Unfortunately, it turns out that perhaps he should have.

Cody and I are so busy sniping at each other that when the ball comes in our direction, neither of us see it.

The opposing team takes it easily and scores with it.

“Cody, Luke! Stop arguing and pay attention!” Brandon bellows.

Cody and I give each other one departing glare before moving to opposite ends of the field.

Things don’t get better. In fact, they only get worse. Neither Cody nor I can seem to control ourselves. Everything he does is just so intensely irritating, even when he’s not being actively hostile toward me (which admittedly isn’t often).

In the end, we lose the game. The rest of the team gives us betrayed looks and I feel guilt squirm in my stomach. We lost because of Cody and me, and everyone knows it.

Brandon gives us a disgusted look. “We’ll talk about this later. The rest of you, well played. You did really well. Don’t worry about the loss, we’ll hit our stride once we resolve the… personal issues.”

Thankfully, Brandon doesn’t decide to reprimand Cody and me right now. I suppose he’s giving himself time to come up with a good speech… or he’s deciding which one of us to kick off the team. it had better be Cody. He was the one who started all of this nonsense in the first place. If not for him, we would have won that game.

I stomp through to the showers, aggravated to see Cody already there. I turn my back so that I don’t have to look at his stupidly toned abs as I shower.

We normally hang out as a team after winning or losing a game, but I have the feeling that the rest of the team isn’t going to want to have anything to do with Cody or me just now, so I go home alone, cursing Cody Miller and wishing that I’d never met the guy.

4

Cody

“This isn’t working.”

I try not to let my sudden alarm show. I came in expecting a lecture from Brandon, but he’s looking uncharacteristically serious, even compared to the other angry reprimands Luke and I have gotten in the past. The fact that he asked to speak with me alone also puts me on edge.

Am I about to be kicked off the team? In all honesty, if that’s the case, I couldn’t really blame Brandon. I’ve behaved horribly and I’d deserve it. Still, I hold out some slim hope that I may have a couple of chances left.

“What do you mean?” I ask evenly.

“You know exactly what I mean, Cody! I know you are behind the problems with you and Luke. You have refused to tell me what the problem is and at this point, I don’t care. I’m going to give you until the end of the day to decide if you can work with him or not. If you can’t, then I’ll do my best to help you find a placement with another team. If you decide you want to stay, then I expect you to drop the drama, and I mean right now.”

I open my mouth to protest, but what can I really say? He’s right. Of course, he’s right. This can’t go on. The lost game yesterday proves that much.

“I understand, Brandon. I will think on it and let you know.”

“Good. I’ll talk to Luke too, but if you stop with the bullshit, I expect he’ll be willing to give you another chance.”

We’ve got two weeks until the next game, so Brandon has given us the day away from practice. I go home and indulge in a tub of ice cream on the way back. I’ll have plenty of time to eat well before I need to play again.

I sit gloomily on my couch, eating the ice cream, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do.

Brandon is right. I need to change my attitude—either move to a different team or stop treating Luke the way I have been. Despite all the problems with Luke, I really don’t want to move to another team. I like all of my teammates—even Luke, surprisingly, his stupidly handsome features excluded—and I feel like I fit in well here.

I try to drown my sorrows in the ice cream, but there is little such escape while I still have the decision hanging over my head.

What is more important to me? My career or my heart? Or to put it another way… How long am I going to let Zack haunt me and my future? Will I really give up a job I love just because I’m afraid that someone else could hurt me like he did?

It’s not like I’m suddenly going to fall in love with Luke if I start treating him decently. I won’t give him that opportunity to hurt me. And after I continued to treat him like I have been even after the blowjobs, I doubt he’ll have any further interest in sleeping with me. I should be safe.

So, I grab my phone and look through the team group chat for Luke’s number. I call and wait while it rings.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Luke, it’s Cody.”

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