Page 66 of Defensive Zone

Wetting my lips, I give a clipped nod. “Yeah, I’m sure. It’ll give me the chance to see if they’ve heard anything as well.”

Zach smiles, nodding once before getting out of his car and collecting our bags from the trunk. They tend to travel to Denver the day before the game to give them some time to adjust to the altitude. It took me a while to get used to it when I first moved to Denver too, along with being apart from Zach for the first time in my life.

“Well, lookee who we have here!” Elliot chirps as we approach the steps of the plane. With a lopsided grin, he wiggles his finger between us. “Don’t think about joining the Mile High Club while we’re on our way to the Mile High City, broskis. You two won’t fit in the toilet together. It’ll make for some wild turbulence, and I don’t wanna bring up the delicious turkey and Swiss flatbread I had earlier.”

I snort as Zach flips him off and nudges him up the steps. “Get on the plane, Olsen.”

“What? It was a really good sandwich!” Elliot replies before tipping his head back with a laugh when Zach rolls his eyes.

I follow Zach as he makes his way toward the back of the plane, saying hello to everyone as I pass and making sure to thank Coach Harris for letting me tag along. Stowing my bag in the overhead bin, I drop into the aisle seat as Zach settles into the window seat with his Nintendo Switch and noise-canceling headphones. I’ve traveled with him so much, I know his in-flight routine as well as my own, and I don’t want my presence here to interfere with that.

I’m about to tell him to just go about his normal routine as if I’m not here when he asks quietly, “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to them?”

I shake my head. “No, not yet, but I’ve got some time to think about it.”

He laughs quietly under his breath and loads up his Switch. “I think you’re worrying about nothing, but it’s good you’re speaking to them. It would’ve been unhealthy to stew on it until July.”

“I know.” I squeeze his thigh, then lean over to smack a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You do your thing. Pretend I’m not here.”

“Like I’ll ever be able to do that.” He winks then puts on his headphones as I sit back into the seat and think about how I’m going to bring it up to the boys.

A few hours later, I’m walking through the doors to the steakhouse where I’ve arranged to meet Palmer and Walker. They were the reason why I bought a house in this area. We play on the same line together, as they are both defensive tackles and I’m a defensive end, and we naturally gravitated toward each other being around the same age too. But they’re both married with kids, and I’m… well… I’ve been hypothetically married to Zach all this time.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Palmer drawls as I approach the table.

Grinning, I hold my hands out to the side and give a careless shrug. “What can I say? I’ve missed both of you and couldn’t stay away any longer.”

“Fuck off.” Walker scoffs. “You couldn’t get out of here fast enough. It was like your ass was on fire.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw a trail of smoke following you out the door,” Palmer jokes.

I give them both a one-armed bro-hug before sitting down at the table. “You know how it is. I needed to lick my wounds in Chicago, and there’s only one thing that can help me.”

And he goes by the name Zach Reid.

The three of us catch up over amazing food and drinks, and I’m glad they don’t mention anything when I stick to water. I have plans for tonight when I get back to the hotel, and I don’t want to fog my head with alcohol.

“You haven’t heard anything? At all?” Palmer asks, brows raised in surprise.

I shake my head, sipping on my water. “No, nothing. I know I played like shit last season, but?—”

“Hey, whoa, no. We all played like shit last season, but that waslastseason. Coach Jefferson knows how much hard work you put into your training and into your game,” Walker protests. “It wasn’t your fault you were unlucky, getting hit with injury after injury.”

I missed a couple of games here and there thanks to things such as torn muscles, bruised ribs, and a fractured finger. I had blocked it out of my mind, because to me, they were minor injuries. It wasn’t anything like what Zach had sustained.

I didn’t see it at the time, but these guys were there for me when Zach couldn’t be. We might not be as close as the Thunder boys, but they were there through the tough times, even if I did shut myself away.

“It’s hard to be on top of your game when you recover from one thing, only to be taken down two weeks later by something else.” Palmer sighs, his thumb idly peeling the label from his bottle of beer. “If it helps, I haven’t heard anything either. I’m kinda taking it as no news is good news.”

“Both your contracts are up after next season, right? Maybe they’re working on offering an extension?” Walker suggests, his tone hopeful.

“Maybe.” I rub my hand over my face and lean back in my chair.

“Anyway, enough about stuff that’s out of our hands. Tell us how your man is doing,” Palmer says, resting his forearms onthe table in front of him. “I mean, I can’t say we’re surprised to hear that you and Zach are boyfriends.” He shares an amused look with Walker. “We all thought you were secretly dating, and the girlfriends were just to warm your bed during the season because they didn’t seem to stick around for very long.”

“Would you believe me if I said I had no idea people thought that?” I chuckle, shaking my head softly. “But he’s doing good, thanks. I’ll be honest… I… I didn’t think you cared. I didn’t hear from you when he was in the hospital, and it was only the other day that I realized that I never heard from you at all and it kinda stung.”

Hurt flashes through Walker’s eyes. “Of course we fucking care, dude. I know Melissa sent flowers to your apartment with a note telling you we were here for you if you needed us. Didn’t you get them?”

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