Page 41 of Off Season

“Interested in what?”

She sighs. “In spending time with him.”

“Have you ever known me to dip into the same well more than once?”

“Your well is still seeping into the hallway. He’s good for you and—”

I hold up my hand at her to stop her from continuing the thought. “Pass. Moving on.”

Her shoulders fall. “Was the sex bad?”

Not even a little bit. It was on its way to being the best of my life when the damn bed exploded. It was the universe’s way of reminding me not to entertain notions of considering more with him.

He’s been blowing up my phone since, but I haven’t responded. I can’t. Now it’s going to be weird when our groups hang out together. This is why I was avoiding sleeping with him in the first place.

“It was…explosive.”

CHEETAH

All of us older guys are in the training room ahead of our game tonight, getting treatments for our various ailments, each on our own training table. Getting old sucks. My body used to recover much more quickly. I’m also potentially depressed because Kamryn won’t return my calls or texts. The sex was amazing until the bed exploded. I thought for sure she’d want to give it another go.

I feel my phone ping. Like a teenage girl, I grab it, hoping Kam is responding to my texts. Much to my disappointment, it’s simplyanotherreal-estate listing from my mother. I click on it and notice that it’s four doors down from them.

Feeling defeated, I place my phone down and look overat my best friend. Layton is sitting on the training table, smiling like a lunatic. I shake my head. “What’s wrong with you? You look like Jack Nicholson inThe Shining. It’s giving me the creeps.”

Trey lets out a loud laugh. “He’s in looooove. It finally happened.”

Layton doesn’t bother to deny it; he simply sits there grinning like a fool, now purposefully trying to look like Jack.

One of the rookies, Jimmy, walks in with messy hair and Sharpie smeared all over his face. He’s wiping it with a wet towel. Trey looks at him. “What the hell happened to you?”

He scrunches his face. “I fell asleep in the locker room, and someone drew a penis on my face. I need something stronger than soap to clean it.” He looks at our trainer. “Do you have anything I can use?”

Jeffrey nods while I shake in laughter. Layton and I share bemused looks. Quincy loves to do that to young players who stay out too late and fall asleep in the clubhouse.

I ask Jimmy, “What’s worse than waking up with a guy’s hammer drawn on your face?”

Jimmy scratches his head. “What?”

I smile. “Finding out that it was traced.”

We all laugh but Trey shakes his head. “That’s definitely not long quail Quincy’s hammer. That fucker would wrap around his entire face and then down his neck. He’s got the longest babymaker I’ve ever seen.”

I nod in agreement. “That’s the truth. It must be Ezra’s, though it’s too straight to be his.”

Ezra flips me the bird.

Jimmy scrunches his face. “Oh my god. I hadn’t considered that it could be traced.” He scrubs his face even harder. “Gross. I need to find someone who saw him draw iton me. I won’t sleep tonight if that giant python was on my face.”

We all laugh hysterically as he runs out of the room in a complete panic.

Layton shakes his head. “Rookies. They’re so much fun to fuck with.”

I nod in agreement. Rookie hazing is commonplace. We’re always trying to come up with new and creative ways to torture them.

Layton asks, “Are you all good to begin the festivities at my place for the party this week?”

Layton and Arizona did a photo shoot for theSports Illustratedcouples’ body image issue. Apparently, they were half-naked the whole time. I can’t imagine how hot it’s going to be. Actually, after seeing them in action in the hotel, I can imagine it, and it’s hot as hell.

---