Page 98 of End Game
“I don’t want to do this anywhere. I want you to stop being a dick.”
“Both of you!” Coach booms. “To the locker room and get off team property until tomorrow morning. You better come back with a better attitude, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” I mutter, bumping Finn in the shoulder as I walk by.
I watch for Callum all the way to the locker room, but don’t see him. My helmet goes sailing across the room, hitting a folding chair. The sound blasts against the lockers.
Falling onto the chair with my name on it in front of my locker, I put my head in my hands. My head pounds, my jaws aching from clenching my teeth so long.
Finn comes in, shoving his shit on the ground and dropping into his chair. He’s across the room from me.
It’s perfectly quiet, only the sound of our breathing breaking the peace. Once I’ve caught my breath and my blood pressure is somewhat stabilized, I look up. Finn does at the same time.
He tries to glare at me, but he fails miserably. At the same time, we start laughing. It begins as a slow chuckle and ends up with an all-out cackle.
“God, I want to kill him,” Finn laughs, catching his breath. “That was a decent right hand you had there.”
“Fuck him. Fuck that motherfucker.”
“What did he say to you?”
“Want to go to jail?” I ask him, raising a brow. “Because if I tell you, you will. I’m the one getting that pleasure and when I do, someone needs to bail my ass out.”
This silences my friend. He hangs his head. “I’m not sorry I hit you,” Finn says. “But I’m sorry I did it as hard as I did.”
“Nah,” I say, standing up and taking off my shoulder pads. “If you hadn’t given it all you had, I’d have called you a pussy.”
“That wasn’t all I had.”
“The hell it wasn’t,” I taunt, grabbing my stuff for the showers. “But I get it. And I respect it.”
He takes a deep breath and walks across the room, stopping a few feet in front of me. Extending a hand, I take it and we shake.
“Layla said you went with her to the doctor,” he says.
“I did. It was amazing. I know what that sounds like, but I don’t have any other way to explain it,” I shrug. “I did that, you know? It’s . . . incredible.”
“I think it’s nice you think it’s incredible and I’m really glad you went with her.”
“I told you I was going to be there for her.” I force a swallow. “In all honesty, when I said that originally, I really meant the baby more than her. But now . . . I mean it. I want to be there for her, Finn. And I hope you understand what I mean by that.”
He returns my smile. “Just be good to her, okay? Because if you don’t, I’ll show you just how much power I have in both hands.”
Laughing, I head to the showers. “You aren’t doing this just to get Poppy’s pussy back, are you?”
“Not totally . . .”
We laugh again and there isn’t any more to say. Things are getting back on track, even if my hand might be broken.
“Lucky! We have a couple of questions.”
A reporter forExposéis waiting by my car. I wonder vaguely how she got in the facility as security is pretty good at weeding out the media except in designated areas.
“I’m not really in the chatting mood,” I say, hitting the unlock button.
“We were sure you’d want to set the record straight.” The woman looks at me with a smug grin. “But if not . . .”
My blood cools in my veins, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. “Set it straight about what?”
