Page 8 of Fear of Love
“Yeah?”
I glanced up at him. “How do you feel doing an interview for the magazine?” I asked. I grinned at the way his eyes widened.
“Seriously?”
“Why not? We could highlight you and the team. If Josie doesn’t mind, she can take pictures at the game.”
“Hell yes.” Mateo quickly nodded. The words barely left his mouth before Landon cut him off.
“No.”
I turned to face Landon, eyebrow raised as he sent me a glare. “No?”
“He isn’t some prized mare you can showcase in your magazine.” Landon’s voice was hard and unforgiving.
“I have no problem being a prized mare,” Mateo offered before his brother brushed his response to the side.
“What’s the harm? It’s good publicity for him and the university.”
“He’s a kid,” Landon snapped. “He doesn’t need to be paraded around just for you to get some money.”
“Lan—” Wyatt tried to say, but I was already talking.
“He’s nineteen and can make decisions for himself.” I narrowed my eyes at Landon, anger starting to burn in my chest. “And I’m not using him for money. It’s to help get his name out there.”
“It puts another target on his back. You’re basically telling everyone aboutWyatt Boone’syounger brother.”
“They already know he’s Wyatt’s brother.”
“They’ll start to question his talent and if he got where he is today without any help. Any scouts that want him will start looking at others who are ‘more deserving.’ All you’ll be doing is making it twice as hard for Mateo to succeed.”
Landon’s words hit my chest like an arrow. When I thought of the idea of Mateo being in the magazine, I hadn’t thought about it like that. I just wanted to help. I opened my mouth to apologize but Landon kept going.
“You may be money hungry but the rest of us are not.”
His words hit me square in the stomach, more brutal than the last. The room was silent as Landon’s words echoed in the air. Everyone stood around staring as if they weren’t sure what to say.
I held Landon’s gaze for another moment before looking down at my hands embedded in my pizza dough. My chest ached from his words, but I forced my face to remain blank, the emotionless mask I perfected sliding into place.
Awkwardness grew with each passing second, the others shifting on their feet. I felt Mateo move before I saw it. In a matter of seconds, he ripped off a piece of his dough and lobbed it across the island, hitting Trevor in the face.
Just like that, the tension lifted as Trevor wasted no time throwing a piece of dough back. I didn’t have it in me to laugh with everyone else when it slid down Mateo’s face.
A half an hour later,the pizzas were ready to be baked. Despite Mateo lightening the mood, there was still an air of tension lingering. I was actively ignoring Landon, and everyone knew it.
Landon’s words were harsh and ate away at me. Did he really think I was money hungry? Was I in the wrong for offering Mateo a spot in the magazine? I didn’t mean for it to come off that way but maybe it did. Even so, Landon didn’t need to be an absolute asshole about it. Then again when wasn’t he?
With the guys cooking the pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven, and the girls inside setting the table, I slipped outside, making my way toward the covered pool. The air was cold, and I hugged my arms around my middle. I should have been inside helping, but I needed a moment, even if that meant freezing my ass off outside. Though it was early in the afternoon, the sun was partially blocked by clouds.
I took a seat on the edge of one of the pool recliners. Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes before I felt the presence of someone behind me.
“You’re sulking.” A tall, lean body plopped down in the recliner next to me.
“I just needed a breather.”
“That could be classified as sulking,” Mateo pointed out.
I didn’t answer, not wanting to admit that he was right.
