“Thank you,” I replied and paused. “Wait, why him?”
“Why not? I saw him looking at you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Finish your drink.”
I reached for the toothpick with the olives, set it aside, and downed the rest of the martini in one go. The salty brine and the burn of the vodka was so damn good.
“Are you ready?” Selwin asked me, his expression serious.
“Yes.”
“He was watching you. Intently.”
I shook my head with incredulity. “That’s because he can’t stand me.”
Selwin rolled his eyes.
“Damien, for a former fuckboy, you’re remarkably naïve. I don’t mean glaring at you. I mean, undressing you with his eyes.”
“What? No. He likes to push my patience,” I stated, my voice cracking along with my calm. “And the feeling’s mutual. He’s always mouthing off, making some sarcastic comment or another, and I give it right back to him. That’s all. You’re wrong, buddy. So fucking wrong.”
Selwin shook his head and motioned to Quinnie again.
“This news calls for another drink. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
CHAPTER 8
SILAS
THE NEXT DAY
The plane ride home was quiet. No surprise, given that everyone on our team was hungover, me included. Even Banning had his sunglasses on and was passed out cold in his seat.
Huh. That was a first.
I’d thought about checking out that bar, Moonbeam, last night but decided that no, I didn’t want to be anywhere near where Coach was. What he was doing at a queer bar was none of my business. And I sure as hell didn’t want him to know mine.
Even with that, I couldn’t help but wonder, had he picked anyone up last night?
Was he gay? Bi? Why was I so fucking curious?
Chill, who cares? I don’t.
I’d blame my weird mood on being frustrated and exhausted. After all, I was up all night.
No, unfortunately it wasn’t because I got laid.
I’d hit three bars and still, it was a total shutout. At the last bar, there was one guy who made serious eye contact, and I was stoked. Unfortunately, when he approached me, he talked myear off when the last thing I wanted was conversation. Then he leaned over to kiss me, and I backed off. He had a confident air that should’ve had me saying yes, but kissing was way too personal for me, and never with a hookup. Hard no.
My rejection had him backing up faster than a hockey player near soft ice.
No one else caught my attention, and I was so annoyed with myself. Since when was I so picky? I reasoned it was because my adrenaline was crashing. By two a.m., I was done. All I wanted was my hotel bed and sleep.
I headed back to my room, broke, still horny, wiped, and dehydrated. I chugged a couple of bottles of water and threw myself down on my bed. I didn’t even have the energy to jerk myself off. Finn was dead asleep in his bed, and I envied him. As tired as I was, sleep eluded me, and I lay there until I saw the sun peeking out from behind the heavy curtains.
I was a zombie throughout breakfast, grunting responses to my teammates instead of speaking in full sentences. Despite the euphoria from our win, my attitude was the same on the ride to the airport and on the plane. I knew there’d be a lot of school celebrations when we got back, so I needed to save my peopling for that.
