“Uh huh.”
“Then what was I being?”
I would’ve expected anyone with a mouth the size of Jax’s to produce a snappy answer, but he only stood there with his thumb up his ass. Good thing, too, because I totally would’ve given him the sharp side of my tongue, captain of our team or not.
Rather than further the conversation, I kept cramming equipment into my bag and prepared to hit the shower. Yeah,the game had gone way differently than I’d expected, even though it saw its share of animosity. I just felt relieved no one had been seriously hurt.
That meant Coach Mack’s plan had fallen flat on its face. I wouldn’t cry over that. If Jax asked, maybe I would give him all the candor his pea brain could handle.
As it was, I knew he wasn’t done with the topic.
“The team had a mission to accomplish tonight,” Jax said, “and?—”
“And I helped reach the team’s goal. No one can say I didn’t.”
Jax’s lips parted, like he meant to interrupt me, but I wouldn’t let him.
“We won the game,” I said. “Hands down, period. We didn’t even go into overtime. Let’s not get into the team’s mission, Jax. I’ve known what it is from day one.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”
Of course I knew it, but I would’ve rather stuck to promoting our true purpose than cave to Jax’s stupidity. Well, technically it was Coach Mack’s stupidity, but it takes an even bigger idiot to further the silliness of another.
“I think the goal here was set out pretty clearly,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been mad if you’d failed to take out Jakob Martin as long as you’d at least tried. But you didn’t try. It was like you didn’t want to hurt anyone out there.”
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I mean, you were scared to hurt someone.”
“I’m not scared, Jax. I just wouldn’t do it.”
Jax froze. His lips moved but no words issued forth like he hadn’t seen that one coming, and certainly not from me. Instead of listening to his shit, I stripped out of my underwear and t-shirt, grabbed a towel, and headed to the shower. Jax did the same. Annoyed as I was, I couldn’t help stealing a glimpse of his big dick swinging back and forth metronome-like as he walked.
I twisted the shower taps on and basked in the hot water spraying my face. That would have to provide my postgame highlight since I certainly couldn’t count on a real celebration, at least not as far as Jax was concerned. He wouldn’t have been happy unless someone had been carted out on a stretcher.
“You must have a lot of money, bro,” Jax said, standing under the next shower nozzle.
“What are you talking about now, Jax?”
“You left a shit ton of money on the table. Think about it. You could’ve taken a clear shot at Jakob. It was right there in front of you—more than one, actually. I know why you didn’t do it, too.”
Oh my God,I thought.He knows?
My stomach twisted and I struggled to hide my fear from Jax. What was there to be scared of, though? I didn’t want to feel scared. I also didn’t want to experience shame, and the only sense of it to settle over me was the fear of admitting my relationship to Jakob. Still, if I thought Jax had gone hard on me for failing to hurt Jakob, I knew damn well I hadn’t seen anything yet.
So far, the sound of water hissing and splashing naked bodies and shower tile had provided the only answer.
I spread shower gel all over my upper body and snatched a peek at Jax doing the same. Though part of me had grown to hate him, I couldn’t help giving in to the one thing I’d never done before meeting Jakob. Much more of this and I would grow addicted… or sprout a hard-on at exactly the wrong moment.
“Nothing, Zane?” he asked. “No answer?”
I shrugged, unsure what to tell him.
“By the way, what’s the deal with Jakob anyway?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My teammate snorted like he knew bullshit when he choked on it.
