Page 53 of Hot Receiver

“How many, Matt?” one of the guys calls out.

I turn to smirk at Brett. “One, unless it’s a blowout. Then all of them show up.”

The look on Brett’s face. Shit. It’s one I’ll never forget.

He turns colors, sputtering shit that nobody understands.

I wink at him. “Save it for the game, buddy. Don’t waste all your words on me. You’ll need ‘em for the huddles.”

Laughter echoes in the open hallway. More bright white flashes hit my eyes.

I nudge Zak in the direction of our locker room and away from this circus. His dark eyes glimmer. A hint of a smile tugs at his lips.

He doesn’t need to say a word. His expression gives me everything.

I hold up a hand to wave and smile at the press. “Thank you very much. Try the veal. We’ve got to run now. It’s almost showtime.”

Then I grab Zak’s arm and rush him away from the cameras. “How the fuck did you get trapped like that?” I mutter once we’re out of earshot.

We round a corner, and he stops. Grabbing me by the arms, Zak pushes me against the cold cement wall. “Why did you do that?”

“You were fucking drowning out there, brah. Were you,like, catatonic there for a minute? You weren’t talking or moving. Fucking A, maybe you weren’t even breathing. If you ask me, I showed up just in time.”

“You had every reason to let me fucking vaporize back there.” His jaw tenses. “But you didn’t.”

“What? Is it so hard to believe I’m a halfway decent guy?” I shake my head and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Never leave a man behind.”

I almost choke on my words.

Except I already did.

I ignore the chill that slips down my back under Zak’s razor-sharp gaze.

“Anyway,” I say, bringing a hand to the back of my neck and tugging my hair because I’m such a fucking idiot. “What are you doing down here on the opposing side? What are you doing down here at all?”

Zak looks away, his skin back to bronze from the startling red shade it was a few minutes ago. “I came down to talk to the team. I don’t want to be the prick owner with a stick up his ass. I want them to know I’m invested in them, that I want to support them. It’s the best way for me to keep my dad’s legacy alive.”

“And so, since you’ve never been down here, you didn’t know this was the away side? And that there was a chance you’d run into Travers?”

“You’re a real smartass, you know that? I did it to keep my plans to talk to the team private.”

Zak grins, and it makes me think of the last time I saw this smile.

My gut clenches.

The guy. The one who came out of his office.

He got one, too. Not that long ago.

I give a tight nod. I did the right thing by saving him.

Just like I did the first time.

He doesn’t want anything from me.

I shouldn’t want anything from him.

“Lemme show you where you can find your team.”

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