Page 14 of Icing the Play

CHAPTER FOUR

COOPER

“I’m going to kill him.” With a huff, I dropped into the puffy leather couch at the football house, combing my hand through my hair.

“What the fuck did Tony do now?” Eli lumbered from the hallway to the bedrooms and dropped in beside me, bouncing me on the cushion, his almost black hair falling into his deep brown eyes.

“He’s started stealing Coop’s shit.” Casey, our starting quarterback, shifted on the loveseat next to the couch, blowing a lock of his dirty blond hair from his green eyes.

“That’s fucked up.” Eli, one of our best linebackers, clomped his big hand on my thigh. “What did he try to steal?”

“The mouse for my Mac. He claimed he didn’t know where it was, but after he left for the night, I found it in his room. Like sitting on his fucking desk.” I scoffed. “He doesn’t even use a Mac. I can’t trust this guy worth shit.” I had to leave before I broke something out of anger, and these guys would let me vent. Plus, they’d keep my mind off Myles being on a date with JJ.

“When was the last time you cooked at your place?” Casey narrowed his eyes at me.

“A week ago. He keeps promising to clean up his dishes, butI don’t think he’s cleaned anything for a few weeks now. The last time I cleaned up after him was a week ago.” I inhaled deeply, attempting to unravel the tightness in my chest. “I think he’s cooking with dirty pans at this point.”

“That’s gross, dude.” Shaking his head, Eli removed his hand from my thigh. “You know you’re welcome to have some home-cooked meals here.”

“Yeah, shit.” If only there was space for me here. I rubbed a tense muscle in my neck and then picked up my Gatorade from the black coffee table in front of me and sipped it. I needed a beer, but I had an early class in the morning and if I started drinking now, I might not stop.

“Hey, did you see JJ before he went on his date?” Eli smirked. “He was all dressed up.”

“He was.” Nodding, Casey peeked at me. “I haven’t seen him wear anything but athletic gear since we came back from summer break.”

Chewing the inside of my lip, I stared at my Gatorade bottle, now wedged between my thighs. Setting Myles and JJ up was the right thing to do. I had to keep telling myself that.

“What’s with the look?” Casey peered at me, a soft smirk curling his lip.

“What look?” Forcing a smile at Casey, I said, “I’m happy for JJ. I’m sure they’re having a great time.” I sucked in a breath, calming the knot in my stomach.

“Your friend doesn’t know you’ve been hooking up with guys, does he?” Casey leaned forward and planted his elbows on his thighs, wrapping his fingers together.

Shaking my head, I said, “Nope. I’ve told no one back home.” It was like here, with new people, it was okay. It was my fantasy life. But back home? I wasn’t sure. I already had an identity there that had only included dating women.

“Myles won’t tell on you.” Eli snorted. “He’s a gay man, right? He’ll understand if you don’t want it spread around.”

I fisted my Gatorade. Myles wasn’t even out to his ownfamily. I didn’t know how he’d pulled that off all these years. It wasn’t my place to say anything, though. “I’ll tell him when the time is right.”

“Okay.” Casey narrowed his eyes. “Damn, man, don’t worry about it so much.” He hopped up from the loveseat and fell in beside me. “There’s something else.”

With a vigorous shake of my head, I said, “No, there’s nothing else.” Except for the weird fluttery feelings I was getting around Myles and the fact I didn’t want to think about him dating JJ.

“You know you can talk to us.” Eli angled to face me.

Great, now I had both of them after me. “I’m fine. If I could escape my lease and get away from my roommate, I’d be better.” I lifted my chin. I had to return them to the bigger problem.

The front door burst open, and JJ and Myles walked in, hand in hand and laughing.

My stomach clenched. Shit, I didn’t need to see this.

Myles’s gaze locked on mine, and he froze, his laughter dying in his throat. “Cooper, what are you doing here?”

JJ glanced twice at me, then at Myles. “He comes over here a lot. Don’t you, Coop?” With his smile waning, he shut the door behind them. “I thought it was time to introduce Myles to more of my friends.” He led Myles into the room and stopped in front of the coffee table.

Myles hung his head, fisting and opening his free hand. With a deep inhale, he lifted his head and smiled. “Hi, nice to meet you guys, eh.”

“I’m Eli. Linebacker for ASU.” Eli hooked his arm on the back of the couch behind me.

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