Page 68 of Playing for Keeps
“I tried to put a stop to it,” Shaun replied.
“Oh come on,” Steven said, throwing his arms up. “You know once you’ve said something like that they’ll run it. Why didn’t you tell Howard what you’d done?”
Shaun was crimson. He reminded Udo of a cornered beast. The most unpredictable kind.
“It’s what I thought at the time. You can’t control that.”
Adam put his hand on Shaun’s shoulder. “No one is trying to. Just don’t tell a fucking reporter about it. The fans are going to wonder what the hell’s going on.”
Shaun pushed Adam’s hand off him.
“The fans deserve to know when the club spend a fuckton of money on a useless player.”
“A player that’s scored twice in two games,” Steven replied.
He glanced at Udo, whose head was down. Shaun clearly had no idea the pain that he’d caused him.
“Why are you so worked up?” Shaun asked. “You fucking him or something?”
Steven launched toward Shaun and Javier held him.
“Steven. Out. Now,” Javier yelled.
Unable to meet anyone’s gaze, Steven stormed out of the locker room and into the corridor. He’d let his emotions get the better of him. He never did that.
In no time, Javier joined him.
“Follow me,” he said, grimly.
Javier led him out onto the pitch. Steven’s heart was pounding. He followed Javier to the far side, as far away from the building as possible.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Javier asked.
“He needed it,” Steven replied. “Riggs is out of control.”
Javier frowned. “Are you sure he’s the only one?”
“I don’t like disloyalty. He’s been pushing Holtmann for too long. I’m making real progress and now he’s set things back weeks.”
“I’m going to ask you again, Steven. Is your interest in Udo purely professional?”
Whether it was the aftermath of the confrontation or tiredness, Steven looked at Javier’s earnest face and found he couldn’t hide things anymore.
“We’re together,” he said quietly.
“For fuck’s sake,” Javier replied.
He walked away from Steven and ran his hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Steven said. “It got bigger than the both of us. I didn’t mean to.”
“Do you love him or are you fucking him?”
For a second, Steven was taken aback.
