Chapter 14 – Gavin
14
The One-Eyed Monster
Gavin
“DID YOU GET fucking faster?” Leo swipes one forearm across his brow, wiping away the sweat trickling toward his eyes. “I swear you got faster.”
“Maybe you just got slower.” I look him over as he pants, trying to catch his breath during our break from drills. “You’ve been expending all your energy elsewhere.”
Leo doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. “You’re just jealous.”
I rock my head from side to side, trying to hide my reaction to his comment. My friend isn’t wrong. I am jealous.
Just not in the way he thinks.
Leo tips back a water bottle, squeezing a steady stream into his open mouth before swallowing it down. “And for the record, Miss Miller and I are taking it slow.”
Sure they are. So slow she’s already practically living with him.
“Line up,” the conditioning coach barks at us from where he stands on the edge of the pitch, ready to push us to our limits. Power and speed are two of the most important skills a player can have, so developing them is a large part of our pre-season training.
I take my spot and narrow my focus, putting everything I have into the drills he puts us through. By the time we’re done, I’m dripping with sweat and every inch of me is protesting, but it’s clear Leo is right. I am faster than last season.
At least something’s going right.
When our field speed session is done, we separate out into forwards and backs for unit skills. Leo’s with the forwards and I join the backs, slapping hands with Owen, the other winger. Together, we bring the best of both worlds to the team. I’m big enough to power my way through just about anyone and fast enough to dodge the rest, and he’s a fucking speed demon with an amount of agility that makes him a nightmare to catch.
After another hour of grueling exercises, we finally head in to prep for the weight room where we’ll wind down our day with lower body strength training. Tomorrow’s a rest day, so everyone is in a great mood and there’s a good amount of laughing and conversation happening alongside the heavy, metal clang of weights meeting, and the accompanying grunts.
I push myself, wanting to be bigger, stronger, better—worth what they pay me to be here. When I’m done, my thighs are on fire and I can barely walk, but I feel fucking fantastic. One step closer to the best season yet.
That’s what I need this to be. I learned a lot from my short time with Al, but the biggest thing is that my career will have to be enough. I’m not capable of handling anything more, so I’m going to do everything I can to find some sort of fulfillment in my life.
After taking a quick shower, I’m getting dressed when Leo props a shoulder against the wall next to me. I lift one brow as I button the fly of my jeans. “Can I help you with something?”
“Me and a few of the guys are taking you out tonight.” Leo looks over my upper half. “You need to find another outlet for your energy. You’re making us all look bad out there.”
I tug a shirt over my head and pull it into place. “I don’t want to go out.”
“Didn’t ask.” Leo shoots me a grin. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
I scowl as he strides away, looking un-fucking-bothered that he’s being a dick. If he’d pop his head out of Maddie Miller’s ass for ten seconds, he might have noticed I’m a fucking mess. That I’m miserable and fucking disgusted with myself.
But maybe it’s better he’s distracted. I can only imagine what he’d do if he found out the shit I said to Al. Probably kick my ass. And I’d likely let him. Might make me feel better to get some of what I deserve.
I finish getting dressed, grab my bag, and head out into the afternoon. After loading my bag into the back seat, I climb behind the wheel and start the engine.
The drive home gives me time to reconsider my aversion to going out. Maybe an evening of hanging out with a few friends is exactly what I need. A break from the nights of lonely self-loathing I’ve been attending.
And maybe it will be the start of finding my way back to where I need to be. I’ve proven I’m not capable of handling anything more than a casual hook-up, so—like it or not—that’s where I have to stay.
Even though the thought of touching someone besides Alexis turns my stomach.
After parking in the underground garage beneath my condo, I ride the elevator up to my floor. I’ve barely got one foot out when Val yells my name.
“ Gavin . There you are.” Valerie lets out a sigh of relief as she turns from my door, where she’s probably been banging at the steel for ten minutes instead of calling me like a normal person. “I have a problem and Fynn is taking his mother to a doctor’s appointment so I don’t want to interrupt him.”
I like Val. A lot, actually. She’s sweet and smart and makes Fynn the happiest I’ve ever seen him. She showed up in his life when he needed someone most, and I’ll always be grateful. My friend was in a real bad way before she came along. Now he’s a husband, and in a few months he’ll also be a father. And he’s loving every fucking minute of it.
“What’s going on?” I drop my bag by the door to my condo, unworried about abandoning it since it’s only their place and mine on this floor.
Valerie’s steps are quick as she rushes back to her own front door, cautiously opening it to peer through the widening gap. Suddenly, she yelps, jumping back as she slams the door closed. Turning to me with wide eyes, Val lowers her voice to a whisper. “There’s a lizard.”
My brows lift in surprise. “In your condo?”
She nods, lower lip pinching between her teeth. “It was so nice outside and I wanted some fresh air, so I left the door to the balcony open. I’ve done it a million times and it’s always been fine, but I went to the bathroom because I constantly have to pee now, and when I came back, it was right there.” She widens her eyes. “Staring at me.”
I scrub one hand down my face. How in the hell am I going to catch a tiny little lizard as it runs around all of Fynn’s expensive shit? “Do you have a net or anything?”
Val shakes her head. “Can’t you just grab it?”
She wants me to pluck a minuscule, scrambling anole off the wall as it whizzes past me? I’m fast, but I’m not that fucking fast. “Let me see what we’re dealing with here.” I grab her by the shoulders and gently shift her to one side.
Maybe I can use a pillowcase or something. Possibly an old takeout cont—
I open the door, but instead of the cute little reptile I’ve imagined, I come face to face with a fucking dinosaur. It’s huge. At least five feet long from nose to tail, with lethal looking claws. Spikes run down its spine and it’s missing an eye. Scars mar the muted green skin of its body and a flap of skin hangs from the underside of its powerful looking jaw. The one-eyed glare it shoots my way sends me taking a step back. And thank God I do, because it starts to charge me, nails scratching the floor, maw gaping like it wants to swallow me whole.
I quickly pull the door closed and turn to my neighbor, waiting for her to meet my gaze. “Val.”
She scrunches her face in a way that wrinkles her nose and squints her eyes. “Yes?”
“That’s not a lizard. That’s a fucking monster.” I risk another peek, cracking the door a tiny bit to confirm the thing is as big as I thought it was. “You wanted me to pick that behemoth up?”
“Well I’m not going to pick it up.” Val sounds shocked I’m not willing to grab the intruder and chuck him off the balcony. “It’s as big as I am.”
I look through the crack, then at my buddy’s wife. She’s actually not far off. Which makes me even less interested in trying to catch it with my bare hands. “Have you tried calling someone to come get it?”
Her lips press into a thin line. “They said it’s an invasive species and that they would kill it.”
I’m not seeing the problem here. “Okay…”
Her light brown eyes widen. “He isn’t hurting anything. I just don’t want him in my house.” Her chin wobbles a little and I know I’m done for. “You can tell he’s already had a hard life and I didn’t want—” Her voice breaks.
“Fucking hell, Val.” I take a deep breath, bracing for what’s to come. “Next time just tell me to shut up and get my ass in there and do what you asked. You don’t have to attack me with emotional warfare.” Whatever’s on the other side of that door has become the lesser of two evils, because I’d rather face it than the way she’s looking at me now.
I open the door and duck inside, closing it behind me so the beast won’t get out into the hall where Valerie is. I nearly shit myself when the lizard charges me for a second time. But instead of attacking me like I’m expecting, it stops at my feet, blinking up at me with that one eyeball. I slowly bend at the waist, lowering my hand toward it, ready to yank my fingers back at the first sign of aggression. When I brush them across the top of his head, I’m surprised to see the things sticking up down his back aren’t spikes at all, but some sort of scaly protrusions. As I stroke along its dry skin, the animal’s one eye closes, almost like he’s enjoying the attention.
An awful thought occurs to me. “You were somebody’s pet, weren’t you?”
Thanks to the temperate climate, Florida is the kind of place where all sorts of things can survive. So if an exotic animal outgrows its cage, and their owner throws them outside instead of taking them to a wildlife center, they don’t die. Instead, they stick around and fuck up the ecosystem.
Or break into million-dollar condos.
“What in the hell am I going to do with you?” I carefully hook my hands under its middle and slowly lift the lizard up. Solidifying my suspicions that it was once a pet, the animal doesn’t seem to mind. Actually, it kind of looks like it might be smiling as I carry it to the door.
I’m almost there when it opens and Fynn stares in at me, his wife peeking out from where he has her pinned behind his back. His eyes widen, expression incredulous. “What the bloody hell is that?”
“Do I look like a fucking zoologist?” I adjust my hold on the unexpected visitor. “It’s pretty calm though. Seems used to people. I bet it was someone’s pet and they set it loose when it got too big.”
“Oh no.” Valerie darts out from behind Fynn. “Poor thing.”
Fynn snags her by the arm, stopping her from reaching my side. “Darling, that could have a disease.”
Val pushes her lower lip out, brows pinched together in concern. “You think it’s sick?”
I look over the animal, who seems perfectly happy being handled. “It doesn’t look sick. Just old.” I notice it appears a little thin in the middle. “Probably hungry.” Continuing out the door, I carry it past Fynn and Val.
My friend sidesteps, getting his body back between the lizard and his pregnant wife. “Are you taking it with you?”
“Unless you want me to put it back where I found it.” I make like I’m going to go back inside his posh home.
“ No .” Fynn’s rejection of my bluff is sharp and immediate. “No. I think it’s best if you take it with you.”
“Thank you so much, Gavin.” Val gives me a smile. “You’re a sweetheart.”
“There’s a whole lot of women who would beg to differ.” One in particular. “It’s a good thing I didn’t cross your path first, or you’d be one of them.”
“Bugger off, prick.” Fynn flashes me a smile. “Before you give her ideas.”
I’m still laughing as I let myself into my condo, but as I kick my discarded bag through the open door and look down at the lizard in my arms, my laughter turns to a groan. “What the fuck am I going to do with you now?” I have no clue how to care for this thing. I don’t even know what it eats. Movement catches my attention and I glance up, finding my cat Cilantro meandering our way.
Looking back at the lizard, I tell him, “Hopefully you don’t eat cats, because if you try, she’ll tear you apart.”
That’s how I ended up with the temperamental tabby. A few months ago, I discovered celibacy is lonely, so I made a trip to the local shelter. When I stuck my fingers into Cilantro’s cage, the woman with me gasped because so far no one had been able to get close to the stray. But instead of peeling the skin from my bones, she started to rub against me, her purr loud and insistent. She’s an acquired taste—one some people will never get—but I love the shit out of her.
Blowing out a breath, I dig my cell from my pocket and call Leo up, planning to tell him I won’t be coming out tonight.
“Don’t try to get out of it, dick.” He doesn’t even say hello. “You’re going with us even if I have to drag your ass there kicking and screaming.”
“But—”
“Don’t care if the world is ending. I’ll be there at eight to pick you up.” Leo hangs up on me.
Cilantro weaves between my legs, meowing because she expects to be fed, and the lizard starts to sag, single eyeball closed.
Is it asleep?
I made it well into adulthood only having myself to take care of, and now, in the span of a few months, I’ve acquired two more mouths to feed.
One of them being a squatter.
I’m back to thinking going out is a good idea. I could use a fucking drink.