Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
The locker room was electric after a four-game winning streak for the Cobras. A streak that Cooper was adamant would not be broken, not on a Thursday primetime game where the whole country would be watching.
“Kansas City came here to fuck us,” Cooper screamed at his team, who had gathered around him. “We are not going to let them fuck us.”
“We do the fucking,” Razer screamed back.
To which, Matteo added, “How about we just beat them? No fucking necessary.”
“We’re a team, a family.” Cooper looked to Razer. “Every single one of you is my brother.” He looked to Matteo. “I’m rich in this life because I get to play with y’all.” He clapped his hands together. “Now, let’s go play some fucking football.”
The team, offense and defense, hollered as they fist-bumped each other as part of their pre-game ritual. Cooper wasn’t normally like this. Wasn’t this animated in his day-to-day life, but he became someone else in the locker room.
He became someone else when he was winning.
Because yeah, football players played so much better when they were horny and it’d been a long seven months since Cooper had been with anyone.
He was the last player out of the locker room and was the first one back in when they won the game by seven points.
Five games in a row and he was on top of the world.
Nothing could bring him down.
A single tear managed to escape Cooper’s eye, breaking through the iron facade. He sat alone at an empty table in the ballroom with the lights dimmed.
The second annual Luke Davies Memorial was a success, but the donors were gone and all that was left was the silence that always came after, when he’d sit alone in his grief.
On his best days, he could pretend he wasn’t a broken man.
On his worst days, he couldn’t lie to himself.
Couldn’t shield himself from the echoes of Luke’s voice that lingered in the dusty backrooms of his mind.
“I can’t stay in this cage forever,” Luke’s voice whispered like a ghost in the corner of a room.
But in Cooper’s memory, the love of his life sat beside him on the edge of their shared bed. “You know the deal. When this is over. When we’re done playing football, we can be together.”
“We’re together now.”
“When we’re done, the world can see what I see in you.”
Luke bowed his head on Cooper’s shoulder. Didn’t say another word. Didn’t move.
Cooper laid backwards on the bed, pulling Luke to his chest. “I’m sorry.”
Luke still said nothing, not with words. He grazed his hand over Cooper’s chest and held him firmly. It was Luke’s way of letting Cooper know he’d never let go. And in the distance, Cooper heard something else… It was Luke, but it was from another place.
Another time.
“Cooper, slow down!” Luke screamed.
“I’m fucking sorry,” Cooper screamed back, tears streaming down his face. “How many fucking times do I have to say it? I’m sorry I can’t be… that we can’t be what you want us to be. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I’m sorry.”
“I love you,” Luke said flatly. “To the moon and back, but I need you to pull over and let me drive.”
Cooper locked eyes with Luke, and saw the tears in the other man’s eyes too. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt like this. Love was supposed to be easy, but it was anything but.
He slammed on the brakes. The tires screeched against the wet pavement beneath them, and they both jerked in place as the car came to a sudden stop.
He felt a courage building in his gut and exploding in his heart.
Could feel himself marching towards the precipice of throwing up as the words came stumbling out of his mouth, “If we win the Superbowl, we can come out. Together.”
Tears broke through the floodgates of Luke’s eyes. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over the shifter to kiss Cooper.
Cooper didn’t remember if there were warning signs.
Didn’t remember if the headlights flashed over either of their faces.
Didn’t remember if either of them screamed.
Didn’t know if Luke knew it was the end before it was the end.
A part of them would always be stuck in that fucking car, like he was haunting the wreckage, the pieces of metal in the scrap yard of the Bronco that used to belong to his father.
He heard the familiar sound of heels clacking on the floors beneath him and wiped the tears from his face. He forced a smile as Stassi palmed a hand over his shoulder, squeezing him gently.
“We can go home if you want.”
He exhaled softly. “You know I can’t tonight.”
“I know.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Coop.”
He nodded. “Love you, too.”
Cooper couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and die. Well, not die, but he was more than ready to put this night behind him. He couldn’t bring himself to go home on the nights they memorialized Luke. Couldn’t bring himself to lay in the same bed he used to lay in with Luke.
Tomorrow, he could pretend.
Tonight, he couldn’t.
The elevators opened to the top floor of the hotel and a tall man stood in front of one of the doors of the three suites with his back turned to Cooper. Beside the man, a duffel bag sat on the floor. Nobody should have been up there as Cooper booked all three rooms.
He approached the man who was dressed in a fancy black suit, and the man turned around.
It was Nico, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He wore a soft smile and a new tattoo, this one on his neck. It was small, barely noticeable, but Cooper noticed everything. It read, in simple black script, I believe.
The fucking motto for the Hollywood Knights. That was a ballsy move for a second-year quarterback who was traded his first year.
Cooper stopped just short of the other man. “Tell me why you look like Jack Dawson standing at the top of the grand staircase.”
Nico cocked his head and smiled softly. “I didn’t think you were the kind of guy to like romance movies.”
“I’m not, but everyone has fucking seen Titanic.”
“Sorry, I missed the gala,” Nico said, a welcome change of subject. “My flight got delayed, so I donated to the foundation on the website.”
A simple thank you would have gone a long way, but Cooper was speechless. He scratched at the back of his head. “How did you know I’d be here?”
“Because you always book three rooms.” Nico closed the distance between them and straightened Cooper’s bow-tie. Took a step back, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a travel sized bottle of lube. “Which one do you want to fuck me in?”
Cooper’s cock twitched in his trousers.
Seven fucking months.
He took Nico by the back of his head and pulled him close. “All of them.”
Upon entering room 2401, they made it approximately three feet from the door before Cooper pinned Nico against the wall. Their trousers pooled between their ankles and shoes, their belts clanking against the floor with every thrust.
Cooper’s hands clawed into Nico’s hips, his breath landing heavy against the back of Nico’s neck.
Cooper took his time with Nico, inching into him and then inching back out.
Slow and steady won the race because if he went any faster, he was going to explode like he was an inexperienced teenager again.
“Seven months and that’s all you can do?” Nico grunted. “Fuck me like you missed me, Coach.”
Cooper wasn’t Nico’s coach anymore, but Nico also wasn’t a rookie anymore. It seemed the nicknames were going to stick.
“Can’t…” Cooper panted, “Rook.”
“Then let me do it.” Nico pushed back against Cooper, taking every inch of his cock.
Cooper’s fingers dug deeper into the other man’s bare flesh as he gritted his teeth. The rush started from within and his quads trembled as he tried to stop himself from coming too soon. Nico arched forward, pulling himself free from Cooper’s cock.
Cooper inhaled, relieved.
But the relief was short lived as Nico circled Cooper, switching places with him. A dance they’d danced before. Nico grabbed Cooper by the shoulder and turned him around so his back was against the wall and his cock was ripe for the taking.
Nico laughed as he turned around and backed his ass to Cooper, impaling himself on Cooper’s cock once more.
Cooper let out a gasp and pulled backwards, but he was under no delusion.
Nico was in control and Cooper himself was powerless.
Nico reached his arm around the back of Cooper’s neck and held himself in place as he fucked himself on Cooper’s cock.
Fucked himself the way Cooper couldn’t.
Hard and fast.
“Fuckkk,” Cooper shouted as he came deep inside Nico.
And Nico rode him all the way through orgasm, his own hard cock bouncing with every thrust. He slid all the way back, taking the entirety of Cooper’s cock and stilled himself there.
Cooper grabbed the other man by the throat, and angled Nico’s ear next to his mouth. “Are you going to come for me?”
“No,” Nico panted back. “I’m waiting for room number three.”
The shower in room 2402 was nicer than the one in 2401.
It was big enough for a crowd of at least six, with a glass wall that covered half and a rainwater showerhead attached to the ceiling.
Cooper stood with his back against the cold wall as steam billowed around them, the water raining onto the tiled floor just behind Nico. The other man knelt on the ground, making love to Cooper’s cock.
Seven fucking months.
Cooper’s chest heaved as he raced towards release.
Just as he was about to come, Nico climbed his fingers up the length of Cooper’s stomach, to his mouth, and slipped two inside.
Massaged them over Cooper’s tongue and then held his mouth open as he came, shooting his load into the back of Nico’s throat.
Cooper laid on the bed in room 2403 with his hands stuffed behind his head. Growing tired, he watched with heavy eyes as Nico rode him.
The same man who had begged to be fucked hard in room 2401 was now taking his time and putting on a beautiful fucking show as he did it. Nico caressed his hand over his chest, rubbing himself anywhere and everywhere but his own cock.
Cooper had insisted he could help, tried stroking the younger man, but his hand was quickly batted away.
This was Nico’s world and Cooper was just living in it.
Cooper was thankful he’d come twice already, because it was the only way he was able to refrain from breaking too soon.
There was something about the way Nico craved every inch of his cock.
Something about the way the other man’s face contorted every time he was filled completely and the soft moans that came out of his throat as he rose upwards.
For Cooper, it felt as if he was being pulled inside out. Over and over again like the best fucking kind of torture.
Nico’s eyes fell to a close while pre-ejaculate seeped from his swollen cock, pooling into a puddle around Cooper’s belly button. Every buck of Nico’s hips sent another quiet moan barreling from the back of Nico’s throat.
And then it happened.
Finally.
In room 2403, just like he said it would.
Nico’s entire body tensed as he stilled himself at the hilt of Cooper’s cock, his legs quaking.
Nico’s untouched cock spasmed, shooting the first rope of cum onto Cooper’s chin.
The next onto Cooper’s throat, and the rest onto Cooper’s chest. Nico’s hole tightened, his insides convulsing with each release.
It was enough to bring Cooper to orgasm for the third time.
Nico stumbled forward, dropping his head beside Cooper’s.
And Cooper grabbed Nico by the back of his head, holding him there. Wishing he could hold him there all night. Hold him until sunrise. And then maybe they could do it all over again.
In the quiet that followed, Cooper’s mind drifted elsewhere.
And god… he fucking hated that about himself.
Hated that on his worst days, he couldn’t drown out the echoes of yesterday.
Cooper woke up blurry-eyed sometime later and reached out for Nico, who was not within arm’s reach. He shifted up in bed, kicking his feet into the sheets at the end of the bed.
Nico stood at the foot of the bed, fully dressed in grey sweatpants and a matching hoodie. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”
“What time is it?” Cooper asked, squinting.
“A little after five, which means I’m already late.”
“No,” Cooper whispered and shifted his naked body to sit on the edge of the bed. He reached for Nico and pulled him close, wrapping his hand around his waist. “Stay.”
Nico looked at him with a flat expression. “I really can’t stay.”
Cooper groaned. Was this fucking brat really going to make him beg? Was Cooper willing to bite the bullet and beg? “I’m giving you an order and I know how much you like being told what to do.”
Nico smirked and combed his hand through Cooper’s hair. “Sometimes.”
Cooper cocked his head upwards. “Is right now one of those times?”
Nico shook his head gently. “Right now is one of those times where I tell you I have a flight to catch in two hours and I can’t miss it.”
Nico took a step back and grabbed his duffel bag off the floor.
But Cooper wasn’t finished. He leaned forward, grabbed Nico by the hand, and pulled him down onto the bed. He placed a hand firmly on Nico’s chest and searched his eyes.
Nico sighed. “I told you I can’t stay.”
Cooper nodded. “I have ears.”
“Two hours—”
Cooper cut Nico off with a kiss, soft but fast. Fast enough so he couldn’t change his mind.
Nico palmed at the back of Cooper’s head and pulled him deeper into his kiss.
Cooper rolled on top of the other man, hungry for connection.
Hungry for something more than casual fucking.
For something to quell the ache in his heart that beat the hardest on the nights meant to memorialize what he lost.
The thing—the person—that could never be replaced.