Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Amil sat on the bench with his head in his hands and listened to the play-by-play rumbling out of the locker room speakers.
The Mountain Lions finally moved the ball down the field to the twelfth yard line, and Dante fake tossed the ball to another player and handed it to Davis again—who was tackled on the fourth yard line.
They couldn’t catch a fucking break.
He didn’t hear much talk about Jalen, which made him wonder if Dante simply wasn’t throwing the ball. And if not, why not?
Damn it, Amil should be out there. He should not have let his temper get the better of him. He always did that, held it in and held it in until whatever it was simply exploded out of him.
Just like last night with Diana. Instead of going with the flow, he’d let his emotions overwhelm him.
Actually, he should have told her that stuff a week ago. At least, some of it. Little by little, over time. Enough to ease the pressure he felt but not so much to scare her off.
He got it; going from never sleeping with a guy twice to basically living with the guy was a difficult transition.
And yet, he’d done exactly what he’d known he should not have done.
And then he’d turned around and let Trey get under his skin. Exactly what he’d been coaching Jalen not to do.
Man, he was a dumb fuck.
The half ended with a 14-3 score—not in the Mountain Lions’ favor.
The team poured into the locker room, and Amil quickly stood, making room so one of the guys who was out there working his ass off could take a seat for a few minutes.
Nobody acknowledged him. He didn’t blame them.
Coach called everybody’s attention, pointed out what they’d done wrong in the first half and then what they’d done right. Suggested that they do more of those right things in the second half.
He said some more inspirational shit and nodded at Amil. “I’m going to let you guys talk it out for a few minutes. Maybe clear the air so we can have a better second half.”
Coach wandered away, and Broderick muttered, “It’d be better if our best linebacker was out there.”
Was he talking about Amil?
“Yeah, well, he’s out for the game, so next brilliant idea?” Royce snapped.
Yep, definitely talking about him.
“Somebody needs to take out Trey Smythe’s kneecaps,” Gunner suggested to a handful of appreciative chuckles.
Despite his recent revelation that smack talking was not the way to a win, Amil decided to amend that theory.
Smack talking that was designed to attack someone, not good. But there were other types of smack-talking that were more fun than insulting.
To most people, anyway.
“Talk smack back at him,” Amil blurted. “He fucking hates the yo mama jokes.”
“Oh, I’ve got the yo mama jokes,” Broderick quipped.
Absolutely no one was surprised by this information.
“Don’t hold back,” Davis said. “Share!”
Amil raised his hand. “Hang on. Before we get into Broderick’s vast knowledge of useless information—”
“You just said it would be hella useful,” Pedro pointed out.
Amil scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, I’m trying to apologize here.”
Broderick made a show of looking around the locker room. “I don’t see her in here.”
“Who?” Amil asked.
“Diana.”
Amil furrowed his brows. “Why would Diana be in here?”
“You just said you’re trying to apologize. Who else do you need to apologize to?” Broderick asked, for once sounding completely serious.
“What do I need to apologize to Diana for?” He knew what he needed to say to her, but none of these guys did.
Did they?
“For breaking her heart, clearly,” Pedro said.
Amil looked from face to face to face, trying to figure out what the hell Pedro was talking about.
Jalen leaped up from the bench and stalked over, stabbed his finger at Amil’s shoulder. “I saw her leaving your room last night. She was a mess. You obviously did something to upset her.”
“No shit,” Callahan blurted. “You and Diana?”
Broderick smacked his own forehead. “How did you not realize that, bro?”
Callahan shrugged. “I was sleeping last night. Not stalking the halls waiting for gossip to appear.”
“I wasn’t stalking the halls,” Jalen defended. “I was just getting ice because I like my water really cold.”
Amil lifted both hands this time. “Hang on, hang on. You guys are shunning me because you think I broke Diana’s heart? Really?”
“Really,” Broderick said sincerely.
“Jesus. This really is a family,” Amil muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. He glanced at the clock on the wall. They were running out of time.
“Listen, I did not break Diana’s heart. But I did overwhelm her, which I should not have done.” He caught Jalen’s eye. “But, yeah, I am…” Maybe announcing he was in love with her was not the best idea.
Not before he told her. If he ever got that chance.
“We have been kind of seeing each other,” he said instead. “And I should have been upfront about it.”
Royce snorted. “Date whoever you want. You don’t need anyone’s permission.”
“That rule does not extend to Callahan, by the way,” Broderick called out, pointing at his teammate. “You totally need to start running your dates by the rest of us before you make any sort of commitment.”
Callahan snorted.
Amil shook his head. “I should have made sure it was cool with my friend first.”
“Bros before hos,” Broderick yelled.
“Shut the fuck up, Broderick,” Pedro snapped.
Broderick laughed. Of course he did.
Something flashed across Jalen’s face—anger, maybe?—but then it was gone, replaced with a resigned headshake. “It’s cool, man. I probably could have handled the whole thing a little better myself.”
“A little,” Callahan stage-whispered.
“So why was she crying when she left your room last night?” Jalen asked, ignoring Callahan.
“She was crying?” Amil hadn’t realized that. If he had, he would have tried a hell of a lot harder to convince her to stay so they could work it out. Or at least until she was calm enough that she wasn’t crying.
Shit, he couldn’t believe he’d made her cry. He never wanted to do that.
He cleared his throat. “I asked for too much, too soon,” he admitted.
Waving at the group, he added, “Seems like the entire damn team is aware that she has issues when it comes to relationships. And I thought I could push through them like a bulldozer, when really I needed to be way more patient and considerate.”
“Patience usually works,” Broderick said solemnly.
“I already waited two damn years,” Amil grumbled.
“You and Diana dated two years ago?” Callahan yelped.
Jalen dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling for several heartbeats before saying, “They hooked up in the fall, after Pedro and Jillian’s wedding. At the 49ers game.” He rolled his eyes. “Not unlike this. Except, much better outcome. For them, anyway.”
Callahan frowned. “So what’s the problem?”
“I caught them,” Jalen said impatiently.
“And?” Callahan persisted. “Are you the hookup police?”
Broderick snorted. “Good one, Callahan.”
“No,” Jalen said, pursing his lips for a moment. “But I was still…you know.”
“Hoping Diana would come back for seconds?” Callahan suggested. “Dude, even I knew that wasn’t going to happen. How did you miss it?”
“This isn’t about me,” Jalen protested.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Broderick said. “Seems like Diana’s been walking on eggshells around you for a long-ass time now.”
Jalen threw his hands in the air. “I admit, I handled my crush, or whatever it was, poorly, okay? I’m over it now. Which, yes, I should have made clear to Diana. Jesus. What the hell else do you all want?”
Broderick piped up. “We want Amil to be out on that field for the second half. But since that isn’t going to happen, guess we’ll have to settle for him reassuring us that he and Diana will make up.”
If this was an intervention, it was the strangest one Amil had ever witnessed. Not that he’d witnessed any outside of television shows.
“You have two minutes to get out on the field,” somebody shouted from the hallway.
Amil shook his head. “Listen, it’s time to focus. I’ll fix my personal problems, but I need you guys to do something for me in exchange.”
“You want me to pass her a note, bro?” Broderick offered, straight-faced.
Amil laughed. It felt good. “Broderick, you’re such a tool.”
“Name-calling hurts, bro,” Broderick said, mock seriously while clutching at the shoulder pad covering his heart.
Jalen gave Broderick a shove and stepped in front of Amil. “What do you need us to do?”
Amil paused for a single heartbeat. And then he yelled:
“Win this fucking game!”