Page 11 of Man to Man Coverage (Rangers Football: Hard-Hitting #6)

Devlin

A fter our second loss of the season, the mood in the locker room is dour. The coaches and GM come into the room, but I’m not sure anyone is interested in hearing them.

“We expected today’s game to be our toughest of the season. Seattle is the team to beat this year, but I know we are fundamentally better than them in every position. I bear the blame for this loss, and should have seen this coming after our loss to Philly two weeks ago,” Mike Monroe says calmly.

Daniel Scott steps forward. “No, Mike. We’re a team, a family, and the front office has been holding on too tightly.

That’s my fault. You guys need a break. Over a month ago, I asked for your best and I feel you’ve been giving it.

Today is a reflection of what happens when it’s all work and no play.

We are all wound tight, and you need some time to cut loose and relax.

Effective immediately, the team curfew is lifted and Monday family days are reinstated.

We’re still going from seven to seven Wednesday through Sunday, but I’m hoping you can decompress without ending up in jail or as headline fodder. ”

Mike Monroe nods. “You guys are doing a great job. Today was a bad day. Take a few days off, decompress, and come back ready to dominate on Wednesday.”

I glance across the locker room at Rex as everyone chats amongst themselves.

Darren is waiting for me in the player’s parking lot, and I desperately want to invite Rex to join us.

Now that the curfew and restrictions are lifted, I wonder if he’d be down with catching a later flight with me tomorrow?

Rex, Jepson, and Jaxson are talking… no, actually, it looks like Jepson and Jaxson are bickering while Rex tries to keep up, but he steals a glance in my direction and I casually throw him a wink in return.

It’s only been a few days since we fooled around at his house, but we haven’t had time to be alone since.

That night I fell asleep on the couch with him in my arms and didn’t make it home until early morning. It was my best night in a long time.

I tap Aggie’s shoulder and grab my bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Aggie nods, a nice smile spreading on his lips. Ever since his divorce was finalized a few days ago, the man seems a hundred pounds lighter. “Yeah, man. Have a nice time with your brother.”

Walking toward the doors, I glance in Rex’s direction one last time, but he’s got his head in his bag. Not wanting to be obvious and get caught looking at my teammate all moony-eyed, I duck out of the locker room and walk ten feet down the hall to where Declan and Deacon are talking to my brother.

Deacon and my brother are close to the same age and played ball against each other when Darren was a rookie—meeting briefly a handful of times before the fateful injury that took Deacon out of the game nearly six years ago.

Darren was playing for the Denver Mustangs at the time—his first team out of college—alongside his teammate, Rylie Reynolds, who coincidentally is the one who took Deacon out with a defensive quarterback sack.

Darren playing for Denver was the whole reason I had my heart set on playing for a Colorado team during the draft, but he got traded to Seattle last season. Still, we try to sneak an extra day or two whenever one of us visits the other person’s city.

I join the trio, making sure I’m facing the locker room doors so I can see Rex as he’s leaving. I know it will raise questions, but I want to—no, I have to—introduce him to my brother.

Seconds later, Jaxson walks out, his gait long and purposeful as he passes us. Ten seconds after that, Jepson and Rex also walk out.

As if he can feel me, Rex’s eyes immediately come to me. I wait until he gets closer and then softly call his name.

Of course, Jepson also stops.

“Hey, man. I want to introduce you to my brother,” I say casually to both of them, even though this was not the plan.

Jepson smiles and offers his hand while Rex blushes slightly before also offering his.

“Gentlemen.” Darren clasps both of their hands while Deacon and Declan say their goodbyes, leaving the four of us in an awkward circle.

Thankfully, Jepson is a born talker and engages my brother quickly about living in Seattle, giving me a tiny window to pull Rex aside. “What do you think about ditching the ride home and staying here with me tonight?”

He smiles coyly. “That sounds amazing but would be super obvious. Don’t you think so?”

I sigh. “Maybe. Probably. You could tell the coach that now that the lockdown is lifted, you want to stay the night and visit an old girlfriend.”

Turning my back to Jepson and Darren, I let my fingertips brush against Rex’s arm.

He sucks in his breath. “I can’t, Devlin. I don’t have the good favor with the team to risk any perceived trouble.”

He’s right. I know he’s right. And I don’t begrudge him for protecting his career, even if I don’t agree with his perception of how things will go down.

Maybe I’m a fool, but I have more faith in my teammates and the organization than Rex does.

Then again, the team isn’t going to risk losing me while they have their eye on a championship ring.

As he said, he doesn’t have the pull I do. “Okay.”

“You come home tomorrow, right?” he says lowly, his dark eyes searching mine.

“Yeah, but it’ll be late.”

“That’s okay. Come to my house. I’ll text you the code to my garage.”

I give him a small, knowing smile. “I’ll message you later tonight.”

Rex clears his throat and takes a small step back at the same time Jepson finally takes a breath.

“You guys better catch your bus.” I tilt my head to the parking lot.

Jepson nods, and once again shakes my brother’s hand. “It was nice to meet you, Darren.”

“Have a nice dinner.” Rex nods, meeting my brother’s eyes only for a second.

My brother has a knowing glint in his eye as he grabs hold of Rex’s hand and doesn’t immediately let go. “It was nice to meet you, Rex. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to meet again soon.”

Rex blushes ever so slightly and casts his eyes to the ground. “That would be nice.”

I wait until they are on the bus before smacking my brother on the shoulder. “What the hell was that?”

“How long has this been going on?” He looks at me, shakes his head and walks to his car, leaving me to follow him like the little brother that I am.

“How can you tell?”

“Little bro, I can always tell when you’re crushing on someone. Do your teammates know?”

“No. Not yet. It’s new and we’re trying to figure it out.”

He chuckles low under his breath. “Yeah, but you like him—a lot—and I’d garner a guess that he likes you, too. How adorable is he with those freckles and blushing red cheeks?”

“Irresistible.” I slump into the passenger seat of his big SUV, two car seats that house my niece and nephew in the passenger row behind me. “I’ve never crushed on a teammate before, and I don’t know how to handle this. You know me. I’ve never hidden my feelings for anyone.”

“No. Your desire to love openly and hard is one of your best characteristics, Devlin. Is he closeted?”

“No. Yes. I’m not really sure. He’s never been in a relationship with a woman or a man.”

“That seems hard to believe. He’s so cute.”

I narrow my eyes. My brother is one hundred percent straight and married with two kids. “Are you fucking with me?”

He laughs. “Of course not. But I know you. Hiding your feelings is going to eat away at you after a while. You’re the holding hands, flower-giving, romantic type. I bet not being able to touch him right now just about killed you.”

I snort. “You have no idea, but even if he was openly gay or bisexual, with a championship season on the line, we don’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to ourselves or our relationship. Not right now.”

“I understand that.” He nods, turning out of traffic into an underground garage. “I’m sure you will work it out, whatever it takes. Is he good to you?”

Smiling, I unfasten my seatbelt. “He’s sweet, kind of shy, and starved for connection. He lost his mom a few years ago and doesn’t have any other family to speak of. The team brought him on mid-season last year, but we met at a gaming shop a month ago and started talking.”

“Oh… that makes sense. He’s a geek, too.” My brother wraps his hand around the back of my neck and squeezes.

“So are you, if you ever took the time to log on.”

“Man, I don’t have time between practice, Patrice, and the kids.” He hops out of the SUV, and I follow him to the garage entrance of a nice restaurant. Tonight it’s just the two of us, but I’m hanging out with the whole family tomorrow at the pier until my flight in the evening.

The eyes of the guy waiting at the hostess stand bug out when he sees us. “The Frank brothers! Do you think I can get a picture?”

We both shrug. “Sure.”

The guy hands his bewildered girlfriend his phone and lifts on his tiptoes with his arms around our shoulders, and I’m thankful Rex isn’t here right now.

A random photo hitting Instagram picturing us on a night on the town might give us away.

Or maybe not. I know I’d feel guilty considering all the thoughts running through my head.

He said he doesn’t think about sex, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about touching and tasting him again.

But mostly, I want to wake up with him in my arms. That was too nice to not crave it on a daily basis.

“Thanks, guys. Sorry about your loss tonight—” the guy tilts his head in my direction “—but go Seattle!”

I chuckle and roll my eyes while my brother laughs and says, “We all know my brother is dominating the league right now, so this win tonight is extra special to me.”

“I have two brothers, so I understand sibling rivalries.” The guy shakes Darren’s hand.

The restaurant owner rushes over to save us before more fans clamor for a picture. “Mr. Frank, your table is this way.”

After we settle with our drinks in hand, my brother leans back against the booth and stares at me. “You should bring Rex to Thanksgiving.”

I choke on my Old Fashioned. “That’s a month away.”

He shrugs. “If you two are still going strong by then—and he has no family, as you said—I think it would be nice to introduce him to our crazy crew and give him a sense of belonging, even if it is only for a couple of days.”

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head and divert the conversation to him. “How’s Patrice doing?”

He smiles and nods, understanding my need to process everything before committing to anything.

My brother knows me well, and he knows I don’t do casual.

I’ve had a handful of relationships in my life, most lasting six months or longer, and every one of them has met some or all of my family members.

Sure, there have been a dozen crazy nights when it was all about sex and exploration, but otherwise, I’m a committed kind of guy.

Which, as Darren aptly pointed out, is why a secret relationship with my teammate is going to grate on me over time. But it’s crazy to be thinking about it now considering we just stepped over the friendship line into something more.

“She’s good—” Darren says, breaking me out of my thoughts “—and excited to see you.”

“I’m excited to see them, too.” I nod at the server as they deliver our food. We spend the rest of the meal talking about our parents, the “it” Christmas presents this year, and lastly about my new Mini Cooper, which Darren predictably clowns me for as he pulls into his driveway.

“Get Rex to take a picture of you sitting in it and send it to me. It’s going on our Christmas card.”

“Fuck you.” I chuckle, surprised when the garage door flies open and two small children run out. “I thought they’d be asleep.”

“They are supposed to be. I guess they were too excited waiting for you.”

“Now I feel bad. We should have come straight here and grabbed a snack.” I slide out of the passenger seat and sneak around the front of the hood to surprise my niece and nephew.

“Daddy! Where’s Uncle D?” I hear Vanessa ask.

“I don’t know.” My brother shrugs but stares right at me. “He was just here. You better find him.”

“Rawr!” I jump up, causing both of them to squeal and run at me full speed. Swooping them up into my arms, I pepper both of their faces with kisses and carry them into the house. “Hi, Patrice.”

“Hi, Devlin.”

“Sorry we woke up the babies.” I plant a kiss on her cheek.

“They refused to go to bed until their Uncle D was home to tuck them in.” She rolls her eyes but gives me a warm smile.

After tucking them in, I bid my brother and his wife goodnight and climb into bed with my phone in hand. Rex got home an hour ago and texted me.

5:47 PM - I hope you’re not upset that I said no to staying.

I wanted to, but it scared me to say yes.

My feelings for you… I can’t quite explain them.

Regardless, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow night.

My garage code is 101221 and I’ll leave the door to the house unlocked.

Let yourself in. I think I’m going to Denver with the twins tomorrow night for a birthday dinner and maybe a club.

Text me once you get on the plane and I will be home close to the time you arrive.

9:32 PM - I’m not upset. Honestly, it was impetuous for me to ask.

I understand about the feelings—I have some intense ones going on myself, but we can talk about it more tomorrow night.

I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again.

Even though I’ve seen you every day, I miss you.

Tomorrow, my brother, sister-in-law and I are taking the kids down to the pier.

Have you been? Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.

9:33 PM - I just pulled into my driveway. We made record time flying home. I spent the entire trip wishing I had the balls to say yes and stay with you tonight. No, I’ve never been to Seattle outside of playing football. Is it nice?

Don’t beat yourself up for not staying. Honestly, Seattle is not my favorite city, nor is it Darren’s, but it’s where they live for now.

Pike Place Market is interesting, or at least a novelty.

Tomorrow I will drink coffee and eat tiny powdered donuts because that’s what the kids will want, and then we’re taking them to the aquarium.

Regardless, I’d love to bring you here sometime.

I’d like that.

Talk to you tomorrow, baby. Sleep well.

You too.

I set my phone down with a sense of longing filling my chest. In a little over twenty-four hours, I will have Rex in my arms again—my world settled for another day.

How did I become attached to him so quickly, and what will I do if his feelings don’t run as deep as mine?