Page 26

Chapter 25

Keelan

" M aybe look a little less like you want to murder each other," Jenny says from her place next to Izzy.

"I don't want to murder him. I want to murder, O-zone for purposefully squirting oil down my ass crack." I give my teammate a look.

"Tit for tat," Zane says, shaking the oil bottle.

"Guys," Jenny says, exasperated. "I need full cooperation."

"What do you want us to do, Ms. Cobbs?" Redmond asks. He's also half naked and oiled up next to me in front of the green screen that will be a winter wonderland backdrop once the calendar is done.

"I just need my Decembers to look like they are actually friendly," she says.

Rina, who's been quiet the entire shoot, gets up from her director-like chair. "Or… maybe they don't," she suggests.

"Rina," Jenny begins. "This is my shoot. We're going to go with my direction."

"We are going with your direction, Jenny. Camaraderie, right? Two teams, one calendar, a cross-promotion. We're doing it. But these players are the best in their own right. You can't expect them to swing an arm around each other and sing Kumbaya. They should look like what they are—rivals, standing together."

Jenny thinks for a moment, just looking at her colleague. "Rivals… standing together," she repeats thoughtfully.

Rina nods.

"Okay," Jenny turns back to Redmond and me. "Keelan, I want you to face this side of the arena and hold this." She tosses me a hockey stick, and I catch it.

Then to Redmond, "I want you to face the other side and put your left foot on this." She tosses him a soccer ball.

"Izzy, you got the shot." My sister works around us, snapping photo after photo, then straightens and gives her a thumbs up.

"I got it," Izzy says.

"Great! Then that's a wrap, people. Toby, get the finished photos from Izzy and work with the art department to get the new mockup."

Toby gives her a salute, and I'm itching to shower and be done.

Everyone starts clearing the area, and after I snap my towel on Zane's ass for over-oiling me. Redmond asks if he could have a word with me.

"I'd rather eat my own toenails," I tell him. "Actually, I'd rather eat any of my teammate's toenails than have a word with you."

I keep walking away from him.

"Landry… please," he says woefully.

I turn to face him.

"Fine, but it'll be on my own terms, Bonner."

He lifts his hands up in surrender. "Fine."

It doesn't take long for DJ Nova to get set up. Mostly because tonight is a home game, and he was going to be here anyway.

Bonner steps into the gym space, where I have my old friend ready with a mashup playlist.

"Are you serious, Landry?"

"Lights!" I call out.

The lights go out, and the DJ booth has a single beam pointed at the center of the room.

"You wanna talk, Bonner?"

"Yes, like adults," he says. "What the hell is this."

" This is how we settle a score around here."

"This is insane." He hesitates but ultimately moves to the center. "Now what?"

"Talk."

The speakers softly play Apologize by Timbaland.

" Ok. I wanted to tell you that you win."

"I win?" I say, standing with arms crossed in front of him.

"Yes. I made the mistake of thinking I could somehow fulfill her. Rina is a special woman. She's reserved but fierce. You never know what she's really thinking."

"No, you don't," I agree.

"But," he continues. "She deserves to be with someone who's willing to do whatever it takes to figure her out. I let my ego get the best of me. And all I did was hurt her."

This isn't going how I thought. I put my hand up, and the music stops. The lights come on.

"I'm going to tell her myself, but man to man. You win."

"It was never a competition, Bonner."

He shakes his head, "No, it wasn't. Because if I were being honest with myself. I knew I didn't stand a chance against you."

"What are you talking about?"

Bonner goes on to explain that he connected with Rina at a press event. She remembered seeing him in college, and he asked her out for coffee.

They talked about life and losses. Conversation flowed easily between them. But the entire night, Rina kept bringing up one name. Keelan Landry.

How obnoxious I was. How I could never just listen. How I always found a way to get everyone's attention.

"She couldn't stand you. And still, she couldn't stop talking about you. Every topic always led back to you. But she was so hurt. So beautifully broken. And all I wanted to do was help her feel better. So I vowed to help her forget you. And it was the stupidest promise I ever made," he admits.

I drop my arms, DJ Novo slipping away as he sees the way this conversation is going.

"Because it was always going to be you. I should've known it from that first night. You were the thorn in her side and the only one who could make her feel. And I would always just be… your replacement."

I don't say anything. I know what this woman means to me. I know I want nothing more than for us to be together. But I didn't think anyone else could see it so clearly, too.

"So, Landry. You win. And I've asked my lawyer to expedite the divorce proceedings."

"I see," I say.

"So, yeah," he says, looking around the now-empty training room. "That's all I wanted to say before I head back to Austin. That and I'm sorry for hitting your face."

I shrug. "Don't be. It makes me look meaner." I rub the small scar under my eye. "Besides, I landed a few hits too. So… I guess we're even."

We start walking out of the room.

"Okay, but I did make you bleed. None of your hits made me bleed, so I think I hit harder."

"Bonner?"

"Yeah," he says.

"It's not a competition."

He laughs, and I punch him in the arm. He punches me back, just slightly more aggressively.

"Guess I'll see you on the calendar tour."

I nod. "See you, Bonner."

He leaves out the door that leads to the parking lot. And for the first time, I'm actually grateful for the dude.

I still think he's a soccer douche with a sexy Australian accent that I'd never be able to achieve even if I practiced it day and night—which would only serve to drive everyone around me crazy.

But he's a soccer douche with emotional maturity. And I can respect that.

I hear some shouting down the hall.

"Ladies! Ladies!" I hear Toby shout.

There's a thump against the door.

Oh shit. Are Rina and Jenny getting into it?

I jiggle the door to the office. Another loud thump.

What the hell is going on?

I bang on the door but the shouting is still going on inside.

"What's all that about?" Zane asks, coming down the hall. "I can hear them from the locker room."

"Help me get the door!" I tell him.

"Stand back." He lines his foot at the corner of the door and kicks it hard, pulling it off the hinges and sending it flying open.

"Hey!" Toby yells.

And before we're able to fully understand what we're seeing. Jenny pulls the giant sumo helmet off her face.

"Excuse us!" Jenny says, annoyed.

"What is going on here?" I say, looking at the other person standing there in a sumo suit, too.

"We're testing out the new suits," Rina says, removing her helmet.

"What—why?"

"It's for an event we're putting together," Jenny says. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Will there be dancing at this event?" I ask.

"Maybe," Rina says.

"Will there be food?" Zane asks.

"Most likely," Jenny says.

"Are we invited?" We both ask.

"Yes," Rina says, shooing us out the door. "Everyone is invited." She waddles to the door and inspects the hinges before she shuts the door in our faces.

I rub my jaw. "So they weren't fighting?"

Zane shrugs. "Didn't seem like it. Looked like they were actually getting along."

But that can't be right. Jenny and Rina are about as close as two magnets flipped to opposing poles—destined to clash.

The only thing that kept them together in college was the fact that they were forced to share a room, which, now that I think about it, isn't that much different from what's happening now at work.

Which could only mean one thing.

They are getting along.