Page 9

Chapter Nine

Dallas

There was barely time to pat each other on the back following our win, before we were herded onto a plane back to Australia.

Chelsea sat with Doctor Stuart and Otis Skinner, leaving me to sit in the rear of the plane with the other players. Storm and Frost sat together. Atlas sat behind them with a barefoot Jay, and I sat across the aisle next to Ferris Ramsey.

"Good game." I fastened my seatbelt and adjusted the strap.

"Yep," he said.

He was a man of few words, but he was an excellent hooker. The rugby position, not the other kind, as far as I knew.

"We should have won by more than two points," I added.

"We would have if the referee was paying attention," Storm growled. "He totally missed that knock-on by Franklin."

"We still would have won," Frost pointed out.

Storm's jaw worked back and forth. "They wouldn't have got that last try if the ref pulled them up."

"Yeah, but they did," Atlas said, pressing his face in the gap between the sets in front of him.

Storm swivelled around. "Don't try to bullshit me and say you're okay with it. We both saw. I know you were pissed off too."

"Didn't say I wasn't." Atlas leaned back. "It was a bad call."

"Did you two just agree on something?" Frost asked.

"Nope." Storm crossed his arms over his chest and looked straight ahead.

"Yeah, you did," I said. "We all agree it was a bad call, right Goat?" I turned back to Ramsey, who was looking out the window.

"Right," he said simply.

I nodded and swivelled back to the others, point proven. Or not disproven.

"I agree too," Jay said. "Frosty is right, we would have won anyway, but we deserved to win by more."

"Fucking right we did," Atlas said. "If you ask me, Franklin is a prick. He shouldn't have got away with it."

Storm turned around and looked through the gap. "That's what I was going to say. Next time we play them, one of us needs to stay on his ass and keep him in line. Seems like his team isn't doing it."

Frost leaned forward and grinned over at me. I nodded in return.

It seemed like the two of them found common ground; hating on the referee and Franklin Hicks. I also shared their dislike of the big fullback. His arrogance would make the combined egos on this flight look humble. He thought he was God's gift to rugby, but I wanted to smash my fist into his face every time I saw him.

Since he thrived on attention, I ignored him instead.

"Works for me," Atlas said. "Asshole needs his ass kicked. Instead, he gets all the big endorsements. Anyone would think he's good-looking, the way they carry on about him."

"I mean, he's not ugly," Frost said with a shrug.

Storm and Atlas both stared at him like he was out of his mind.

Frost shrugged. "I'm just saying is all. It's not like I have plans to go there. He's not my type anyway."

"I'm pretty sure his type is inflatable," Storm said dryly. He was about to add something else, but closed his mouth.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was going to say. At this point in a conversation, he would have suggested Franklin paid for sex. He wouldn't disrespect Chelsea by making a comment like that now.

"Makes no sense," Ramsey said. He turned from the window and stared at Storm.

"What makes no sense?" I asked.

His brow creased deeper. "Inflatable woman. Prick like him would pop her."

His tone was so deadpan, it took me a moment to realise he'd made a joke. When it sank in, I burst out laughing.

The other guys followed a heartbeat later.

"Goat has a good point," Storm said. "A prick like him would pop her like a balloon." He grinned at Ramsey, like he just realised the guy existed.

Ramsey nodded and returned his attention to the window as the plane lifted off from the tarmac.

"I never knew you were funny," I told him.

He shrugged. "Sometimes."

I suspected it was more than sometimes, but he kept his observations to himself.

"I went to school with a guy who thought he was hilarious," I said slowly. "He kept cracking jokes and doing stupid stuff. Slapstick things, you know? The only person who thought he was funny was him. It's better to tell one joke that's actually funny than a million that aren't."

Ramsey turned back to me slowly. "What happened?"

"To that guy?" I asked. "I think he went into accounting or something like that. Shame when you think about it. He liked trying to make people laugh. If he had better jokes, he could have been a stand-up comedian." I shrugged. "I guess you can't always follow your dreams."

Ramsey grunted. "Can if you want to."

"Are you following yours?" I asked. This was the first time we had anything in the way of a conversation. For some reason, I felt compelled to keep it going.

His dark blue eyes suggested he wasn't inclined to respond, but finally he said, "Mostly."

"Not completely?" I asked.

"Wanted to be a fullback," he said. He pressed his lips together hard, a visible sign of his lingering bitterness.

"Oh." I nodded slowly. "That must have been frustrating." I'd always wanted to be a second rower. That was where my talents lay, just like his lay in being a hooker. I saw lots of guys frustrated at not being able to play the position they wanted. Coach put us where we could be the most effective, regardless of what we thought about our own skills. In the end, it was only the team that mattered.

Ramsey shrugged. "Better than not playing."

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's definitely better than not playing. What would you be doing if you weren't?"

"Not fucking inflatable women," he said with a smirk.

I snorted a laugh. "Me neither bro, me neither." Why would I need an inflatable woman when I had Chelsea? "You should hang out with us sometime." We'd never really done that since we started playing together, apart from the occasional drink after a game.

He looked at me, then over to the other guys. "You have room?"

"For one more? Yeah, we do. Stormy will be happy to know his inflatable woman is safe from us." I grinned.

If the fullback had a problem with Ramsey spending time with us, he'd have to get over it. Realistically, I suspected he might object to Ramsey less than he objected to Atlas. If he didn't, that was too fucking bad. In spite of what he thought, I didn't need his permission for anything.

"I heard that, fuckwit," Storm growled. "I don't have an inflatable woman either. If I did, Atlas would be jealous."

Atlas barked a laugh. "Piss off, Keller. As if I'd be jealous of you."

Storm turned around. "Not of me, dickhead. Of the inflatable woman because I'd be fucking her and not you."

"You're not my type," Atlas told him.

"Back at you," Storm said. He turned back around, effectively ending the conversation for now.

"Just when I thought they were getting along," I said quietly.

"Alpha males," Ramsey said.

"Maybe we should call them ‘Goat,’" I said. "They act like a pair of goats trying to head-butt each other."

"Both like Doctor Chelsea," Ramsey observed.

"We all like her," I said.

I was head over heels in love with her, but he probably saw that on my face. I didn't try to hide it, and I got the impression he saw everything, always watching, observing. Missing nothing, stashing away his thoughts for later.

In the past, guys like him made me anxious. They always had the best blackmail material, because they saw things no one else paid attention to. Had I done anything for him to hold against me? Probably, but nothing came to mind right now.

"Tricky," he said.

"It can be," I agreed. "Most of us get along pretty well, otherwise it would be a pain in the ass. We'd spend half our lives fighting over her."

"You don't?" he asked.

"Only Storm and Atlas, but we're hoping they'll get over themselves sooner or later." I glared over at both of them, but they were deep in conversation with Frost and Jay.

"I should steal her," Ramsey said.

I whipped my head back toward him. "What the hell?"

He smiled, the soul of innocence. "Might help them see what they have."

"I didn't realise you had a devious side either," I said. "You think if she's interested in you, they'll stop fighting with each other and work harder to keep her?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "Can't hurt. She's cute."

It shouldn't surprise me he'd noticed that about her. I saw him looking, but from a distance. Like he was curious, but didn't dare to approach.

That was understandable, given she was usually surrounded by a few of us. Getting her alone for long enough to have a conversation with her, would have been difficult. Especially given he wasn't much of a conversationalist. That is to say, I didn't think he was. I should have tried harder, but I was trying now. I could see us being friends, if he was down for that.

"She's adorable," I agreed. "You might be onto something here. We could try to make them jealous and see if it brings them together."

"Better chance than we'd have with an inflatable woman." He smiled.

I laughed. "I think we can all agree not to bring any inflatable women into this situation. Not unless it would help in some way."

"How?" he asked.

It was my turn to shrug. "I don't know. I wouldn't rule out anything, to be honest. If they keep barking at each other the way they have, they're going to drive us all up the fucking wall."

"Yep," he said. "I told them."

"I noticed," I said.

Since right around the time I met Chelsea, he was telling Storm to back off and stop being a prick to Atlas.

Atlas and Jay both had a difficult time settling into the team and Storm's animosity hadn't made the transition any easier. Fitting into a new team was hard enough without that kind of bullshit.

Although, it was nothing new when it came to rugby teams. When you formed a tight bond with a group of guys, it was difficult to let anyone new in. Especially when they didn't seem to want in.

I admit, I hadn't tried very hard with either of them myself. Apart from adding to the chorus—telling Storm and even Frost to back off—I hadn't made an effort to be friendly with the new guys. Granted, I didn't do friendly very well, but I could have tried.

"They need to listen better," Ramsey said.

"Now who's the alpha male?" I teased.

He puffed out his chest a little. "Always me. Biggest cock too."

My gaze dropped to his groin and back up again. "In your dreams," I said. "Mine is the biggest." I'd seen all of the others, and mine definitely held its own.

"Who's dreaming?" he asked. "I know the truth."

There was a hint of mischief in his blue eyes. One I'd never seen before, or at least never noticed. Of all the things I would have expected of him, funny as hell wasn't one of them. I appreciated his subtle brand of humour. It was better than someone who tried too hard.

I laughed and shoved my shoulder into his bicep. "I think I underestimated you. Your ego is a match for anyone here. Maybe you should have been a stand-up comedian."

"I am the GOAT," he said smugly.

"The greatest of all time," I said with a laugh. "We should have given more thought to that nickname."

"It fits." He nodded. "I'm the GOAT who rams. Watch your woman. I might steal her for real."

"I won't let you steal her," I said. "But I might let you share."