Page 46 of Offsides

Chapter Sixteen

Four Days.

That’s how long it had been since they had returned from Miami. Which also meant four nights filled with Theodosia Kappas. Easily four of the best nights of Cowboy’s life.

He’d been amazed at how easily they slipped into a natural rhythm—texting throughout the day, work and not work weaving together almost seamlessly. On the outside, Theo was still her no-nonsense self, sticking both him and the players with the hard questions as she profiled each player for her feature. Privately though, she was an entirely different person. Bubbly wouldn’t be the term Cowboy would rush to use, but there was an upbeatness to her, especially when listening to her talk about her job, that sucked him in. It didn’t matter if they were on the phone or curled up on her couch. Cowboy was pretty sure he could listen to her talk for forever.

Walking into Bunz, memories of his first attempt at a date with Theo flooded his mind. To do over again he would still have let her walk into the “no bun” trap, he just would have gone about it a different way. Still, he couldn’t help the smile on his face as he looked around the restaurant for his buddies. They’d come a long way in the last couple of weeks, and he couldn’t wait for whatever came next.

“Where’s Beau?” he asked, sliding into the empty chair next to Gunnar. They were seated in the bar area, away from most of the crowd, giving them some privacy for their lunch. Knowing the owner certainly did have its perks.

“Bathroom,” Gunnar replied, looking at him quizzically. “Why do you look like the cat that ate the canary?”

“I don’t.”

Cowboy shrugged, picking up the menu. He didn’t need to look at it—he always got the same thing—but he also didn’t want to have to answer his buddy’s questions. Gunnar knew him better than anyone, other than maybe their third musketeer Cullen Cruz, and there would be no way to lie to him. Gunnar would see right through that. He also knew that letting Gunnar in on the knowledge of what was going on between him and Theo wouldn’t be the end of the world. No one could keep a secret like Gunnar. Even if he did let it slip, who would it be to, Felicity? Who Cowboy knew would be all over the idea of him and Theo together. Boss lady would probably have a double date scheduled before Gunnar was even done telling her about it. But he hadn’t discussed any of this with Theo and didn’t want to start sharing something that she would prefer to keep private. So for now, he was just keeping his mouth shut.

“Oh, but you do. And don’t think I don’t know. I just want to hear you say it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he denied again.

“Just like you had no idea Effie and I were a thing, right?”

Cowboy looked up from the menu to see Gunnar staring at him expectantly.

Yup, he was busted.

Still, his lips were sealed.

“Hey,” Beau Blackwood said, lifting his chin in greeting.

“Beau!”

Popping up out of his chair, Cowboy wrapped his arm around his former teammate from the US National team. Beau returned the embrace, smacking him on the back.

“What’s the shit-eating grin for?” Beau asked as they separated, slipping into the seat across from him.

You’d think I never smiled before…

“Just happy to finally have you here, man,” he answered. “All settled in?”

“Getting there. There’s more stuff on the way, I think. If Petra didn’t light it all on fire. But I have what I need for now.”

“If you do need anything, just let us know. Ef- I mean, Felicity, will make sure that it’s taken care of,” Gunnar said.

“Thanks. And thank you for being so flexible with everything. I’m sure this was more than what you were bargaining for when you signed me.”

Cowboy waved off Beau’s comment, not wanting to dredge up more than they had to. Life was rough enough for the man, he didn’t need to sit around the lunch table and rehash it all like a group of old ladies at a bingo table.

“We didn’t count on our owner dying or our number ten tearing his ACL either,” Gunnar said. “But that’s the game. Shit happens.”

“It sure does,” Beau agreed.

“Okay, boys,” Heather said, appearing at their table with drinks in her hand. She placed a beer in front of each of them, smiling as she rested her hands on her hips. Looking directly at Beau, she continued, “I don’t know what you drink, so you just got the same lunch lager as these two. And don’t worry, I won’t tell the boss you were drinking in the middle of the workday.”

“Heather Atwell, meet Beau Blackwood, newest member of the Atlanta Rising,” Gunnar introduced. “Heather is the owner of Bunz and is Felicity’s longtime mentor.”

“Is that why we’re here at a chick bar?” Beau asked, his tone gruff.