Page 68 of Offsides

Had she heard them through the wall? Cowboy didn’t think he and Keaton had been that loud, but then again, hotel walls were not known for being the best sound barriers. Not that he planned on keeping this a secret from Theo. He would have told her all about it once it was handled and they were on their way back to Atlanta. Since she already knew, he guessed that was one less thing he needed to handle.

“I mean I know.”

Theo walked toward him, arm outstretched handing him her phone. Taking it from her, it took a minute to register what exactly he was looking at. Then, it all clicked.

He was going to be sick.

* * *

Of all the ways Theo had wanted to be woken up by Cowboy, a gentle shake while someone railed against their hotel door had not been it. Nor was that scurry back to her own hotel room on the list. Although, she had to admit, that part was preferable to Keaton Alexander seeing her naked.

Standing here now though, her heart racing as Cowboy stared at the screen of her phone, mouth agog, eyes wide, and complexion going paler by the second, she really wished she had a way to turn back time. Or even to snap her fingers and make this all a dream.

But it wasn’t.

“Fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Cowboy exclaimed. Theo could almost see the steam billowing out of his ears, his eyes still glued to the device. The man had a dirty mouth—but in all the right ways, and never, at least that she’d seen, out of anger. But that was a lot of curse words all at once.

She didn’t blame him one bit though.

After slinking back to her room, Theo had figured a shower was in order. The two of them had been up until the wee hours alternating between sharing stories and making love. Exchanging those words, as vague as they had been, had flipped a switch inside her. Hell, it seemed to have flipped for both of them, taking things up a notch. The air around them had an extra zing to it, the passion between them stronger. It had been perfect.

Until she picked up her phone and saw twenty-six missed calls from Dana. Twenty-six. Theo’s stomach lurched, forcing her to fight back the sour taste rising up. In all her years of working in the media, she’d never had twenty-six missed calls. She couldn’t even wrap her brain around what could have been so important that it garnered that kind of blitz attack.

“Tell me you're on this,” Dana answered instead of the standard ‘hello.’

“On what?”

“Seriously? Are you or are you not in Vegas with the Rising?”

“I am, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Had the news about Felicity and Gunnar’s wedding already reached Dana? Theo couldn’t think of a reason why that would result in twenty-six missed calls though. Sure, it was news that the team’s owner married the head coach, but it wasn’t like their relationship was a secret. The world had already gone through the shock of finding out they were a couple, gossiped about it, and had moved on. Was it worth talking about on Sports Down South? Yes, and Theo planned on it. But it didn’t require this level of enthusiasm.

“How do you not know what happened? You’re boots on the ground, Theo!”

“My phone was on silent.” And in another room…

“And just why was your phone on silent?” Dana’s voice was accusing, but had a questioning tone to it that told Theo she had a pretty good idea why. She’d fess up later; right now she needed to know what all the drama was about.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Check your Twitter feed. That’ll be enough show and tell for you,” Dana answered. “You have exclusive access to this team. So I expect exclusive answers from the man himself before you arrive back here in Atlanta.”

Theo hung up, switching over to social media, her nerves already on edge. What had she missed? A simple tap of her thumb on the app was all it took. Her feed was flooded with the same images over and over. Not pretty ones either. Cowboy needed to see these—she just didn’t want to have to be the one to show him.

“What?” Keaton asked, looking back and forth between her and Cowboy.

“It’s all over Twitter,” Theo said.

“What is?”

Cowboy handed him the phone, still looking like he could puke. Theo watch as Keaton tapped her screen, starting the video loop over again. Thankfully there wasn’t sound attached to the video, but that didn’t change the clear image of Dash, wasted beyond measure, being put in handcuffs, showing off exactly what his mama had given him—in all its raging glory. Theo couldn’t help but feel for the kid, who she’d gotten to know as charming and funny, full of love and care for his friends and their happiness. This video showed a side—not to mention a front and a back—of him that he probably had no intention of ever showing in public, and it was going to be a problem.

A big one.

At least for the Rising it was. For Theo, it was just another day on the job, another piece to weave into her feature on the team. Her mind reeled with all the information she needed to figure out. Was he the only one? Where were all his teammates when this was going down? She wondered if she could get the arresting officer to comment. Or maybe the owner of the club Dash was outside of. That might be taking it a step too far, but it could at least help her fill in some information gaps. Most notably, where were his clothes?

“Are you shitting me?” Keaton yelled, slamming her phone down on the ground. It bounced slightly on the carpet, tumbling under the table and chairs in the corner.