1. Ash

CHAPTER 1

ASH

"I dunno, man. Maybe this is it for me. I'm just a washout now," I grumbled.

As the left tackle for the Austin Troopers, it was my duty to defend and protect our quarterback while he tries for the touchdown…except we were one touchdown too many from reaching the Super Bowl. Hell, even the playoffs were just a dream at this rate.

Sure, our team was on the newer side. We still had kinks to work out in our play. All we needed was more experience.

Blah, blah, blah.

Those were all excuses Coach fed us to keep our spirits up. Well, my spirit had been completely obliterated after the hard season we'd had. It seemed like I'd failed to block every single attack the other team's offense had thrown at us. I hadn't given us a chance to even the score and bring back the W for our team.

Addison Kelly, our starting quarterback, had insisted our losses weren't because of any single individual. In his words: "We're a solid team who just needs a little bit more experience under our belt."

But then again, as our quarterback, it was kinda Addy's job to cheer the team up and do all that motivational shit.

I sighed and shot sad eyes to my best friend, who was watching me through the tiny screen on my phone. "These old bones can't keep up anymore."

Howard Cobb gave me an incredulous look in reply. He'd learned over the years that it was best to keep quiet during my dramatic rants, at least until I got everything out of my system.

"Can't you just play along for a bit?" I grumbled.

He rolled his eyes, then cooed, "Aww, is our Ashy having a bad day? Do you want Daddy Howie to make it all better?"

Goosebumps the size of Pluto sprouted on my arms. "Fuck, that's foul, man. I know how you'll make my day better. How about you never refer to yourself as ‘ Daddy ' in my presence again, and we'll call it good?"

Howie laughed so hard his screen started shaking. "What? I thought you liked talking about our sex lives—or, more accurately, your lack of a sex life."

I muttered something even I couldn't understand under my breath, because I had no rebuttal to that. It was true that my sex life had been practically nonexistent in the past few years, but that was because I was too focused on the game. Football was just that important. And with the Austin Troopers being so new to the league, I needed both my heads completely focused on the ball.

But that didn't mean I had been celibate all these years.

"I have sex! I just don't go around parading the fact, okay?" I protested.

"I'm talking about sex with an actual person and not your hand."

I nodded, feeling the sweat drip down my back despite the cold AC blowing through my condo. "Yep, that. Sexfests happening all the time in the Sanders household."

We both knew I was bullshitting. With being on the road and having a roommate most of the year, there wasn't much privacy to even jerk one off, much less fool around with someone. But I wasn't going to let my best friend get one over me that easily.

Howie snorted. "Really, huh? Tell me, when was the last time you got laid?"

I didn't even need to think to know that it had been a few months since I'd last had sex with anybody. Not that I was going to admit that. "There've been too many bodies in and out of my hotel rooms that it's hard to remember right now."

He stared at me with a knowing expression. It was probably the same expression he used on his kids at the school he worked at.

"You know, for a high school teacher and head football coach, you seem a little too focused on sex. "

"That's exactly what you need," he said with a snap of his fingers, completely ignoring my statement. "You're too wound up, and it doesn't help that your idea of relaxing is hitting the gym until you can't even walk straight anymore. All that tension can't be good for your play. You need to get sexed up and unwind. That or maybe try some yoga."

"Yoga?" My brows shot up to my hairline. I had nothing against the activity, but as a bulky six-foot-five man, I couldn't see myself ever being that…bendy. I considered myself pretty limber for a football player—as our team's left tackle, I had to be. Unlike my right counterpart's bulky mass, I had leaner muscles. But that meant I was nimble. I'd learned that being flexible helped with my speed and reaction time on the field, but that didn't mean I could bend like my body was boneless like I'd seen from those yoga videos.

"Yeah. Jay opened up his own yoga place recently. Bodhi Studios." Howie snapped his fingers again like the greatest idea had just hit him. "You should take one of his classes."

"Jay? As in your brother? Jaydan Cobb?" I repeated his name like it was foreign to my tongue.

"Yes, my brother. You know him. We went to high school together. Why are you being all weird about this?"

"I'm not being weird! I just…it's been a while since I've last heard about him. How's he doing?"

Jaydan and I were friendly, not on a super close, personal level, but considering his younger brother and I were best friends, we saw each other pretty often right until Jay left for college.

I totally didn 't have a super secret crush on him in high school. Nuh-uh. Totally did not.

"Jay's good. He stayed in Houston after college but recently moved back to open his studio. It's only been a few months, but the studio's been busy every time I've visited. But hey, I'm sure I can talk him into squeezing you in for a class."

"I dunno, Howie. Yoga, really?" I said, hesitating. He might think it was a good way to unwind, but all I could imagine was myself plopped on the mat, having fallen from whatever impossible pose people did in yoga. As if I hadn't embarrassed myself enough in front of Jay while in high school.

"If you don't have the skills to attract an actual body, then going to Bodhi is your next best bet," Howie deadpanned.

"Hey! I have game!"

He ignored my interjection and continued, "C'mon, Ashy. It'll be good for you. You'll move your body, de-stress, and you'll get to see Jay again." I didn't like the mischievous twinkle that flickered in his blue eyes.

Right. That completely super secret crush that everyone knew about. At least everyone who ever saw the bumbling fool I'd seemed to turn into whenever I was around Jay. He'd always had that effect on me, so did I really want to put myself into that situation again by attending a yoga class in a studio that he'd owned and was sure to bump into him at ?

I already knew there was only one answer to that question.

I'd called Howie to get my mind off the disastrous loss the Troopers experienced, and he'd done exactly that by giving me something— someone— else to think about.