25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Cole

After a week of grueling practice full of new plays, more time spent in the weight room, and convincing Coach that I have a whole strategy for winning Saturday's game, I am so ready to crush Portland and spend a well-earned day with Carissa before we fly back home.

Our previous two games were at home with our own crowd, which usually amps up the energy of the team more than when we're on the road, but our last game was when Moxie got injured. As we make our way into the hotel Friday night, the guys seem to be buzzing with something new. I don't know if it's the new strategies we've been trying or if it's because we're determined to prove ourselves after that doozy of a game, but we're clearly here to win.

The guys are loud as they pair off to go up to their rooms, though it sounds like many of them plan to head to the pool to wind down before hitting an early bedtime. A couple of them ask if I'm joining as they pass me, which is a miracle unto itself. While I'd much rather decompress in my room, I probably need to keep up the momentum of this whole bonding thing. Freya hasn't said anything about my homework, but I'm sure she will.

Sage's wedding is on Sunday. Here in Portland. Something in me wonders if Sage planned it that way, knowing I would be here for a game, though I can't imagine what she hopes to accomplish. She broke up with me . And I'm over her.

"Doing the whole solo room thing still?" Wyatt asks, stopping next to me on his way to the elevator. I figured I would let the rest of the team get settled before I get my key, so I'm standing off to the side and trying not to think about my ex when Carissa is upstairs in her shared room with Mel.

I chuckle. "I'd rather pay for my own room than have to share with one of you."

"I don't blame you. I'd do the same if I could afford it, but no." Wyatt wrinkles his nose and watches Wilson, one of the locks on the team, fumble with his bag and lose half his clothes across the lobby floor. "I get to bunk with that."

"Hey, Wilson is our best tackle," I argue.

"Oh, he's great on a pitch. Not so much in a hotel room. The man's the messiest person I've ever met." He sighs and starts heading over to help Wilson, talking to me as he goes. "If you're ever feeling extra generous, Evanson, feel free to book me a single room like yours next time."

"Don't count on it!"

Truth be told, I've thought about paying for rooms for the whole team more than once, but it has always felt like trying to buy my way into their good graces, and that would have backfired. I don't think my money alone can do me any good, but I wish it could. At least this is a Hawthorne hotel, which is on the nicer end of things. We aren't always this lucky.

When the rest of the team has checked in and headed upstairs, I make my way to the desk right as my phone rings. Freya. I give my name to the desk attendant, then answer the phone.

"I'm not going."

Freya laughs. "Am I that predictable?"

I roll my eyes, tugging the hood of my sweatshirt over my head as if that might hide me from this conversation. "The wedding is in two days, and you haven't said anything about it in almost a week."

"Yes, well, I have been busy. But now I must know if I need to alert our pilot of my intention to come to Oregon or if Carissa will be your date."

"I'm not going," I repeat, nodding a thank you to the concierge and taking my key. The sooner I get upstairs, the better.

"You have made friends?"

"Does Carissa count?"

"No."

I hit the button for the elevator and let out a deep sigh. "I figured. Moxie?"

"He was your friend before I made my edict; therefore, he does not qualify. Cole, I thought you had a plan. Derek said—"

"From my understanding of your terms," I interrupt, "I simply had to try. I've done that." But I don't think I can say any of the guys would consider me a friend. A teammate? Sure. Captain? Getting there. But friend? I'm not sure that will ever happen.

"Coleman, if you had tried, truly, you would have succeeded."

The elevator opens, and I slip inside, grateful that there's no one else in the lobby wanting to go up with me. This isn't a conversation I want people overhearing. "Freya, do I need to remind you that friendship is a two-way thing? Whatever has changed on my end, it doesn't say anything about how the guys see me. I'm not paying the consequences of their choices. "

Freya lets out a heavy sigh. "You are complicating this," she says as the door slides open on the third floor.

"And you think I'm more likable than I…am." My words trail off when I realize Carissa is standing in front of me in a striped blue-and-white swimsuit that shows off…everything. "Gotta go," I say into the phone and hang up, stepping back to let Carissa inside.

Carissa presses her lips together as she joins me right before the doors close again. Though she has a white hotel towel slung over her shoulder, I still have a full view of the bikini that exposes most of her fair skin. "Are you going down?" she asks, her cheeks glowing pink.

My mouth has gone dry, so I nod.

Carissa's eyes jump to my bag. "You sure about that?"

"I'm exactly where I want to be."

She bites her lip, but her smile tugs the pink flesh from between her teeth as she meets my gaze.

"That's against the rules, Paxton," I growl, dropping my bag and stepping forward. I back her into the corner of the elevator without taking my eyes off her. I've been good all week, enduring the fifteen-minute drive to and from practice without touching her. I've done my best not to watch her whenever she's on the field with us, bossing the guys around. I've resisted showing up at her apartment every night just to be around her.

But this? Seeing how strong she is despite her small size, catching hints of the warmth of her skin in the space between us, watching the stray curl that falls from her bun? That's asking too much of me.

I press my hands against the silver wall of the elevator on either side of her head, noting the way her breaths come in short bursts as she stares up at me, pink-cheeked and beautiful. "I didn't ask the last time," I whisper, leaning down until our noses touch. "But I'm asking now."

She nods, pushing my hood off my head. "Kiss me. "

Right as our lips brush, the elevator shudders to life around us and moves upward. I drop my head with a groan, resting it on Carissa's shoulder. I could still go for it, but I'd rather not be interrupted.

I step back to the other corner of the small space right as we come to a stop and the door opens for half a dozen of the team, all of them in swim trunks and shirtless. I don't miss the way Carissa's eyes go wide as they shuffle in, and I think back to the day she went into the locker room to get my bag for me. I still don't know how much she saw, but she clearly likes the show today.

"You're coming swimming with us, Miss Carissa?" Freddie asks happily.

She beams. "Of course!"

The guys are all admiring her as much as she admires them, and unease settles in my stomach. Maybe I should keep to my room tonight. Jealousy isn't going to help me keep my distance from the woman when she's surrounded by half-naked athletes. Not just athletes. Rugby players. They put most of my football buddies to shame.

"You joining us, Captain?" Carissa asks, pulling my eyes back to her.

The guys all look at me.

I swallow and shrug. "Sure. Once I get settled."

"Which floor?" Grayson asks.

"Three."

"Hey!" Carissa says. "Me too!"

Oh good. Even more temptation. Grayson hits the button for my floor and the one for the lobby, and it's with great reluctance that I step out when it's my stop. I'm leaving an incredibly alluring woman with a team full of guys who have not been shy about their interest. Put them in a pool, and…

I swallow thickly and meet Carissa's eyes as the door slides closed, and I'm pretty sure she's laughing at me. She's going to enjoy tonight.

I'm going to completely hate it.