OFF LIMITS: The Captain’s Coach

Rowan POV Today’s practice was exhausting. The guys were underperforming, and as the captain, I had to be the one barking orders. "Pick up the pace! If you can't even handle basic layups, just get off the floor!" I yelled across the court. Inside, I was losing my mind. I had been waiting for Matteo to show up, but he hadn't even arrived yet. If this was how a head coach was going to run things, showing up this late, it was better we didn't even have a team. An hour later, I made my way to the court. The rest of the guys had already taken a rest for some minutes and were already warming up again. Without saying a word, I picked up a basketball and tossed it into the air towards the pole. Miss. I grabbed another one and I still missed. Another, but still missed. I didn’t care anymore. I just kept serving one ball after another, not caring whether they landed in the net or flew past it. All I wanted was to get rid of the frustration bubbling inside me. A gentle tap on my shoulder p

Matteo POV The locker room door clicked shut. I stood in the silence staring at the nothing in particular. There was no point in chasing after him. I turned around and walked straight back out to the court. I honestly had no idea what to do with this version of Rowan Hayes. He was defensive, aggressive and handling these both personality of his were exhausting. Two years ago, I could always deal with his temper. I could endure whatever he threw at me because I knew how to calm him down. But now? He was a completely different person, and I was entirely out of my depth. The guys had stopped their drills and were huddled near the bench, whispering among themselves. The second they saw me approaching back onto the court, the noise died down instantly. "Where's Rowan?" One of his team members asked. I ignored the question, because even I didn’t know where he went to. "Get back on the baseline," I ordered flatly. "You guys can practice your passing for a bit in an hour before going ba

Rowan POV The silence in the gym was suffocating. After Matteo had successfully ripped I and Wesley apart from each other’s neck. "Locker room. Both of you. Now," Matteo said, his voice dropping. Wesley wiped a smear of blood from his jaw, glaring at me with pure hatred before turning on his heel and storming towards the locker room. I stayed rooted to the spot, my chest heaving, staring straight into Matteo's cold, unreadable eyes. I wanted him to say something but his expression told me he was so angry. He looked at the remaining players on the floor. "The rest of you, hit the showers. Practice is over." I didn't wait for the guys to disperse. I turned around and walked down the locker room. When I kicked open the locker room door, Wesley was already throwing his gear into his duffel bag, muttering curses under his breath. Ralph was standing near the water cooler, looking entirely stressed out. "Rowan, man, you can't just—" Ralph started, but I cut him off with a harsh gl

Rowan POV"You’ve been ignoring my calls this days." My father said, not even waiting for my response. He turned around, and that was the cue to follow behind him.If there was one person in this world I absolutely hated getting on the bad side of, it was Arthur Hayes. To the university board and the public, he was just a generous booster with an easy demeanor. But to me, he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He controlled every single aspect of my existence, and he knew exactly which strings to pull to keep me in line.The biggest string was my mother. He had already restricted my access to her before, cutting off my visits to her whenever my performance dropped or whenever I dared to talk back. I couldn't risk him doing it again. If I completely fell out of his favor, he was going make sure I never saw her at all.We walked out into the VIP parking lot and stepped into the back of his black car. The door clicked shut, cutting off the distant noise of the arena and leaving us in a stifl

Rowan POV Therapy was disheartening. I didn't want to go but since I was forced and threatened by Arthur Hayes and Matteo—his little minion, I decided to show up. Dr. Hayley didn't make it any better by asking the same irrelevant questions she always asked whenever I dropped by and sure enough i gave her the usual answers. "How's the team?" "Fine." "And your father?" "Also fine." I checked my phone under the desk. Five more minutes and I was out. "Rowan." She set her pen down, which meant she was about to say something she thought mattered. "A man called in yesterday and said he was the coach. I don’t know if he’s your family so I told him nothing about you." That got my attention. "Matteo called you?" "Matteo? He said he was concerned you missed your last session and wanted me to reach out directly instead of going through your father, you hate when your dad calls." I let out a short laugh. "Since when does he care that much?" "You tell me." She tilted her head. "You menti