Ch. 1

Rowan POV

Matteo’s eyes found mine across the room. I couldn’t believe after two years, I was finally seeing him again. Not that it matters, it was getting to my nerves that he still showed up here after he said we didn’t need to see each other again.

“Good morning everyone. I’m Matteo Hudson. I’ll be your head coach from today onwards.”

I rolled my eyes at the pretentious smiling face he was giving to the other team members. When his eyes stopped on me, he just pulled his face like I was a stranger. Now that annoyed the shit out of me.

“Captain, come welcome Coach Hudson on behalf of the team,” Coach Jefferson called out.

I stepped up, keeping my face completely deadpan. If he wanted to play the stranger game, I could play it better. “Welcome coach,” I whispered in a way only him could catch my tone.

He gave me a little smile and nodded. “Thank you.”

I watched him for a few seconds, already fuming. He still had a smile on his face and it made me want to wipe it off.

**TWO YEARS EARLIER**

“Let’s break up.”

The words hit me the second I walked through the side door of the gym. Matteo was standing by the bleachers, his arms crossed tight to his chest.

I let out a short laugh, shaking my head. He always said dramatic things like that when he beat me to the gym. “Yeah, okay, Dad.” I reached out to grab his arm. “Come on, sit with me. I’ve got twenty minutes before—”

He didn’t move an inch. Usually, he let me drag him around like an oversized puppy, complaining the whole way. Today, his feet looked bolted to the floor.

“Matt?”

He exhaled hard, and that’s when I noticed his eyes were getting glassy. “Matt, what’s wrong?” I stepped closer. “Talk to me. We can fix whatever this is.”

“I’m not joking, Rowan.” His voice cracked low. “I can’t do this anymore.”

The smile completely fell off my face.

“I’m tired,” he muttered, his hands clenching into fists. “I’m so fucking tired of hiding and being the last person you think about.” He looked right at me. “Every time you swear you’ll come find me, your friends call and I suddenly disappear. Like I don’t exist until it’s convenient.”

He grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands off him. I could feel my fingers trembling.“Matt, don’t. Come on, we’re adults, we can talk about this—”

“Adults.” He let out a bitter, mocking laugh that made my throat clamp up. “Right. I’m the adult. You love reminding me of that. Every comment about how much older I am, how I should know better.” He snapped his head away. “It makes me feel pathetic. And I’m done pretending it doesn’t.”

I searched for something to say to fix it, but my brain completely stopped working.

“I already put in my notice.” He wouldn't even look at me now. “I’m done with the team. We should just… stop. Stop seeing each other.”

The words didn't even make sense in my head. “No.” I shook my head immediately, the anger flaring up before I could think. “No, you can’t just decide that.”

Matteo’s jaw tightened. “Rowan—”

“You can break up if you want,” I cut in, stepping directly into his space, my voice turning sharp. “But I’m not. I’m not breaking up with you.”

He looked at me like he expected my answer. “See? I kind of expected that from you. You are just being an arrogant prick again.” He took a step back, completely out of my reach. “Doesn’t matter what you call it. I’m still leaving.”

“Matt. Come on.” I screamed at his retreating back. “Matt. Please... Matt.”

He didn’t even look back. He just walked out, leaving me standing alone in the gym.

~ ~ ~ ~

After Matteo’s introduction I followed behind him to his office, but couldn’t bring my self to get in. I stood by the front pacing around till, I finally decided to knock and walked right in.

Matteo was seated behind his desk with some glasses on, staring down at a folder. He didn't even raise his head up to acknowledge my presence.

I watched him be serious for a while, before I walked up closer to him, stopping at the edge of the desk. He still didn't look up. I knew he was just acting like I wasn't there to make me angry. And it did make me mad. I reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing his face up.

Matteo’s eyes widened instantly, the glasses shifting on his nose. His expression completely broke as his dark green eyes locked into mine. "What are you doing?" His voice came out in a shocked whisper.

"What am I doing?" I let out a low chuckle, tightening my grip on his jaw. "What the fuck are you doing too? Crawling back to this team and acting like I'm a complete stranger? Is that what we're doing now, Matteo?"

He grabbed my wrist, trying to pull my hand off his face. "Rowan, let go. You started it first." He finally let go of my wrist, "What if someone sees us."

"I don’t care," I snapped, leaning down further into his space. "After all, you broke up with me for the same reason. I want them to see exactly how their new coach treats his captain."