Ch. 2

Rowan pov

After hours of pacing outside the coach’s office, I finally gathered the courage to knock on the new office they had prepared for him.

“Come in.”

I pushed the door open.

Matteo sat behind his desk, flipping through a stack of paperwork. He didn’t even look up from his desk.

I stood there, watching him because somehow he looked even more attractive and a bit chubby than I remembered.

“Are you going to keep staring, or did you need something?” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I cleared my throat.

Only then did he raise his head. The moment our eyes met, a flicker of surprise crossed his face before it disappeared just as quickly. “…Captain Rowan?”

I walked over and pulled out the chair across from his desk. “May I?”

He gave a short nod.

I sat down, suddenly forgetting everything I had rehearsed outside. I cleared my throat again. “Uh… Coach Mat—” I caught myself before the nickname slipped out. “…Coach Matteo.”

Silence settled between us.

“Do you need something, Captain?”

“Uh… no.” I scratched the back of my neck. “I just… came to talk.”

Matteo leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on me, waiting for me to continue.

“I…” I swallowed deciding to say whatever. “It’s been a long time.”

He remained silent.

“I just wanted to… greet you. And… and apologize.”

“May I ask.... Apologize for what?” He looked surprised.

“For everything.” I lowered my head with a frown. Had he forgotten everything about us?

A few seconds passed before he finally spoke. “You’ve done nothing wrong since I came here, there’s no need to apologize.”

I looked up.

“By the way…” he continued, glancing back at the papers on his desk. “You must be Leith’s son. We spoke not long ago.”

My dad? Why what nonsense did he and Matteo talk about this time? Forget it. I didn’t want to know. Maybe he’d already been informed about Matteo becoming my new coach since he was one of the club’s shareholders.

Everyone on the team knew how obsessed my father had been with basketball before an accident. To him, it wasn’t just a sport, it was a legacy I had no choice but to carry.

He probably asked Matteo to keep an eye on me. Or worse… make sure I trained even harder. That sounded exactly like something my father would do.

“I want to quit being captain.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

If Dad had already spoken to Matteo, then there was no point trying to explain what had happened between us two years ago. Besides… The longer I stayed in this office, the harder it became to think straight.

“That’s unfortunate.” Matteo nodded once. “I won’t stop you then.”

I stared at him already getting pissed by his indifference. I was trying to talk and he was shutting me out. I slowly got to my feet, waiting for him to say something else but he didn’t.

Instead, he picked up another file from his desk. “Would that be all, Captain?”

“…I…” I didn’t even know what I wanted to say anymore.

Without looking up, Matteo spoke again. “Then I won’t keep you any longer.”

Something inside me snapped.

Fine. I turned on my heel and stormed out of his office, slamming the door harder than I intended.

What the hell was wrong with him? Two years ago, he walked away from me, and now he couldn’t even spare me another minute of his time. I’m done. Maybe it was better to keep things simple. Keep having my one night stands with Emma. At least she never expected anything in return.

I made my way to the court. The rest of the guys were already warming up. 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 again. 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 pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned around.

“Hey.” It was Ralph.

Out of everyone on the team, he was the only one I could call a friend. The rest tolerated me at best.

I knew why.

If I weren’t the captain and had to deal with someone like me every day, I would probably hate me too. But what choice did I have? Being captain meant making decisions that wouldn’t always make everyone happy. “Hey.” I forced a smile.

Ralph smiled back. “Are you okay?” His eyes studied my face before he reached up and smoothed the crease between my brows with his thumb. “You looked really angry just now. Better now, though.”

I laughed quietly and pinched both his cheeks. “I’m fine.”

That was one thing I liked about Ralph. He always knew what to say to make me feel a little lighter.

“Care to share?” he asked.

Before I could answer, a basketball came flying straight toward him. I reacted without thinking, catching it inches away from his face.

Ralph blinked before letting out a relieved laugh. “Thanks.”

I nodded and looked toward where the ball had come from.

Of course it was Wesley. The one teammate who had never accepted any decision I made as the captain and the same guy who always found one reason or another to pick on Ralph.

I walked over, with the volleyball still in my hand. “Hey,” I called. “What was that about?”

Wesley shrugged without any hint of guilt. “I missed.” His smirk said otherwise.

“Ass. You expect me to believe that?” I asked.

“You can believe whatever you want, Captain.” The word Captain rolled off his tongue like an insult.

“He wasn’t even looking.”

“So?” Wesley folded his arms. “It’s basketball. Balls fly around all the time.”

“Don’t you think, I know that?” I asked getting worked up again. “But does it go straight at someone’s head?”

A few of the guys stopped practicing to watch us.

Wesley glanced around and let out a huff. “What?” He shrugged. “You going to punish me now?”

“I asked you a question.”

“And I answered duhh.”

The two of us stared at each other. Finally, I tossed the ball back to him to stop my fist from doing the tossing. “Just keep your shots under control.”

He caught it with one hand. “I’ll try.” The mocking smile never left his face.

I turned around before my temper got the better of me.

“Thanks,” Ralph whispered as he caught up with me.

I shook my head. “You know he did that on purpose.”

“I know.” Ralph said. “By the way, he’s my roommate. Just let him be. He’s actually nice to me when we’re alone. I don’t know if he jut enjoys being rude in public.”

Before I could answer, a sharp whistle echoed across the court. “Everyone!” Matteo stood at the edge of the court, with a clipboard in one hand.

The chatter died down instantly.

“Practice starts now.” His eyes swept over the team and when they reached me… “Captain Rowan,” he said in the same calm voice. “Lead the warm up.”

“Yes, Coach.”