4

Kaya POV

The next morning, the stadium hums like a living creature, stadium lights buzzing, turf freshly painted, and banners already hung with Tom’s name in bold letters.

Captain Thomas..

America’s golden boy.

My ex-husband.

I pull on the cuff of my T-shirt, heat prickling at the back of my neck, not from my nerves. Not exactly.

Today is the day Tom 2.0 joins the team, aka, Flynn Fletcher, and he is here to cause chaos

I pull on my T-shirt again. I requested that my father give me a job as the coach's analyst, just so my revenge plan can go smoothly and I can get a closer look at things up close.

My fingers slide across my phone screen sending the instructions to the team’s acting CEO

“Introduce the new Teammate" the message reads.

I grab the pile of towels in my hand and head towards the open stadium where the team members are practicing.

Tom is in the middle of it all, digging out instructions and shouting at everyone that can hear him, and right at the bottom of the bleachers is Riley, her lab coat around her body as she cheers him on

She sends him an air kiss and he happily catches it. My heart bleeds more at their open display of love.

Tom never did that with me, in fact, he wanted me out of the way, he never wanted me at his games or wearing his number as his wife. Now I can see why.

The sound of the whistle pulls me out of my thoughts and I watch as Coach Harriman pulls the team aside.

I walk towards them, just so I can hear everything and it seems Riley has the same idea as me.

“Get out of my way loser” she bumps me, pushing me out of the way to reach the grass first.

“Today we will be introducing a new teammate,” the coach starts causing confusion to fill the players' faces, especially Tom.

A ripple of uneasy laughter spreads through the players, then dies when they see he is not smiling

“Oh right, there he is” he turns around and right at the entrance, hair swoops down his head, blue eyes glinting in the bright sun, his sculpted body is exposed, and a sheen of sweat glints off his abs, his shoulder pads are strapped to him, and the football pants?

The pants wrap around his bottom so good that I could hear the cheerleaders screech from the side at his appearance

A smirk graces my lips, even though my heart is pounding like it's about to jump out of my chest. Will he get this right?

His lips pull into a charming smile and a glorious Southern accent I don't remember coding fills our ears, “Hello everyone, I am Flynn Fetcher, the new Team captain” he stops stretching his hand forward specifically to Tom

I want to laugh, to jump, and to celebrate, I mean, the robot is good, that alone is enough to get Tom riled up

“What do you mean Team Captain?” Tom grunts, he turns to the coach with narrowed eyes

The coach lifts his hands in surrender, “Order from above man, but he is not the only captain” he warns stopping Tom before a fight can break out

“Yeah, you shouldn't be scared Tommy” Flynn winks, stepping back with a smirk.

“The name is Thomas..and it's Captain Thomas to you” he grits out, "What's going on Coach? A team can't have two captains”

“You both will co-captain this Team and will now be actively competing for the position of Team captain” The coach clears everyone.

“Starting today, it’s Flynn versus Thomas“ he blows his whistle, "Now let's get down to practice” He adds before Tom can crash out more than he already is.

That's right Tom, I smirk watching the entire interaction, “I will take your dream from you, snatch it right under your nose.” I repeat to myself turning my eyes away from Tom

Flynn turns to me, a side look, a cunning smirk, and a sparkle in his eyes that screams, I will make you proud

My heart comes to a stop at his look, he sends me his signature wink, and runs into the field

I turn back to Tom who has called Riley to the side, and they speak with hushed tones but I only want to laugh. Riley has no real power here, and this will ultimately cause issues in their relationship

“Just perfect” I mutter to myself

I don't know what Riley tells Tom, but his face turns red, he walks toward Coach and his voice is so loud, everyone stops to watch

“I am not going to accept this, I signed a damn contract, I am the best, nobody even knows this unknown boy toy” he snaps at Flynn

He smirks, his expression unchanging. And God it pisses Tom off.

“A challenge right now!” Tom grabs his helmet, placing it around his head.

Coach Harriman clears his throat, stepping in before Tom can spit back more venom.

Tom snaps, turning away. “Let’s see what your boy toy can do.”

Flynn smirks and I can see him rebooting. Physically getting ready to crush Tom.

“This is going to be good” I hear Riley mutter to the cheerleaders, a smirk on her lips and arms crossed over the other.

We gather near the 20-yard line. Receivers line up, curious and tense.

Flynn steps forward, movements fluid, almost graceful.

“Ready?” Coach calls, clipboard trembling slightly in his hand and I wonder why he is nervous.. Maybe he doesn't want some testosterone-inducing fight to break out but he continues

“Yes, Coach," he replies, voice calm but with an edge of something… almost human.

The whistle blows.

From the first play, the difference between Flynn and Tom is undeniable.

Flynn grips the ball. The receivers sprint.

One flick of his arm, and the ball cuts through the air, a perfect spiral, landing squarely in the receiver’s chest thirty yards away.

Gasps ripple down the field. Even the defensive line whistles under their breath and Tom’s face tightens at the impressive move.

Flynn throws again. And again. Each pass is sharper, faster, and uncannily precise. The team can’t help but stare.

Tom rips off his helmet, anger boiling in his veins and I almost think he wants to attack Flynn, but he turns his eyes away from him spotting me in the crowd.

“You!!” he yells matching towards me

“What the hell are you doing here you gold digger?” he snaps transferring his aggression

“She's the bad luck honey, you have been doing food all day and then she appears” Riley mumbles beside him

“You shouldn't be here, I told you to leave me alone, we are divorced and I want nothing to do with you” he takes a threatening step towards me

I want to say some to defend myself, but the coach cuts me off, “She works here now as the teams analyst Tom, lay off her” he blinks, not wanting to hurt his star athlete's feelings

“I will make sure you get fired from this Job, you won’t get any job after this in this city, and I will make sure you are nowhere near my fiancé!” Riley mocks beside him

“Get security to throw out this gold digger!!” Tom yells over at the security guard

Before I can respond, Flynn strides toward me, grass crunching under his sneakers.

His eyes lock on mine, no code, no program, just pure heat.

Before I can ask what he’s doing, his hand curls around my waist and he kisses me.

For a split second, my brain screams, I didn’t program this.

But I did tell him to humiliate Tom, to take everything Tom cared about.

And now, in front of the entire team, he’s doing exactly that.

So instead of pulling back, I kiss him back.

Flynn pulls away just enough for his voice to carry “Since everyone’s wondering,” he says, calm as ever, arm around me, “Kaya and I are together.”

The field goes dead silent.