He stalked away and prayed her drama-queen ass wouldn’t come after him. Thankfully, it was about the only good thing that happened that night. But the night wasn’t over.

It was past midnight, and he and all the other idiots who’d decided to go that stupid party were waiting for their coach to pick them up in the lobby of the hotel. It was either they all got hauled off to jail like so many of the other non-football players who’d gotten hauled off or be released to their coaches. Alex said the cops knew exactly what they were doing. The drive back to the hotel with their pissed off coach would be worse than spending a few hours in jail. And getting up at seven? Forget about it. They’d likely be expected to be on the bus by five now. Tomorrow was going to be one long f**king day.

The coach arrived wearing the scowl of all scowls. He thanked the cops for not taking them in and apologized profusely to the hotel staff. Surprisingly, but even scarier, the coach had hardly said a word the whole way back to their hotel room. Another surprise was that their seven a.m. bus time still stood. Alex and Angel could only think he didn’t want them even more tired than they’d already be for the game tomorrow, but then he hit them with what hurt most.

“I hope tonight was worth it.” He looked around, eyeing each of them as he stood up when they reached their hotel. Angel could hardly stand to look the man in the eyes, but he didn’t look away. “I hope you guys at least got laid tonight because after the game tomorrow, win or lose, you’re mine. You don’t shower. You don’t head to the bus. You grab something to eat from the vending machine or wherever you can in that stadium, and then you meet me back on that field when the crowds are gone. We’re gonna run drills until you’re all puking your f**king lungs out. Then Sunday morning we do it again. Sunday afternoon—again.”

He slammed his hand against the bus ceiling then walked off the bus. All the players sat there, waiting to be dismissed, but they watched as the coach walked into the hotel and didn’t walk back out. The driver stood up and faced them with a disapproving but sympathetic expression. “I think you boys better get in bed now.”

They all stood slowly and exited the bus with their tails between their legs. Angel was so mad he could almost roar, but there was no point. This whole weekend was f**ked now. Even then he’d gladly take the drills and the two-a-days on Sunday. None of that was worse than having to explain this night to Sarah. Angel had to get to her before anyone else did. She’d get that he had no choice when all the guys in the shuttle started chanting, “Party! Party! Party!” They’d been supposed to be voting on going to the party or heading back to their hotel. Then when they got there he couldn’t just sit there in the shuttle and refuse to go up to the party. He’d actually considered staying in the shuttle and taking a nap. He figured if the guys took too long and the driver couldn’t wait he’d get a ride back to the hotel. That is until all the guys started busting his balls. Even Alex had told him not to be a pu**y.

Now here he was at almost one in the morning, trying to log onto his Facebook using his phone with the dying battery and failing miserably. He couldn’t even remember when the last time was he’d logged in, so trying to remember his password was futile.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked as he walked out of the bathroom, shirtless and ready for bed. “Don’t tell me you’re calling Sarah. It’s a two-hour difference, you know? So it’s close to three a.m. over there.”

Angel had thought about that. It’s why he hadn’t called or texted her. His only hope now was that, even if Dana and her damn friends had posted shit already, it’d be at least a few hours before Sarah was up to see any of it. As far as he knew, Dana wasn’t Facebook friends with Sarah. His only worry now was Valerie. She was the one who had told Sarah about all the shit Dana had posted before, and if she saw the photos of Alex, she was going to be on fire. Unlike Angel, Alex had no qualms about pulling the overzealous girls to him and posing body to body like the ham that he was.

“I wasn’t trying to call her,” Angel said, pulling his charger out of his bag. “I was just trying to check my Facebook to see if any photos from the party are up yet.”

“Oh, yeah.” Alex chuckled. “Sarah’s gonna love those especially the ones with Dana slathered all over you.”

“I pushed her away,” Angel muttered, clenching his jaw, annoyed that obviously Alex wasn’t worried about Valerie seeing the photos of him and all those chicks he hung out with and the ones where he’d even let them sit on his lap.

“Aren’t your worried about Valerie seeing them?”

He looked up just in time to see his brother’s face go hard. “I don’t ask her what she does when I’m not around.”

“Why is that?” Angel asked, even more exasperated now at how unfair it was that Alex didn’t seem as worried as Angel felt. “Because it sure as shit pisses you off to see her with other guys.”

Alex didn’t say anything; he just got in bed, pulling the blankets over him and shrugged. Angel would never get it. He’d never be able to deal with the possibility of Sarah hanging out with other guys when he wasn’t around in that type of atmosphere, especially if she was a flirt like Valerie. As much of a hothead as his brother was, Angel couldn’t for the life of him figure out how he did it.

“Doesn’t it bother you to think she might be with someone else when you’re not—?”