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Being that close to you all the time and acting like I don t want
this& you. DeShawn yanked at Patton s shirt, pulling it over his
head before skimming his mouth across Patton s chest. The contact
wasn t quite a kiss, but it wasn t quite less than a kiss, either.  Let
me take care of you.
 Take care of me?
 Yeah. Anybody ever do that after a hard loss? Or are you
usually too busy punishing yourself?
 There s usually punishment, Patton admitted.
 That s what I thought. Come on. DeShawn took his hand,
giving him a brief tug. At first, Patton didn t move. He was too
busy staring at the point where their hands touched. Considering
that DeShawn stood in front of him completely naked, the gesture
shouldn t have even registered. But it did, and Patton liked it.
 Where are we going?
 To bed. I m going to give you a good rubdown. Get you nice
and relaxed. Work out all the sore spots. Did I ever mention that I
used to date a physical therapist? He had the best hands, and he
showed me how to use mine.
 That sounds& promising.
 It s very promising.
 DeShawn, about today& 
 I don t want to talk about it anymore.
 You don t even know what I was going to say.
 If it s about today, I don t want to hear it. It s time to focus on
you, and then after that, we ll focus on next week.
Patton nodded, silently agreeing not to mention the fight again.
The dispute had overwhelmed the football chatter in the locker
room, most of the players more interested in the annoying kid who
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got in Howard s face than on the parts each of them played in the
loss. He knew reports of it had made it back to the coaching staff,
and DeShawn hadn t been present to even offer his side of the
story.
Patton suspected if it came up again, DeShawn would get a bit
of a slap on the wrist and told to calm down. Which wouldn t be
bad for him. It might even do him a bit of good. By the time they
reached DeShawn s bedroom, Patton convinced himself that
everything would be fine.
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WEEK 9
HOUSTON OILERS VS PHOENIX WILDCATS
5-2-0
 Welcome to week nine of play in the American Football
Association. There s a certain chill in the air in this first week of
November, and we ll be taking you around the league for our full
game day coverage, but we ll be starting in Phoenix. There s been
a good amount of drama in this past week.
 There has been, Jon, from all over the place! First, we have
the announcement that Jeremy Oswald won t be cleared to play for
at least another three weeks. This is extremely serious and could
have a major impact on the immediate future of the franchise. Then
the Arizona Daily actually called for Patton Cooper to be benched
in favor of Chase Bryant, who quite frankly isn t ready to play. I
don t care how you feel about Cooper.
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 But it didn t stop there, Ryan. There haven t been any official
announcements yet, but it sounds like the Wildcats are considering
a late season trade with the Orlando Breakers. What do you think
of that move?
 I think if the Breakers take the deal, they re the ones who are
going to lose on it. DeShawn Jones is a rookie with a lot of
potential, but that s all he is. Orlando is considering giving up a
good fullback. And honestly, I think we re all wondering why now?
But this is just distraction from the important thing, which is the
game today.
 Right. These two teams last met in the second week, and we
said then that the game had potential playoff implications. Now the
playoffs are just around the corner, and the Wildcats suffered a
truly devastating loss against the Bighorns. If they lose this game,
they ll drop to third place in their division, which is remarkable
considering their record.
 In any other division, five and three would be a comfortable
record. But they re not in any other division, and if they re not
careful, they re going to fall three games behind the leader. All
three losses, by the way, would be divisional.
* * *
DeShawn told himself he didn t say anything because he didn t
want to distract Patton from the game that could turn his season
around. The entire team had been tense throughout the week,
trying to keep their heads down and work despite their concern for
Oz, the escalating animosity on the defensive side of the ball, and
the stress of learning the rhythm of a new quarterback. DeShawn
learned of his fate late Thursday night, after a long, exhausting
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practice. Coach intercepted him on his way to the showers and
pulled him into his office.
DeShawn tried not to let on, but Coach Williams made him
really fucking nervous. The man was a legend in the AFA, with a
combined total of six championships as a player and coach. He still
held most of the records quarterbacks cared about most
completions in a single year, most yards in a year, most all-time
passing yards, and three MVP awards. But that s not why he made
DeShawn nervous. DeShawn didn t get starstruck, even by the
biggest stars in the galaxy none of them outshone Patton in his
personal galaxy anyway. But there was no light in the man s eyes.
He never looked happy or sad, disappointed or angry. His gaze was
always flat, unassuming, unrevealing. When DeShawn stepped into
his office, he knew what must have been coming, but Coach s face
didn t reveal a damned thing.
The fight with Howard had been ill-advised, but insignificant in
the grand scheme of things. Nobody had been hurt, and getting in
the bigger man s face might have done the trick, because DeShawn
didn t hear anything more about fags or queers. DeShawn had
been prepared for some punishment, expecting to be ordered to
more laps or pushups or something along those lines. But nobody
said a word, and by Wednesday, DeShawn had started to hope it
was all over.
That hope crashed to the ground when Coach Williams
delivered the news in his flat, slow accent. DeShawn Jones was no
longer a member of the Phoenix Wildcats, effective the following
Monday. He would be finishing his season in Orlando, and if they
liked him, they d sign him on for a second year. If not, he d be cut
adrift in the league, one of the many players who disappeared early
in their career and maybe, if they were lucky, had a comeback
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years later.
DeShawn let the words roll over him, unable to do much more
than process the immediate realization that he d be leaving Patton.
Getting to play for a team like the Breakers meant nothing to him
if Patton stayed on the opposite end of the country, out of reach.
He realized on one level that he wasn t reacting appropriately.
There were other considerations, or at least, there were supposed to
be. He could tell by the way Coach stared at him that he expected
questions or protests, but DeShawn couldn t think of anything
except Patton s face.
The Breakers expected him by Monday afternoon.
DeShawn muttered something about how it had been an honor
to play for him and shook his hand, his mind still on the man he d
be leaving behind.
That night, Patton had asked him if everything was all right.
DeShawn hadn t exactly lied, but he hadn t exactly answered,
either. Instead, he distracted Patton from the fact he d ever asked
the question and tackled him to the bed. Patton had laughed a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]