Teaming Up

Chapter 5

GAMBLE

ZED

If chasing pussy were an Olympic sport, I'd win all the gold. I know how to leverage my assets, use my charm and my good looks. Women eat me up like pints of Ben & Jerry's. Except I'm so much better than B&J. I live as much for the chase as I do for the outcome. There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of the chase. It's better than booze, or high stakes poker, or Christmas Morning. And the gratification that comes when the chase is successful? Epic… for me and my partner. E.P.I.C. Because I make it goddamned unforgettable.

But none of my tricks work with a certain tiny lady with balls of steel. Not one. And I'm beginning to worry she might break me. Because it's been MONTHS.

What the fuck? I'm losing my goddamned mojo. And when I finally get some action, I'm going to shoot off like a fucking thirteen-year-old.

"This day can fucking go to hell," Zed mumbled as he threw his duffle bag into the corner of his room and collapsed onto his bed. He'd missed three morning workouts in a row while he had been out of town, locked in a convention hall for four days. And to make matters worse, he hadn't seen or heard from Addie in days.

A knock on his door made him sit up.

"Sup?" he asked.

Wyatt opened the door. "Welcome back! How was the ZOM conference?"

Zed yawned. "Same as it was last year."

Wyatt chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed. "You busy tonight?"

"Poker game?"

"Yeah, I've got it all set up in the back room. Wynter's covering the bar."

"I gotta pass," Zed answered through a yawn.

"Why?" Wyatt snickered. "Hot date?"

His self-imposed celibacy hadn't gone unnoticed, and now the guys were taking bets about when he'd be taking a dive back in. If only they knew. But this was one wager Zed was taking to his grave.

"Yeah… with the gym," Zed snipped. He knew he should be more excited about his gym date with Addie than he was. Honestly, he just wanted to go to bed and sleep until classes. But… rules were rules and all practices must be made up. So Addie was meeting him and Bonzo at the gym at nine that night for a personal ass-kicking. Any other day he'd be salivating for some private Addie time, but the last week had taken it out of him.

"Blow it off… the whole team is in."

Zed chuckled. "Yeah, right. You know just as well as I do that Addie would kick my ass… more so than she's already planning."

Wyatt laughed and nodded. "Good point. Feel free to stop by after."

He ran his hands through his hair, trying to hide his exhaustion. "Be careful dude… You know how much trouble you could get in if you get busted."

"Relax, man… I've got this."

"If you say so."

"I do… now grab a few hours of sleep before you hit the gym. You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks, Wy."

"Anytime, man," Wyatt snickered. "Tell Adds I said hi."

"Will do… and you better not be late for practice in the morning," he yawned as Wyatt closed his door. He had just laid back down when his phone buzzed. With a frustrated groan, he picked it up. As soon as he saw Addison's name, he was right back into his bad mood.

A: Hey! Confirming tonight?

He was irrationally pissed off. Five days of radio silence and now this? Before he could stop himself, he fired off a snarky reply.

Z: Nice to finally hear from you.

A:… whoa, everything okay?

"No. Everything's not okay!" he yelled. But then the fight left him. He sat back up and looked over to the window as he let out a deep breath. His phone rang and he answered without looking at the screen. "What?" he snapped, not caring who was on the receiving end of his ire.

"Wow, Necrodopolus. What died inside your asshole?" Addison asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a rough breath. "I'm sorry. Long flight, long day… hell, long week." There was so much more to it than that, but how could he tell her that he was crabby because he hadn't heard from her in five days? He didn't have the right. They weren't that kind of couple. They never could be. Even if he were willing to try.

"So, you want to explain what that text meant?"

Yes. No… he knew he couldn't sidestep her. He wouldn't. She deserved better than that. "I'm just a grumpy asshole, that's all."

"I can see that," she remarked. "But you're usually not personally snarky. Did I do something?"

"God, no," he rushed out to reassure her, mentally flogging himself for being a complete douche. "We… I…" he swallowed, going hot under the collar. He didn't like how easily she pulled confessions from him. "We've been talking almost every night for months."

"Or texting," she added quietly, setting the record straight.

"Exactly…" More words ballooned up inside of him, bottlenecking at his throat. He wasn't her boyfriend. She didn't have to call if she didn't want to. Hell, even if he were her boyfriend, she wouldn't have to call every day. Although he knew he'd like it if she did.

"So you mentioned that you were going to be busy with your fraternity thingy…"

"Yeah. It was awful. Honestly, it's the worst part of being on the board." He wanted to talk about it with her. The realization rolled through him, pricking and poking into all sorts of uncomfortable places he wanted to avoid like the plague. He wanted to confide in her. He couldn't run away from it, and on one level, he didn't want to.

She made a sympathetic noise. "I'm sorry. I just assumed you'd be too busy for your nightly harassment."

"Well, I wasn't," he barked.

"Easy there, Necrodopolus," Addison called out sharply. "No need to get testy. I was trying to give you space to do your presidential duty."

"And maybe I don't want it," he yelled, surprising himself as much as he was sure his confession surprised her. The line went awkwardly silent. "Shit… I'm sorry, Addie. That was…"

"Save it for the gym," she interrupted tersely.

Fuck. He crossed the line, and not any kind of line he wanted to cross with her. He started again. "I didn't…"

"I mean it, Necrodopolus. Save this shit for the gym. If you're still pissed off after, we can talk about it." She hung up.

"Yeah… this day can go to fucking hell."

The rest of the day crawled by as slowly as sap running uphill in January. Zed felt like he was a man facing his execution. Addie had made it clear to the team early on that bad attitudes would not be tolerated from anyone. Ever. And he'd forgotten the cardinal rule of rowing. What you bring to the boat affects everyone. Small disagreements could be worked out at the gym. Larger ones in private. And always with respect.

Bonzo and Zed arrived at the gym at nine p.m. on the dot.

"I'll be right there," Addison called from behind the counter. "Go ahead and get started on the treadmill. Easy 5k, no hills."

Zed let his gaze linger for two beats longer than necessary, taking in her lightweight athletic shirt, her bright white hair, and her enormous blue eyes that warily met his. She was a sight for sore eyes. He wanted her to see that he was contrite. She motioned to the back with her chin, face neutral. For once, he couldn't tell what she was thinking, and it was freaking him the hell out.

She joined them on the treadmill and popped in her headphones, the three of them running in silence. For the next two hours, she quietly brutalized them with plyometrics and cardio until their muscles screamed in protest. Then she put them back on the treadmill for another 5k. What bothered Zed the most was that he knew she'd already done this workout once that day, with the other guys. She was doing it again with them because she never fucking quits.

It was only at the end of their workout when she threw each of them a towel and a Gatorade that he saw the exhaustion in her eyes. He wasn't the only one who'd been burning the midnight oil. Again, his boorish behavior from earlier confronted him. "About earlier," he started.

She waved a hand. "Save it. Chalk it up to a bad day."

Bonzo looked between them. "Was he being an asshole? He's been an asshole for four days straight. Completely fucking miserable at the convention."

Addison flashed a grin and Zed could practically sink to the floor in relief. It was a smile that said they were okay.

"That would be putting it politely," she said with a wink. "But… I think he learned his lesson."

"So I'll have you to blame tomorrow morning when I can't get out of bed? Some friend you are," Bonzo razzed.

Hardly. Bonzo rowed in four, one of the powerhouse seats, or as it was lovingly called, the meat seats. He was one of those guys that pushed himself just as hard when he works out on the road. The guy was relentless, in and out of the boat.

"That'll probably be because of Bree," Addison snickered. "Try not to keep me up tonight. I need some sleep."

"I promise nothing," he laughed, looking down at his watch. "Speaking of my beautiful girlfriend… she doesn't get off of work until midnight. You two wanna stop and get some dinner?"

Addison looked over in Zed's direction with a little Mona Lisa smile and gave a shrug as if to say, why not? "Sure. I'm famished."

"I'm in," Zed quickly agreed. Anything to get his Addie fix. It had been four days. He'd call her later to apologize in person.

Bonzo and Zed waited for Addison to shower, then decided to walk the mile down to one of the more popular late-night restaurants right off of campus. The night was cool but not yet bitter, the kind of night that begged for an arm around the shoulders as you walk. And if Bonzo weren't with them, Zed might have gambled it. Because right then, the part of him that was becoming increasingly hard to ignore was craving a deeper connection with her. Something more than their nightly chats peppered with snappy banter.

When they were finally seated at their table and their server arrived, Bonzo motioned to Addison. "You first, Adds," he said.

"Sparkling water with lime," she ordered, her usual go-to during training. She was rigidly disciplined on their behalf.

Bonzo and Zed… not so much. "Two beers," Bonzo ordered giving Addison a wink. "But only one round. Promise."

Addison smirked. "You know, I've never said you had to abstain completely. It's not like we're training for the Olympics."

The way she said it making Zed wonder why she still trained as if she was. But the thought fell away when his phone buzzed. He glanced down, then stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Wyatt must have called to gloat about how much money he won on the first few hands of the poker game. A few seconds later, Bonzo's phone buzzed on the table.

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Zed grumbled. He just wanted ten minutes of uninterrupted time with Addison. But it wasn't meant to be, because not fifteen seconds later, his phone buzzed again.

Bonzo lifted his head and checked his phone with a scowl. "Wyatt?"

Zed checked, stomach gripping. "Yeah," he answered. "This better be good," he said tersely. "I just sat down…"

"We've been arrested," Wyatt said in a hushed tone. "All of us. There was a raid."

"Where are you?" he barked. "Bonz is with me. Don't say anything until we get there. Tell the others."

"By city hall. They've separated all of us, but they'll know."

"We'll call Trevor and be there as soon as we can. Hang tight."

Addison's face pinched with worry. Bonzo looked like he was going to put a fist through the table.

"What happened?"

"Don't know. But Wyatt's poker game got busted. The whole team and most of ZOM was there."

Bonzo let out a string of expletives as he jumped back from the table, knocking over his chair. "Dammit! I fucking told him so… I'll get Trevor… meet you guys over there." He took off at a run.

Zed looked at Addison. "Everything will be okay. This is why ZOM pays our lawyer alumni like Trevor a retainer."

"I knew that frat of yours was trouble," she mumbled as she stood up, unable to hide the concern in her voice. "Now the fucking boat…"

"Addie, I…"

"I know this isn't your fault," she said quietly, hugging herself. "I'm just worried about the guys."

He pulled out his wallet and tossed money on the table, more than enough to cover their drinks. "C'mon." He held out his hand. "We can run."

She took his hand like it was a lifeline.

It was only hours later, when Wyatt came out looking like he'd been put through the wringer, and Tracey looking like he'd aged fifteen years, and Jacey looking like he pissed himself in the holding cell, that he realized she was still clutching his hand. And he was very okay with that.