“What did you do, Barton?”

“Hi Clyde, nice to see you. I’m having a great day, thank you for asking.”

Clyde looked pissed. Why was he mad now? I was the only one who could be mad. For once, it wasn’t me who’d fucked up.

“Tasha and I were spending the evening together when she got a message from Kristi. Next thing you know, she’s shouting about you being some loud-mouth jerk who spreads secrets around the locker room.”

“Okay, I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. I told you how Kristi had been working against me this entire time. She’s the one in the wrong, not me.”

“She’s an intern, Barton. If you’d ever been an intern, you’d know that they do as they’re told. She shouldn’t have lied to you, but it’s not worth breaking up with her for.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. She could have ruined my entire career. It’s on the ropes as it is.”

Coach had made it clear that he wasn’t happy with my performances in training, and now I really did have a distraction weighing on my mind. Being angry on the football field wasn’t a great mindset to be in. I overthrew passes and blamed it on teammates.

This was why I didn’t bother with relationships; they were a distraction. I’m sure some people had stable relationships and never argued, like May and my parents, but they were the outliers.

“You need to get your head back in the game,” Clyde said, not at all helpfully.

“I need to get some pussy,” I replied. “That’ll get me back on track.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Excuse me? Since when have I let you have any say in my sex life?”

“Since you started needing advice on actual relationships. If you have sex with someone else then you’ll never be able to make it up with Kristi.”

“I’m not going to have sex with anyone else,” I admitted. “I’m not a complete animal. Anyway, what’s all this about me fucking up? I haven’t done anything wrong, for once.”

“You’ve been bragging about screwing Kristi to your teammates. I know that might not seem like a huge deal to you, but to women like Kristi—”

“Wait, what? I haven’t bragged to teammates about Kristi. I never even mentioned it.”

“You must have done. Word got back to Kristi’s boss via a teammate, and now she’s been fired.”

“That’s impossible,” I exclaimed. “We kept our relationship completely secret, and I didn’t tell anyone.”

“You sure? Because Kristi’s boss found out somehow and she says it came from a teammate.”

“I’m sure,” I replied. “I never… oh shit.”

“Oh shit?”

“There may have been a slip of the tongue. I might have told Doug Matthews.”

“That slimy piece of shit? Why did you tell him?”

“Like I said, slip of the tongue.”

“Well he must have leaked the information to Kristi’s boss, and now she’s been fired. Tasha is pissed at you for hurting her sister, and that means she’s pissed at me too. I’m not sure why, but that’s women for you.”

“That’s it, then,” I said solemnly.

“You’re just going to give up?”

“What’s the point? She betrayed me, and now I’ve betrayed her without even meaning to. We’re just not meant to be.”

“Bullshit. You’re just trying to take the easy way out. Besides, I need your help making it up with Tasha. She’s been acting a little weird lately ever since I told her I loved her.”

“You told her you loved her? Shit, Clyde, you don’t waste any time.”

Clyde shrugged. “When you know, you know.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I guess you’re right.

I’d made a fair few mistakes in my life. I was about to add another one to the list. This one would be a classic: punching a teammate.

Doug had it coming to him. I could handle him acting like an immature dick, and I even put up with him talking crudely about Kristi, but fuck me, he was going to pay for this one. I don’t know what he thought he could accomplish by talking to Kristi’s boss about us, but the guy had such a mouth on him, he’d talk to anyone who would listen to his bullshit.

I stormed over to his apartment in a foul mood the entire way there. I was about to break the cardinal rule, and have a fight with a teammate. It’d be worth it.

My fist pounded on the door for two minutes until he finally answered.

“Barton? Sorry dude, I was taking a shit. What’s up?”

I pushed my way into his apartment before anyone saw us arguing in the hall.

“Why did you talk to Kristi’s boss?” I asked sternly.

“Who’s Kristi?”

“You know damn well who she is.”

“Oh, she’s that chick you’re banging.”

I reached out and grabbed Doug’s shirt, pulling him close enough to me that I could smell his breath.

“She’s not some chick I’m banging. Now tell me, why did you tell her boss about our relationship?”

“Are you crazy? Get the fuck off me.”

I let go of his shirt, but only so I didn’t have to smell his breath any longer. He stumbled back and straightened out his shirt, trying to look casual and relaxed.

“You spoke to a woman called Leona and told them that Kristi and I are an item.”

“I don’t know any Leona. And why the fuck would I tell her anyway?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“When have I ever told anyone about the women you hook up with?”

“I guess I’ve never known you to do it, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t. You always make sure to be at the same parties as me.”

“That’s because I’m trying to get your scraps, man. I’ve got so many women since you came to the team. You reject most of the ones that come your way, so I take them when they’re feeling down.”

I’d always thought of Doug as an idiot, but now I realized he was just pathetic. The look in his eyes was the same I often saw in the eyes of fans; hero worship. Doug didn’t worship what I did on the field. He worshiped my antics with women.

“You didn’t tell anyone?” I asked.

“No,” he replied definitively. “We’re teammates. We’re supposed to trust each other.”

“Fuck,” I screamed loudly, before slamming the palm of my hand against the wall.

I left without apologizing. I still didn’t like the guy; there was a reason I’d suspected him in the first place, and it was still probably his fault. Doug shouted his mouth off all the time. Someone else must have overheard, although I had no idea why anyone would want to fuck things up for Kristi and me.

I didn’t go home; I went straight to see Kristi like I should have done after seeing Clyde.

We had to sort this shit out.