Page 22 of Snap

If Coach Quinn saw anything, he gave no sign. I wasn't sure how he could have missed it. Maybe his mind was on the game. We'd only just beaten the Rockhampton Riverducks by a couple of points. That was to be expected at this late in the season. Everyone was at the top of their game. He was probably running scenarios through his head that would have given us a bigger advantage.

"Aren't you glad that wasn't you?" Bam asked.

"Just because it wasn't me this time," I said, "doesn't mean it won't be next time."

Bam nodded. "That's true," he agreed. "So, you gonna tell me how you have time to find a girlfriend? Coach would say you should be concentrating on the game, not getting some tail."

"I can multitask," I said. "I have many skills you don't know about."

He grinned. "I just bet you do. As it happens I don't want to hear about any of them. As long as you keep your dirty mitts off my sister, then we're all good."

"I know better than to go anywhere near Chantel," I said. Bam was notoriously protective of his younger sister. So much so he almost got into a bar fight over her. He almost got kicked off the team because of it. The boss even hired a publicist, Grace, to help sort him out. I guess she did, because she moved in with him not long ago.

There really was no accounting for taste.

"Good, Bam said. He clapped me on the back. "Don’t you forget it."

"You know," I said slowly, "sooner or later she’s going to meet someone, fall in love, and do all the same silly things the rest of us do."

"Not if I can help it," Bam said. "If I can get her to go into a convent, that will work out well for everyone."

I laughed. "Yeah, okay. Good luck with that. I've met your sister, I don’t think that’s in the cards for her. She seems to have a mind of her own."

"God help me, she does." Bam groaned. "No guy is ever gonna be good enough for her." He looked around at us with narrowed eyes. "Especially none of you clowns."

"Awww, Bam, I thought you loved us." Hawk pouted playfully.

"Hurry up," one of the junior coaches shouted. "It's almost time for the press conference."

I grimaced. This was one part of the job I didn't like. Mostly because the other guys got questions about football, while I got questions about my looks. What were my plans after football? Was I going to go into modelling, or a movie career?

I bet it never occurred to any of them that I might go into sports medicine, or become a pool boy. No, correct that, they probably thought I'd make the perfect pool boy.

"I'm gonna hide behind Ollie," Chase said, "they never see me there."

"They don't see any of us if Ollie is there," said Hawk. "They're too busy staring at him."

"That's not true." I struggled to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"No," Bam said, "they notice Hawk plenty. He is almost as pretty as Ollie."

"That's true," Hawk agreed. "Jealous?"

"Naw." Bam waved a hand in dismissal. "I'd rather have brains, and this smokin' body."

"Right." Hawk drew out the word. "You keep telling yourself that."

Pinky stomped past. He stopped when he reached us. "If I find out which of you assholes put that shit in my shoes, I'm going to tear you a new one."

"Hey, why do they call you Pinky anyway?" Chase asked.

"Because I pinky promise to kick your ass," Pinky growled. "In my old team, no one put up with this shit."

Hawk grinned. "Welcome to the Rapids."

"Smartass," Pinky muttered under his breath before he stomped on.

"Well, ain't he a little ray of sunshine?" Bam said sarcastically.