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“You’ll need to get them from the house,” Wayne repeats before excusing himself and walking toward the team, who have started taking their equipment off.

“Well then, that was⁠—”

“I fucking hate him,” Cooper seethes.

Yeah, I can understand why.

“I thought he might soften it a little, seeing as he had an audience. He’s usually better at covering his asshole ways.”

“He didn’t do a great job,” I mutter as I watch him wait while Huxley and Ryker gather their stuff. It’s glaringly obvious that most of the other boys are receiving help from their parents, whereas Wayne Nash just stands there as if the task of touching sweaty gear is beneath him. Maybe he truly believes it is.

The second Huxley and Ryker have their stuff together, they completely ignore their father, who’s waiting on the periphery, and they run toward Cooper.

“You made it,” Huxley says, dropping his bag at their feet and throwing his arms around his older brother.

“I told you I’d be here.”

“I was worried you wouldn’t make it when you weren’t here at the beginning of warmups.”

“We hit a little traffic.”

As Cooper says ‘we,’ Huxley turns to look at me.

“Hey,” he says a little nervously as he steps aside to allow Ryker to hug Cooper.

“Hi, Huxley. Sorry that game didn’t go the way you hoped. You made some impressive plays, though. It was incredible to watch.” He beams at me, but he quickly smothers it.

“We should have done better,” he mutters, looking at the dirty floor beneath our feet.

“Did you try your hardest?” I ask, and he nods. “Then you can walk away from this game knowing that you did your best, but that it wasn’t meant to be. You can’t win them all, and in fact, losing every now and then will make you a better player in the long run.”

By the time I’ve finished talking, he’s looking up at me again.

“Cooper says that,” he tells me.

“Well, that’s because it’s true. Sports are about more than winning.”

He quickly glances back at his dad, who’s schmoozing their coach. I might have met the guy once, but even I can see how fake the charm is that he’s turned on.

“Not everyone agrees with that.”

“Well, not everyone is right,” I state before turning to Ryker, who’s watching our exchange closely.

I lower down a little so I’m on his level and reach my hand out.

“Hey, Ryker. It’s so good to meet you in person.” He’s hesitant, but eventually he reaches out his hand and shakes mine. It’s so small and delicate. All I want to do is pull him in for a hug, but I’m aware that’ll probably terrify him; he needs more time before any of that. “You know what I learned today?”

I don’t expect an answer, so I’m shocked when he gently shakes his head.

“You’re an even better player than Cooper told me. He said you're incredible, but today? Wow,” I breathe.

He frowns and glances back at the bench where he spent almost half the game.

“Maybe next time when I come to see you, you won’t get injured. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, though. At least your face doesn’t look like your brother’s.”

Huxley snorts a laugh as we all turn to look at the state of Cooper’s handsome face.

“Yeah, alright. Laugh it up,” Cooper mutters lightly. “And anyway, you could never look this bad; you’re both way more handsome than I ever was.”