For the remaining ten minutes, the Falcons made an admirable effort to make a comeback. Chase was practically killing himself trying. But it wasn’t enough, and the clock ran out with a score of five-three Bulldogs.

My heart dropped. Damn.

To be fair, they had been on a long winning streak until now—losing eventually was unavoidable. But the timing wasn’t great. I hoped this wasn’t going to ruin Chase’s mood, since we planned to hang out later.

Or do other things later.

I wasn’t sure what those things might be yet.

As people filtered out of their seats, I told Shiv I was going to see my brother and shot Chase a text saying the same. Then I waited by the visitor dressing room, not particularly caring who I might run into. But Derek was one of the first out for a change.

“B?” Derek shot me a confused smile as he emerged from the hallway. “What are you doing here?”

My irritation ramped up a notch. Of course he wouldn’t know; we had barely spoken in weeks.

“I was here with a friend, watching Chase.”

He frowned. “Carter?”

“Yes, Carter. And what the hell was that with him, anyway?” I gave him a little shove. He stumbled back, clearly not expecting it.

Regaining his footing, he shot me a look. “What are you talking about?”

“Hitting Chase from behind.” I threw my arms up. “That was dirty.”

“Refs didn’t seem to think so.” Derek shrugged, but he couldn’t hide his guilty expression. He knew he’d been wrong.

“You and I both know they miss stuff all the time,” I said.

“Why are you so upset about the other team?”

Other team? I didn’t play for the freaking Bulldogs, but okay.

“Why are you starting shit with Chase to impress Luke?”

“I’m not,” he said. “Hitting is part of the game.”

I stamped my foot. “Bullshit, Derek. You never make hits like that.” I could count the number of times Derek had made an overly aggressive check on one hand. This was definitely personal.

“I still don’t understand why you’re hanging out with Carter.” Derek shook his head. “Are you cheering against us now too?”

“Maybe I am.” I drew in a breath and exhaled heavily. “Just don’t, okay? If you’re not going to support me in this, the least you could do is stay the hell out of it.”

Spinning on my heel, I turned and walked away. I navigated around the throngs of people crowding the arena lobby, impatiently side-stepping anyone in my way. The confrontation with Derek had soured my mood; now the noise and bustle of the crowd was wearing on my last nerve, and I was eager to get out of here.