“Fine. Whatever!” And he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him so hard the windows shook.
Jared sank onto the couch and buried his face in his hands.
Chapter 3: Bleeding
Tristan DuVal was excited.
It was almost time. The stadium was already filling up with thousands of spectators, and with the crowd already starting to cheer, he had trouble staying calm. This wasn’t a friendly match. This was the first official match of the season. This was the Barclays Premier League, the best football league in the world, and he was going to start on the left wing, instead of Gabriel. Finally.
As they headed into the tunnel, Tristan glanced at his adoptive brother. It sucked that he had to keep up appearances and couldn’t smirk at Gabriel’s predicament. He wanted to grin and gloat, but of course he couldn’t: there were cameras everywhere. Appearances were important. He was the good guy and Gabriel was the bad guy—or at least that was the public opinion. Good guys didn’t gloat.
Some would probably consider what he had done cruel, but Tristan didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, it was nothing Gabriel didn’t deserve. That little shit had always rubbed him the wrong way. From the very first moment his adoptive parents brought Gabriel into the family, Tristan had disliked him immensely. He hadn’t asked for a brother. He didn’t want a brother. But of course no one had cared about what he thought. The DuVals were too enamored with the tiny strange-looking boy to care about their first son’s opinion. And that was what Tristan had been: he was the first. His parents were his first, and he didn’t want to share his toys with that scrawny midget who didn’t even speak English or French. He disliked Gabriel at first sight and the dislike was very much mutual, and, as it turned out, long-lasting. It’d been almost fifteen years, their adoptive parents were long dead, but the dislike between them had only grown with each passing year. Now that they competed for more important things than toys, Tristan’s desire to wipe the floor with Gabe was stronger than ever.
That was why he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed now. He had expected it would be harder to steal Gabriel’s favorite position on the pitch, but everything had gone surprisingly smoothly. It had been too easy. He had thought Gabriel would be more of a challenge, but that little shit hadn’t even put up much of a fight. Gabriel’s strange outbursts of temper the past couple of months had actually made it too easy for him. In the light of Gabriel’s behavior, convincing the media and the coach that he deserved to play in Gabriel’s favorite position was child’s play. Disgustingly easy.
“I hope you aren’t angry with me, Gabe,” Tristan said, unable to resist the opportunity to rub it in.
Gabriel didn’t say anything, so Tristan shot him another look. The idiot looked like shit. He was even paler than normal, and the dark rings under his eyes made him look years older. And those strange green eyes…there was something unnerving in them.
“Hey, you okay?” Tristan asked, nudging him with his hand.
Gabriel didn’t reply.
“Gabe?”
“Fantastic,” Gabriel said without looking at him. “Never been better.”
“But you look—”
“Save your fake concern,” Gabriel said flatly. “I’m not in the mood for your bullshit.”
That was another annoying thing. Instead of being upset by the fact that Tristan had gotten his favorite position, it seemed Gabriel just didn’t care. Although Gabriel had been looking like shit the past couple of weeks, Tristan knew it wasn’t because of him.
“It’s time to go, boys,” the coach said, and they walked out of the tunnel onto the pitch.
Tristan kept an eye on Gabriel’s tense face. When he noticed something shift in Gabriel’s expression, Tristan followed his gaze to the medical team seated in the technical area. His eyes lingered on Dr. Sheldon. As always, Tristan couldn’t help but stare.
Jared Sheldon had to be the best-looking man he’d ever seen. Dark hair, deep blue eyes, and a strong jaw with a hint of stubble. As though having a gorgeous face wasn’t enough, the guy was tall and had amazingly broad shoulders and strong arms. It was mind-boggling that such a handsome man was single. The rumor had it he was gay, but it was probably bullshit. Partly to annoy Gabriel, who always acted like Dr. Sheldon was his property, and partly because Jared was attractive as hell, Tristan had tried to flirt with the guy, but to no avail. Such a pity. And it was such a pity the guy was quitting the job. The physicals were going to be much more boring now.
The whistle was finally blown, indicating the start of the match, and Tristan pushed Dr. Sheldon out of his mind and lost himself in the game.