Demir Arslan
I tossed the towel I'd used to dry my hair onto the bed and stepped in front of the mirror—
and the door to my room flew open with a loud bang.
"Teddy! Are you in here— Ovv!"
Five seconds later, the door slammed shut just as loudly.
"Sorry, little goldfish lady whose name I don't know! No mercy for you, Teddy!"
"You've got a cute friend."
Rolling my eyes, I turned to the girl behind me, who was busy getting dressed.
"That's not my friend. That's the neighborhood lunatic. He thinks he's my friend. Don't take him seriously."
"I heard that, Teddy! Don't believe him, tiny goldfish. He doesn't live in this neighborhood!"
At Bora's shout from behind the door, I covered my face helplessly, and the girl laughed as she pulled her sweater over her head. After giving me a pretty heated goodbye kiss, she leaned back with a seductive smile. Sliding her index finger from my chest down toward my abs, she spoke in a husky tone.
"I left my number on the nightstand. You can call me anytime."
I answered with a crooked grin.
"You can be sure I will, baby."
Satisfied, she walked to the door, opened it, and called out without turning back,
"See you, number seven."
She smiled at Bora waiting outside and added, "Bye, cute boy."
As she left, Bora waved after her. "Bye-bye, tiny goldfish."
"Seven?" Bora stepped in. "Isn't your jersey number twenty-four?"
I pulled a hoodie from the closet and put it on, smirking shamelessly.
"She thinks I'm Ozan."
"Holy shit. How the hell did you pull that off, man?" He stared. "God knows what kind of crap you pulled again, Teddy."
I kept getting ready as I replied,
"Long story. I'll tell you later, Frizzy. I need to stop by my place before my dad gets home. You coming with me?"
I shoved my wallet and phone into my pocket. As I grabbed my car keys from the nightstand, I also picked up the paper she'd written her number on, crumpled it, and tossed it into the trash in the corner.
"Yeah. My parents will be at the hospital. Nil's helping her mom. They've got guests tonight."
"Good. Let's go."
When we left the house together, Rüzgar had just parked his car and was walking toward us while talking on the phone.
"Wait a second, Kerem." He pulled the phone away from his ear and turned to us. "Where are you guys going?"
"I need to go to my place. Frizzy's coming with me."
He turned to Bora and asked in a mild tone,
"Hospital day?"
When Bora nodded, I cut in.
"What did Kerem do? Did he handle it?" I asked with a grin.
Rüzgar grinned back.
"He regrets switching places with me. The guys are being difficult. He's been cursing at them for half an hour."
I smirked.
"He asked for it. If he could manage being away from Duru for two days, he wouldn't be suffering through patience right now. Honestly, at this rate, he'll bankrupt the company first and then lose the girl to someone else."
"Demir!"
The shout and the swearword that followed from the phone made the three of us laugh. I called toward the phone,
"I love you too, brother."
Then I stepped back and turned to Rüzgar.
"Anyway, we're out. See you tonight."
"See you."
Once we got into the car and hit the road, I sighed as I looked at Bora's quiet, thoughtful state and nudged his arm.
"Can you hand me my sunglasses from the glove compartment?"
He nodded distractedly and opened it. When he saw the packages sitting next to my sunglasses, he turned to me with eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Are these yours? Can I have some?"
"What are you talking about?" I glanced at the open compartment and continued. "Oh, the candy?"
When he nodded eagerly, I shrugged.
"I grabbed them at the market because I was craving something, but I forgot about them once I put them there. I'm on a diet now anyway. Take them all."
With childlike happiness, he gathered all the packages into his arms and opened the top bag of gummy bears. As he did, he frowned and looked at me blankly.
"What diet is this, man? Don't you already work out every day on top of training? If I were as fit as you, I'd eat a twelve-tier wedding cake in one sitting."
The moment he finished his sentence, he realized what he'd said and slapped a hand over his mouth. With what he thought was a cute smile, he spoke again.
"But you're an athlete, of course you have to watch what you eat. So I'll sacrifice myself just for you and eat all these delicious— I mean, harmful things."
Just as I was about to respond, he raised his hand and continued.
"No need to thank me, Teddy. That's what friends are for."
As usual, I rolled my eyes at his nonsense, but I turned my attention back to the road, relieved that he seemed to have snapped out of his gloomy mood.
When raindrops started hitting the windshield and obscuring my view, I turned on the wipers. At the same time, I pulled out the phone vibrating in my pocket and checked the caller. When I saw it was one of the clingy girls who'd been a pain in my ass before, I set the phone aside without answering.
As he crumpled the empty gummy bear bag and dug into the next pack of marshmallows, trying to talk with his mouth full, I cut in irritably.
"I can't understand a damn word you're saying, Frizzy. Swallow first, then talk."
He gulped everything down in a few seconds and turned back to me.
"I was saying, how's that deal with the British going? You said Mr. Yavuz was causing trouble last time. What happened?"
"I handled it later. If nothing else goes wrong at the last minute—which I've been busting my ass for days to prevent—we're sitting down one final time next week to sign the papers. But Yavuz himself is still a problem. At first, I thought he was acting out because I took over such an important deal instead of him, but I don't think that anymore. He looks for excuses to stir things up even when there's no reason. That guy is definitely up to something."
"Why don't you tell the others?"
"Not yet, Frizzy. I need solid proof that I'm right first. He's been working there since the company was founded. If I accuse him based on suspicion alone, I'd put Kerem and Rüzgar in a tough spot. You know Yavuz was the one who kept the company afloat after their families died."
"Hmm, that's true."
When he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and looked at me, I frowned.
"When you look like that, it means there's definitely a problem. What is it?"
"I thought of something, but I need to check the company's financial records to be sure. No one else can know about this except you, Teddy. Can you arrange it?"
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully and murmured,
"Give me a few days. I'll see what I can do."
A while later, when we reached the front of the house, we got out of the car and rushed into the building to avoid getting soaked. As soon as we stepped inside, Bora kicked off his shoes and ran toward the kitchen, while I headed to my room.
As I was gathering a few things I needed, my brother barged into my room, and my brows knit together.
"Why the hell are you home?"
He waved his hand angrily.
"Why aren't you answering my calls? I left you how many messages saying we need to talk!"
I rolled my eyes tiredly and kept packing.
"Go mind your own business, Emir. I'm not in the mood for one of your lectures about Dad."
"If you don't tell me what the hell you've been up to, you'll get more than a lecture, Demir. Straight from Dad himself!"
I dropped what I was holding and turned to him, trying to understand what the hell he was talking about.
"Stop beating around the bush. Whatever your problem is, say it properly!"
"I saw the security footage, Demir. You stole my clothes and went into the police archive. Have you lost your mind? What the hell were you doing there?"