CHAPTER 5

~Chase

I threw the lacrosse ball and let out a low, frustrated groan when it hit the metal edge of the goalpost and flew off the field.

Derrick, our goalkeeper, frowned at me as if he could already tell something was off with me, and honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

I had been missing all my shots, which was unusual enough to annoy me because I barely missed strikes even during warmups, and I definitely didn’t go easy on anyone, including myself.

Today, however, my focus kept slipping in a way I couldn’t fully control. My mind was constantly pulled elsewhere no matter how hard I tried to stay present. The frustrating part was that I already knew what was causing it, even though I kept trying to ignore it.

Ryder had been restlessly pacing in my head as the memory of that drunk girl’s kiss kept resurfacing, and every time it did, it irritated me more than I could explain.

There was absolutely no reason for the girl to be lingering in my thoughts the way she was because she was just a random stranger, and the kiss wasn’t even that good.

She wasn’t even the first girl to kiss me, and she definitely wouldn’t be the last, so there was no logical explanation for why my mind wouldn’t let it go.

“Alpha!”

Rocky’s voice broke through my train of thought as he threw another ball across the field.

I reacted quickly and swung the crosse, catching the ball cleanly without thinking.

A few of the guys clapped lightly, impressed, but even that didn’t fully bring me back into focus the way it normally would.

I reset my stance in front of Derrick, who lowered himself into position with his gloves spread and his eyes locked on me, ready for the next strike.

I was about to throw when I heard my name again, this time closer and sharper.

“Chase.”

I turned my head and saw Vance walking toward me. The look on his face told me something was wrong, and I lowered my crosse as I frowned slightly.

“You could’ve at least allowed me to take the shot first,” I scolded him as he stopped before me.

“I would’ve done that,” he replied in a serious tone, unlike him, “but you have to see this first.”

Vance handed me his phone, and I froze for half a second, my grip tightening around the crosse as I watched the video of the drunk girl kissing me at the party.

“Who the hell recorded this?” I asked, my voice coming out harsher than I expected.

“Still anonymous,” he replied, taking the phone back quickly, thinking I’d smash it out of anger. “Probably one of those fangirls.”

I raked a hand through my hair and pressed my fingers briefly against my temple because the word alone already annoyed me. Those desperate pests had finally seen what they wanted.

I had never been the type to let my personal life spill into public spaces. Whatever I did with girls had always been casual, nothing worth attention.

But last night was different only because it happened in public.

And now it was out there.

“Man,” Vance sighed worriedly. “This shit is blowing the fuck up, and people are talking.”

“About what?” I asked, although I already had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer.

He hesitated before saying, “That you’re losing focus. Hooking up with random girls.” He lowered his voice as he added, “They think the tournament is going to suffer because of it.”

I let out a short laugh, but it died quickly because there was nothing funny about it.

“Hooking up?” I huffed, barely containing my frustration. “Didn’t they see that I wasn’t the one who initiated it?”

“I know,” he replied. “But timing is the problem. This happened right before the tournament starts, so people are connecting it however they want.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Vance was right. It would’ve probably been meaningless if it had happened months ago.

However, the tournament starts today, and everything was already too sensitive for something like this to be floating around. I still couldn’t believe as insignificant as the kiss was, it was becoming a problem, not only for me but also for the team.

The whistle blew across the field, shifting our attention as we turned at once to see Coach Sean calling the team in.

“Let’s go, man,” Vance said, already turning.

“Congratulations to us!” Coach Sean was saying as we joined the group. “We’ve reached the start of the tournament, and I trust you all understand we’re facing Eclipse Academy Wolves today.”

“Yes, Coach,” the team responded.

“Good,” he continued, his eyes settling briefly on me. “Because if some of you spent less time partying and more time studying the Eclipse Wolves players, you’d understand why only the best are playing this match.”

Without being told, I knew he was referring to me, and I sighed while a few team members groaned among themselves, already realizing their names weren’t on the list.

“Ah, there we go again,” Coach Sean huffed. “The incompetent ones making noises!”

The confident ones like Vance chuckled. However, I stayed quiet. Not because I wasn’t confident, but because I wasn’t in the mood for jokes right now.

Coach Sean unfolded a paper and instructed, “If you hear your name, move to my right side.”

“NightBorne!”

Vance left my side, and my brows snapped together almost immediately. My name used to come first before anyone else’s.

“Maverick!”

“Derrick!”

“Rocky!”

“Alex!”

Coach Sean continued reading from the list while I stood there, growing puzzled as to why my name hadn’t been called yet.

“And lastly, NightShade!”

He shoved the paper against a player’s chest before making his way toward me.

“I need to have a word with you.”

Knowing exactly what this was about, I followed him a few feet away from the others.

“Tell me, NightShade,” he asked sternly, his face tight with anger. “Are you planning to sink this team or lead it?” He didn’t wait for me to answer before firing another question. “You do know the reason why you ended up at the bottom of my list, right?”

“Because of your off-field distraction!”

He beat me to it, answering the question himself. He normally did that whenever he was too angry to let someone else speak.

“You have no freaking idea how hard I had to fight to get your name added to that list.”

He shook his head slowly, looking like he was trying very hard not to lose his temper. “The public reaction is tarnishing the image of the school team. Management is already breathing down my neck, and now the sponsors are questioning your seriousness as the captain, which reflects badly on the team as a whole.”

My stomach lurched at his words, realizing that the situation was far worse than I thought.

Letting out a slow breath, I said,

“I’m sorry, Coach.”

“Don’t apologize.”

He cut in sharply.

“Fix it.”

With that, he turned and headed back toward the team, blowing his whistle as he dismissed everyone.

I stood there for a few seconds, my mind already working through ways to fix it as I watched the team disperse. I couldn’t afford to be the reason all their efforts for the tournament went to waste.

Vance approached a moment later, concern written plainly across his face.

“How bad?” he asked.

“Bad,” I replied honestly. “Management is involved, and sponsors are concerned.”

“That’s crazy,” he muttered. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to find the girl who kissed me.”

“Wait… what?” Vance frowned immediately. “Why?”

“Everyone thinks I’m messing around with random girls.” I turned to face him fully and said decisively, “Fine. I’ll make her my girlfriend and shut them up.”