“Okay, okay,” Coach boomed. “Quit bitchin’. I want you changed and out on the field in ten. If you won’t listen to me in here, perhaps you’ll listen to me out there.” He stalked off, his anger rippling through the air.
“What do we do, Thatch?” Bryan asked me.
“You want to play football, Bry?”
“Shit, yeah, but they don’t fucking want us here anymore than we want to be here.”
“Suck it up, buttercup.” I slammed a hand to his chest and patted. “If you want Michigan to come knocking, you’re going to need to show them what you’ve got.”
“I don’t know, Thatch… It’s their territory.” His eyes flicked over to where Monroe and his guys were changing into their uniforms.
“Look. Forget about them and focus on the game.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
We got changed, reluctantly pulling on the white and blue jerseys one of the assistant coaches gave us. It felt wrong to be in their colors, but I guess we weren’t Eagles anymore.
We were Raiders.
And fuck if that didn’t feel like some kind of treachery.
“RUN IT AGAIN,” Coach Ford yelled across the field. He reminded me a lot of Coach Forrester from Rixon East, but he had an air of authority that our coach didn’t. I guess it came with being NFL royalty.
Coach Ford knew what it was like to want football, to live and breathe it. He’d moved through the ranks from high school to college all the way to professional football.
He got it.
“Okay, Jenson, switch out with Thatcher.”
“But, Coach—”
“I said switch out, let’s go.”
I grabbed my helmet and pulled it on, jogging into position. For the last forty minutes we’d been running basic drills. Coach had been working with Monroe, letting him run play after play. I was itching to get in there and show Coach what I could do, but I wasn’t about to be an asshole about it.
“Watch it,” Monroe slammed his shoulder into mine as he stalked off.
Anger zipped up my spine, but I shut it down. He wanted me to slip up. He wanted me to fail. Reacting would be playing straight into his hands. No matter how much I wanted to put my fist through the guy’s face.
“Okay, Thatcher, time to show us what you got, son.” Coach’s eyes bore into mine as I got in position to accept the snap.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I checked the field. I’d spent the last couple of weeks learning the Raider playbook inside and out, but I hadn’t put any of it into practice with their offense yet.
Their center—a guy called Aaron—moved into position.
“Hut,” I called, and he snapped the ball to me. Dropping back, I scanned the field for an open player. Our eyes collided and I gave him the signal to run. He took off, pumping his legs and putting up his hand.
I hiked my arm back and then extended it, letting the ball fly. It cut through the air like a rocket, with clear precision and speed. The receiver leaped off the ground and got a hand on the ball, snatching it into his body and landing on two feet.
“Good job,” Coach yelled.
“Not bad, Thatcher,” Aaron said. “For an Eagle.” He smirked from under his helmet.
We ran the play a couple more times. Each time the receiver went deeper and each time I made
the perfect pass. At some point, the rest of the players had stopped to watch. Even Monroe. Although when Coach called us into the huddle, his expression looked anything but impressed.
“Good job out there everyone. I know it’s going to take a little time to adjust to things, but the important thing here is we all want to play football, don’t we?” “Yes, sir.” Our collective voices filled the air.
“Good. Now hit the showers and get to class. I don’t want any shirking this semester. We play hard and work hard. Monroe, Thatcher, a word.” He beckoned us over while the rest of the players jogged off field.
“You both looked good out there. Strong. Focused. I know this is a unique situation and I’ll be honest, it’s not one I planned to find myself in. But I’m looking to both of you to keep your guys in line, you hear me?”
I flicked my eyes to Monroe, and he glowered at me. “Sure, Coach.” Contempt dripped from his words.
“I mean it, Monroe. I’m looking to you to lead the team during this transition period. Now get out of here. Both of you.” He gave me a strange look, but I didn’t ask him what he was thinking. That was a road I didn’t want to go down.
“You think you’re going to win Coach over with a few good throws?” “What the fuck is your problem?” I gritted out.
“My problem? My problem is we don’t want you here, nobody wants you here. So stay the fuck out of my way.”
“You’re just worried I’ll take your spot.” I didn’t want to bait him, but the words were out before I could stop them.
“Worried? About an asshole like you, Thatcher?” Monroe got all up in my face as we reached the locker room doors. “Not likely. This is my team, my school, my fucking season… No way am I going to let a guy from across the river fuck it up for me.” He shoulder checked me as he slipped into the locker room.
“Don’t let him rattle you, man.” Aaron appeared out of nowhere. “He’s feeling the heat.” “Yeah, well, he should.” The corner of my mouth tipped.
“Touché.”
“You know we’d rather not be here either.”
“Yeah, but like Coach said, here we are. And I don’t know about you, but I want to play football.” “Yeah.” I couldn’t argue there.
He chuckled. “We’re not all assholes. So long as you don’t come looking for trouble.”“I can’t make any promises.” If Monroe kept pushing, eventually I’d snap. But I was hoping to avoid that.“You can do it.” Aaron clapped me on the shoulder before moving around me. “Come on,” he said, and I followed him inside.It wasn’t like I had much choice.“WELL, will you take a look at that.” Bryan let out a low whistle. “It’s like a fresh pussy buffet.” “Dude, I’m eating,” I quipped, stuffing another fry into my mouth.“Yeah, and hopefully I will be later.” He grinned, sticking his fingers up to his mouth in a V and licking.“Fucking idiot,” Gav said. “But he’s not wrong about the pussy. Case in point.” He pointed over to a group of girls in the lunch line.I recognized them from this morning in the hall.“The blonde is hot. Hey, Thatch, isn’t that the girl who called after you this morning?”“Dunno, is it?” I shrugged. She was a cute thing, sure. In that obvious hot girl kinda way. But it was
It was senior year. My last year of high school. Did I want to spend it hiding in the shadows? “He’s so small,” I said, watching her bathe the kitten.“Someone found him behind a dumpster.”“I don’t know how people can do that, just abandon them.” My heart ached for the small, helpless animal.Mom’s passion was the rescue center she managed. I’d grown up in A Brand New Tail, sitting right at this counter, watching her work her magic. The kitten purred as she scrubbed his fur.“We’ll have him as good as new soon enough.” She smiled over at me. “Still thinking about following in your mom’s footsteps?”“Maybe,” I said around a small shrug.“You’ll need to make a decision eventually, Lil.”“I know.” But the prospect of college terrified me. Everyone said it was a chance to find yourself, to learn who you really were. But for someone like me, it was an unknown quantity that made my stomach drop just thinking about it.“You can stay local, sweetheart,” Mom said, as if she could hear my thou
“Sorry, I forgot my cell.” She noticed the tension between me and Ashleigh and added, “What’s up?”“Nothing.” I smiled. “Leigh is worried about Peyton. Aren’t you?”“Uh, yeah. I’m worried—”“Worried about what?” Peyton ducked into the car beside Poppy. “Sorry, I overslept.” “Let’s roll.” Ashleigh pulled into the steady stream of morning traffic.“So I heard Lindsey is having a party Friday and I was thinking we should go.” “Hell yes,” my sister said.“Lindsey, really?” I balked.“It’s senior year, Lily,” Peyton added. “I know she’s a bitch, but everyone will be there.”“I don’t think so. You can go, but I’m not—”“Lily, don’t do this. Don’t let what happened back then ruin your senior year. You’re stronger than that.”“Peyton has a point, Lil,” Ashleigh glanced over at me. “It’s one party. What’s the worst that can happen?”“Come on, Lilster, please,” Poppy implored. “You know Mom and Dad won’t let me go unless you go.”“She won’t want me there.” Any more than I wanted to be there.“S
“Sweetheart, can I come in?”“Sure, Mom,” I said, and she slipped into my room.“Still not dressed?”“I don’t know what to wear.”“Well, I think anything will be an improvement on that.” She glanced at the fluffy robe wrapped around my body and chuckled. “Jeans and a t-shirt will be fine, baby. You don’t want to give your dad a heart attack.”“Yeah.” He’d been in a mood ever since Poppy announced we were going to the party tonight. Of course, he’d tried to say no, but Mom quickly intervened and reminded him we weren’t kids anymore.“I’m proud of you, you know? This is a big step, Lily.” Mom gave me a reassuring smile and left me to get dressed.I pulled on a cropped, black t-shirt emblazoned with metallic stars and some cropped jeans. Pulling my hair into a loose ponytail over one shoulder, I braided the ends, and added a touch of lip gloss.“Here goes nothing,” I said, grabbing my purse and making my way downstairs.Peyton and Poppy were already waiting. “You look hot, Lil.” My best
If it wasn’t for Mom and Coach Forrester, I’d be attending Millington or Fenn Hill, playing for one of their mediocre teams.Thank God for small mercies because although I didn’t relish playing with the Raiders, it was a damn sight better than playing for a team with no direction or hunger for the win.Everyone stopped to watch us follow Aaron and Cole down to the lake, but I let their stares roll off my back. I wasn’t looking for their approval or even their acceptance. I was here to play football and land a full ride to Alabama.“Fuck yes, jet skis,” Bryan said, nudging my arm.“No way you’ll get me on one of those things. It’s too dangerous.”“Seriously, Thatch, don’t be such a pussy.”“I’d rather be a pussy than benched for the season with a broken arm.”“He has a point,” Aaron said, and I tipped my chin in appreciation. “So how does Rixon High compare with East?” he asked.“It’s… different. But practice is similar. Coach Forrester isn’t such a hard ass as Coach Ford.” “Don’t let
“Now everyone’s here,” she announced, “I thought we could play seven minutes in heaven.” A chorus of cheers and some boos rang out around us.“That’s a kids game,” one of the guys protested.“Not the way we play it.” She winked at him, grabbing a bottle and moving beside the firepit. “The two people chosen have to go into the boat shed.” Lindsey motioned to the small building at the edge of the water. “Then you have seven minutes to… get to know each other. If you choose not to do it, you have to drink this.” She held out a cup and people started pouring a small bit of their drink into it until it was full.“That’s disgusting,” one of the girls said.“Consider it motivation.” Lindsey winked. “Ready?”It was lame, but it was probably her attempt at getting me in the shed. I hadn’t missed the way she positioned herself dead opposite me.She placed the bottle on the ground and spun it. “Okay, here we go.” It passed me once, twice, three times, finally landing on Bryan and one of Lindsey’
LilyMY HEART RACED in my chest, my palms growing slick with sweat. I was in the boat shed withKaiden Thatcher.Kaiden freaking Thatcher.How had this happened?Lindsey Filmer that’s how.She’d been pushing me, taunting me, shining the spotlight right on me, and something just snapped. I didn’t want to be the weird girl who never partied or never played their stupid games. For one night, for one small moment in time, I just wanted to be a normal teenager enjoying a party with her friends.Why was that so difficult?“Lily?” Kaiden asked, his brows furrowed. “Are you okay?”“I—” The words lodged in my throat as the room began to close in around me. “I’ll be fine,” I said, closing my eyes and inhaling a ragged breath.Leaning back against the wall, I pushed my hands behind me, trying to focus on something —anything—but the need building inside me.“Hey, if you’re uncomfortable, we can go.”“N-no, I just…” My eyes fluttered open, colliding with his. “I’m scared of small spaces.” It wasn’
She glanced between us and then zeroed in on me. “Are you okay? You look funny.”“I’m fine,” I said. “We should probably—” I motioned to the door and slipped around them both, inhaling a deep breath the second I got outside.I didn’t wait for them. I was too embarrassed, too confused about what had just happened. Kaiden had kissed me. But it felt like more… it felt like we’d shared a moment.Don’t do that, Lily. Don’t make it into something it isn’t. He was distracting you. That’s all. “Hey, are you okay?” Ashleigh asked as I sat down and burrowed into her side.“Yep, why wouldn’t I be?”She studied me for the longest second, but then Kaiden and Lindsey reached us. “So, dude,” his friend said, “how was she?” I stiffened.“Like I’m going to tell you.” Kaiden dropped down in his chair and stretched out his long legs. His eyes flickered to mine, but I quickly averted my gaze.“You were down there longer than seven minutes,” his friend added. “Did she get on her knees and—”“Bryan, I said