Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
“What a fucking asshole,” he grumbles.
But I just look up in the stands for Dylan.
Why isn’t she here?
Is she that certain I’ll lose?
Huh?
Spinning around, I pace back and forth as the coach gives direction, but I’m barely listening.
She’s not here.
The whistle goes off, we take the field, and I feel Kade. He’s on my left, watching me from the sidelines, and I look over the faces of his team. Stoli, Dirk, and all the rest.
“Relax, boys,” Stoli tells his team. “Hunter plays like shit.”
Heat courses down my arms, my chest swells with ire, and I fucking growl, “Two-seventy!” She doesn’t need to be here. I can do this without her. “Two-seventy!”
Luca hikes the ball, and I catch it, my offense charging ahead. Constin runs, Dirk chasing after him, and I see the Pirates pushing past my line and coming for me.
I jerk my head left, then right, Constin the only option. I hesitate and then…I launch the ball, watching it fly ten yards—then twenty—before a body crashes into me, dragging me to the ground.
My knee twists out, and I wince, holding back my howl as a Pirate—then two—pile on top of me.
The crowd cheers, but I can’t tell which side, or if Constin caught the fucking ball.
“It’s going to be a long night for you, traitor,” someone says, shoving their knee into my gut as they rise.
I roll over, breathing hard and straightening out my leg.
I don’t wait. I’m not giving him the satisfaction. Pushing myself up, I walk and then run to the twenty-yard line, getting back in formation as my team celebrates the completed pass.
“You okay?” Calvin asks.
I don’t reply. I look to the coach, watching his signals, and then shout to the team. “Blue forty-two! Blue forty-two, set, hit!”
The ball snaps, I catch it, and everyone floods each other, my guys pushing back against their defense. I pass the ball to Calvin, he passes it back to me, and I rear back to throw it to Constin, but someone barrels into me, and I’m gone. On the ground, the crowd losing their minds as Pirates jump on me, crushing my ribs into the football between me and the ground.
I groan as more weight crushes me, and I can barely fucking breathe. What the fuck?
The whistle goes off, and the weight lessens. Someone reaches down to help me, but I shove them away, still clutching the football.
Constin and Stoli push each other, part of the crowd cheering and part of them booing, and I refrain from looking over at my brother.
“What a shitshow,” I grit out.
I can’t look at my parents.
Calvin walks back with me, still on the first set of downs. “I don’t think your brother will be happy until something is broken,” he says.
No shit. Two plays, and I’ve already lost him a hundred dollars.
The clock runs, I get into position and call the play. The ball shoots to my hands, and I throw, but the pass is incomplete.
“Whoo!” the Pirates cheer, Dirk shoving me in the chest. “Again! Again!”
Constin thrusts him back. “Fuck you,” he says.
They get into each other’s faces, Luca pushes a Pirate, and I step in. “Enough!”
We go again, Constin charges to the end zone, and I dig the toe of my shoe into the grass, throwing the ball. He catches it, running into the end zone, and I almost have time to smile before I’m tackled into the grass again.
Pain splits my side, and I grunt, feeling something knock against my ear, inside the helmet, as another body topples on top of me.
Fuck... Where’s the fucking foul?
Pirates peel off me, and my guys are there, flipping me over.
“You okay?” Calvin asks.
“Help me up.”
They pull me to my feet, and I flinch at the pain in my body. Rebels party in the stands, the guys chatter excitedly, and we get into position for the extra point. Where’s Dylan?
Where would she be if she’s not here?
Extra point goes on the board, offense moves to the sideline, and Farrow steps on with defense as Kade takes the field.
He gets into position, points at me, and I slip off my helmet, but I can’t watch. I stare at the ground, knowing every time he gains yardage, moving closer and closer to the end zone. Guys roll to the ground, and I hear curses and insults, and I still don’t look at my family.
I don’t have to look at them to know that they hate what they’re watching.
I don’t have to look at them to know Dylan’s not here.
We may or may not win, but I’ll wake up alone tomorrow.
She’s done with us. That’s why she’s not here. She doesn’t care about the game. She can’t watch us do this.
Kade scores a touchdown, our offense steps on the field, then them again, and by the end of the second half, it’s seventeen to seven, Pirates.