Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Yeah, yesterday, there was some pushing and shoving, mostly between the offense and defense.
The offense gathers around, Dane and Chance on either side of me. Dane is the tight end and Chance is my go-to wide receiver. “You heard him—put your pussy coffees down and let’s get to work.” Chance rolls his eyes but dashes off to set his cup on the bench. “Ten sprints to the thirty and back, then line up on me. Let’s kick some defense ass today, got it?” We all clap.
Under the rising sun, I finish my sprints first with Dane and Chance. We jog up to the fifty-yard line to wait.
Liam and a few of the other defensive players make their way over, and Liam opens his mouth. “What’s up with you and Ava yesterday? You two buddies now?”
“You don’t know anything about what happened to her tire, do you?” I reply.
He laughs. “If I did, I wouldn’t tell. I’m no snitch like Ava is.”
“Don’t say her name again,” I say, cracking my neck. “It doesn’t belong here on the field. Brand new year.”
“You giving me orders?”
I straighten my shoulders. “I’m the captain. I know what’s best for our team.”
He nods, and for a second I think he’s going to let it drop, but then his jaw pops. “She’s back and it brings that shit up again. I didn’t appreciate police officers interviewing me like I was a suspect last fall. What if they start doing that again, huh?”
“Your dad’s the mayor—I think you’re covered.” Chance smirks.
“Yeah, I don’t want any questions either,” someone grumbles, but I don’t see who it is.
“—that’s what I’m saying,” comes from another.
Liam sends whoever said it a chin nod then looks back at me. “You act like you’re on Law & Order when it comes to her and it’s annoying as fuck. First, you came to all of us last year like you suspected us. Now you’re changing her tire? Bullshit. If you’re hot for her, just bang her like you do every other girl and get back to being our teammate.”
My fists curl, and I know I need to focus on building this team back up—without discussing Ava—but I can’t stop myself from commenting. “Something happened to her, and the person who did it is one of us or a senior from last year,” I say, reaching for the pretense of diplomacy by including them. We only had four seniors last year and only two of them showed up at the party. One left early with his girlfriend, and the other guy ended up passed out in the back of another player’s truck and was driven home before things really got going.
Some of the guys around me nod in agreement, their faces set.
“We should put it behind us,” says a junior from the offense.
But some of them give me hard, heavy-lidded looks. Brandon, another defensive player, is one of them. With carrot-colored hair and brittle dark eyes, he’s in line to take Liam’s place after he graduates.
He steps forward and nods his head toward Liam. “I’m with him. I don’t want any questions either, not from the police and not from you. She lied to cover up cheating on Chance. Who knows who it was, but none of us did anything illegal.”
Cheating on Chance? A scoff comes out of me. Shaking my head, I recall a few times when I wanted her to, when I looked at her and—
Glancing at Chance, I see he’s no help, not with his eyes on the ground.
I shouldn’t react. Nope. I should just stop talking, put this aside, and focus on playing the game.
“I don’t even know who you are,” Liam grunts. “She’s chum. She’s Shark bait. She’s nothing.”
“You brought her up, not me.” My voice is soft.
Dane jostles against me. “Dude. Let’s play football.”
Liam barks out a rough laugh. “That shadow of doubt hangs over all of us, even you. You think I don’t see the way some of the teachers look at us? The headmaster?” His face hardens. “Even Jolena looks at me different.”
I shrug. “I doubt you need to worry about Ava showing up to anymore of our parties.”
Liam locks eyes with me. “If she does, I figure I’m owed one tussle in the woods. If I’m going to be accused of something, I should at least get the chance to actually enjoy it.” He grabs his crotch and grins. “She’ll scream for more like every other girl.”
Everyone on the team freezes, and I…I feel like someone blindsided me with a two-by-four.
My right fist connects with Liam’s face. His head snaps back but his surprised eyes never leave mine. Rage colors his face and his punch comes quick and accurate, hitting me in the eye before I can dip down. I can’t even feel it. Oh, hell yeah, bring it. I’ve been itching to hit him forever. I think about the first time I saw him and Dane snorting coke at one of Liam’s barn parties. We got into a scuffle then, but I didn’t hit him nearly enough—