clapping his hands
together, “I knew you’d help your old man out.”
“Anything for you and the team,” I reply, giving him my best
saintly smile.
Dad turns on his heel and heads downstairs, leaving me and
Blaire alone once more.
“Oh wow,” she says, “You were right about Crash not being a
dumb jock. This is downright brilliant.”
“Does that mean I have your blessing to keep seeing him?” I
ask her jokingly, “Even if he is a football player.”
“Ugh. I guess so,” she replies, “For now, at least.”
“I’ll take it,” I tell her happily, flopping giddily onto my
bed.
Dean’s tutoring scheme has given us the perfect cover to
spend as much time together as we want without my dad or anyone else getting
suspicious. It’s the perfect plan. Maybe he should be the one tutoring me, huh?
A ripple of excitement spreads through my body as I imagine all the things that
Dean will be able to teach me down the line.
Let’s just say that I am one eager student.
Dean
Thirty thousand fans are on their feet, stomping and
shouting as the fourth quarter runs down. We’ve been in a dead lock with the
visiting team for nearly the entire game. Each side scored two touchdowns in
quick succession early in the game, and we’ve been trying like hell to break
the tie ever since. I can feel my teammates’ frustration roiling away as we
huddle up before our next play. Royce has been doing his best to keep an even
keel, but his confidence is starting to waver. This should have been an easy
game for us to win, but with all the new plays and adjustments to our strategy,
we’ve been thrown off a little. Cahill knows it, too. He’s standing on the
sidelines, his face turning a darker shade of red every time I glance his way.
“Come on, boys. We’ve got plenty of time to break through
this,” I yell above the roar of the crowd, looking around at the exhausted,
frustrated faces of my teammates.
“Crash is right,” Royce says, “We can still pull ahead.
Don’t get lazy on me now.”
He runs us through the next play, and I can feel my blood
pick up the pace in my veins. Royce is gonna switch it up and hand the ball off
to me this time around. Finally. Coach has been leaning on Royce this entire
game instead of letting me do my thing. Now’s my time to remind him—and
everyone else—just how much of an asset I am to this team. I may not be
Cahill’s golden boy, but I’m the best damn college running back on the east
coast. And it’s time the world remembered that.
Another rolling wave of sound crashes down from the stands
as we break out of our huddle and line up to face the other team’s defensive
line. My focus narrows, blocking out the crowd, and the lights, and the
expectations. Right now, the only thing that matters is this next play. We’ve made
a few good pushes forward toward the end zone. It’s up to me now to bring it on
home.
My senses go into high gear as the ball is snapped back to
Royce. My heart is beating so hard in my ears that I can barely hear the sounds
of bodies slamming into each other all around me. I cut across the field behind
Royce and scoop the ball into my hands just before he’s tackled to the ground.
Now it’s just me, the ball, and the twenty yards stretching out before me. I
take off like a shot, feinting left to throw off the guy dispatched to tackle
me. By now, the other team has our number. I can feel a half dozen bodies pivot
my way, ready to stop me by any means necessary. But they’re too late.
My legs pump beneath me as I fly down the field, the
defensive line hot on my tracks. I can see one of their guys coming at me from
the right, and I spin out of his grasp just as he goes to take me down. He gets
a hand on me, but I can’t be stopped now. In front of the adoring crowd, I sail
into the end zone and secure another touchdown to the Rayburn Red Birds in the
final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The second those points are up on the board, the rest
together, “I knew you’d help your old man out.”
“Anything for you and the team,” I reply, giving him my best
saintly smile.
Dad turns on his heel and heads downstairs, leaving me and
Blaire alone once more.
“Oh wow,” she says, “You were right about Crash not being a
dumb jock. This is downright brilliant.”
“Does that mean I have your blessing to keep seeing him?” I
ask her jokingly, “Even if he is a football player.”
“Ugh. I guess so,” she replies, “For now, at least.”
“I’ll take it,” I tell her happily, flopping giddily onto my
bed.
Dean’s tutoring scheme has given us the perfect cover to
spend as much time together as we want without my dad or anyone else getting
suspicious. It’s the perfect plan. Maybe he should be the one tutoring me, huh?
A ripple of excitement spreads through my body as I imagine all the things that
Dean will be able to teach me down the line.
Let’s just say that I am one eager student.
Dean
Thirty thousand fans are on their feet, stomping and
shouting as the fourth quarter runs down. We’ve been in a dead lock with the
visiting team for nearly the entire game. Each side scored two touchdowns in
quick succession early in the game, and we’ve been trying like hell to break
the tie ever since. I can feel my teammates’ frustration roiling away as we
huddle up before our next play. Royce has been doing his best to keep an even
keel, but his confidence is starting to waver. This should have been an easy
game for us to win, but with all the new plays and adjustments to our strategy,
we’ve been thrown off a little. Cahill knows it, too. He’s standing on the
sidelines, his face turning a darker shade of red every time I glance his way.
“Come on, boys. We’ve got plenty of time to break through
this,” I yell above the roar of the crowd, looking around at the exhausted,
frustrated faces of my teammates.
“Crash is right,” Royce says, “We can still pull ahead.
Don’t get lazy on me now.”
He runs us through the next play, and I can feel my blood
pick up the pace in my veins. Royce is gonna switch it up and hand the ball off
to me this time around. Finally. Coach has been leaning on Royce this entire
game instead of letting me do my thing. Now’s my time to remind him—and
everyone else—just how much of an asset I am to this team. I may not be
Cahill’s golden boy, but I’m the best damn college running back on the east
coast. And it’s time the world remembered that.
Another rolling wave of sound crashes down from the stands
as we break out of our huddle and line up to face the other team’s defensive
line. My focus narrows, blocking out the crowd, and the lights, and the
expectations. Right now, the only thing that matters is this next play. We’ve made
a few good pushes forward toward the end zone. It’s up to me now to bring it on
home.
My senses go into high gear as the ball is snapped back to
Royce. My heart is beating so hard in my ears that I can barely hear the sounds
of bodies slamming into each other all around me. I cut across the field behind
Royce and scoop the ball into my hands just before he’s tackled to the ground.
Now it’s just me, the ball, and the twenty yards stretching out before me. I
take off like a shot, feinting left to throw off the guy dispatched to tackle
me. By now, the other team has our number. I can feel a half dozen bodies pivot
my way, ready to stop me by any means necessary. But they’re too late.
My legs pump beneath me as I fly down the field, the
defensive line hot on my tracks. I can see one of their guys coming at me from
the right, and I spin out of his grasp just as he goes to take me down. He gets
a hand on me, but I can’t be stopped now. In front of the adoring crowd, I sail
into the end zone and secure another touchdown to the Rayburn Red Birds in the
final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The second those points are up on the board, the rest
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