Here & Now by Melyssa Winchester, Joey Winchester

my stomach right now—the one that won’t ease for anything—is wrong.
    I don’t know what I’ll do if what’s going on with Dillon is worse than he thinks.
    My final thought as I turn and head back toward the parking lot is simple.
    I really hate football.
     
    Dillon
     
    Running defensive formations in practice can be a bitch and with the pain shooting through my leg right now, I’m proof of it.
    I lied to Cadence. The hit I took, I get the feeling it might be a lot more serious then something a night of rest can get rid of. There’s no amount of Lidocaine in the world that can be sprayed on my knee right now that will alleviate it. I just didn’t know what else to say.
    She’s got enough shit going on right now. The last thing I want to do is get her caught up in mine. Besides, I’ve been down this road before, injuries are common, and it’s nothing I won’t find a way out of.
    My focus, like always, needs to be on her. The fact that she came all the way out here to see me practice and spend time with me after. I want to be wrapped up in all things Cadence and not give two shits about the real damage that might be going on with my leg.
    You stupid pansy. Couldn’t take a hit on the field just like you couldn’t take one in the middle of a fight. I always did tell your mom we were raising a little girl.
    This is another thing that’s familiar. When I take a hit, get hurt or in any way have some kind of pain, Bruce’s voice comes through loud and clear. The man never missed a beat letting me know what a waste of space I was, how much of a girl he thought I was, so it makes sense that it’s there again now.
    Too bad this time, I’m not going to listen to it.
    He had six years of controlling me. Putting me into situations I could have easily gotten a way out of had I been smart enough to open my damn mouth. Remaining silent, I gave all the control and power over to him, making him strong and me the weak link. Six years too long.
    I’m not gonna let him do it anymore, especially since he’s rotting away in prison. The days of Bruce Murphy having the control, forcing his weak versus strong brainwashing bullshit on me is over. I’m strong, but I’ve also been weak, and that’s okay.
    What I need to do right now is simple. I need to get the fuck out of here, take my girl for a ride and enjoy the rest of my night.
    It’s just too bad Coach seems to have other plans.
    “Murphy, you got a second?”
    Cadence waiting by my car flashes through my head, but I push it back. No one says no to Coach; especially not me. As a unit, I’m as much a leader as he is and saying no, telling him I’ve got my girlfriend out there waiting for me, it’s just not something you do. So even if it’s the last thing I wanna be doing right now, I’ve gotta see it through.
    “Yeah Coach, what’s up?”
    “I got a few new plays I wanna try for next practice. They’re all here in the book. Take it home, study it and in two days, I want you out there knowing them backwards and forwards. The game against Central next week, now that we’ve got Kane on board, we need to win it.”
    New plays. Ones I hope have nothing to do with me being taken the fuck out. With the ache still pounding away in my knee and being so fucking determined to keep silent about it, the last thing I need is to have it broken down more.
    “Sure thing. I’m on it.”
    “Get together with Kane too, go over them with him since he’s a large part of a few. Get him up to speed.”
    “Will do.” I agree, though not as excitedly as I would have in the past. “Anything else?”
    Shaking his head, he shoves the playbook out to me and stalks away the minute I take it. Pushing down the urge to check out the plays before meeting Caddy, I throw it into my duffel and head out.
    Football is over for the day. I gotta put it and the injury out of my head.
    It’s time to find out what Caddy is doing here and hope like hell it’s not something bad.
    The last thing I