Dmitri was a few inches taller than me and surprisingly fast, hence the reason he made one helluva wide receiver.
We lined up in our positions. Unfortunately, my focus was not on running the slant route I could perform with my eyes closed and making the catch. I zeroed in on that fucker who was our star middle linebacker. “Hut, hut,” our quarterback Troy Ferguson barked, and I took off a few steps before cutting across the middle of the field. Nick was barreling down on me to cover. Without a thought, I put my helmet down and stiff-armed him, shoving his ass backward until he toppled to the ground on his back while the now forgotten ball sailed over my head landing a few yards down the field.
“Goddammit, eighty-seven!” Coach yelled. He rarely used our names to call us out. None of the coaches did. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t shove off a defender like that.”
I knew it. Everyone knew it. I didn’t just shove off. I flattened him to the ground. But it felt good anyway.
“What the hell was that for?” Nick breathed out. “That was stupid. You forget how to play your position?”
“No. I know what I’m doing. Do you?”
He adjusted his chinstrap. “I will get you back, asshole,” he breathed under his breath.
“Good luck.”
We lined up again, and I knew this was a running play. Being a tight end, I lined up next to our offensive line as an extra blocker. I watched fucking Nick set in position raring to take off. Gazing from his sneer, he was ready for retribution. Have fun with that, bruh. “Hut hut!” Troy called out handing it off to Axel who ran to my side, and Nick bolted my way like he had a vendetta hoping to bowl my ass over. I rushed him gripping his jersey and shoulder pads and pile drove him with all my strength and adrenaline, hoping to take this fucker down. We tussled back and forth until I body slammed him on the ground.
“The fuck is with you?” Nick spat, springing up shoving into me, and I returned the favor; we were still going at it, although play had stopped. Next thing I knew our helmets were flying off, and Nick and I were full-on punching each other. He popped me in the chin and I got him on his cheek. It took me a few seconds to realize teammates were trying to pull us apart, but I landed my fist to his face again. It took a few more seconds until we were finally separated.
“What the fuck, Roman?” Nick growled and at this point he sounded repetitive, but was huffing like a thwarted bull. We were about the same height. I may have had an inch on him, but he was stockier. He was pissed, but I had a simmering rage that’d been slowly building.
“Martinez, get your ass off the field,” Coach spewed with a red face. “Get your shit together.” I started to walk off when he added, “Five miles on the track in full pads.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled about to chuck my helmet.
“You say something? You want to go for ten?”
“No, sir,” I gritted out as I heard the whistle blow behind me and players hustled to set up for the next play.
I stalked over to the track seeing a few people from the cross country team training. Tossing my helmet aside, knowing I looked like a moron, I broke into a jog. Trying to block out the bullshit. Trying to forget the smell of fresh rain and flowers when I nosed into her neck. Most of all, trying to shut down any thought of Theodora, but it was futile. He’d touched her. My best friend had kissed her, and I had to fight the urge to defy my coach, take the field again and bludgeon Nick’s face.
Theodora
I walked across campus, reveling in the sunshine and mild temperatures. Well, not really that mild, it was only eighty degrees today, so considering it’s central Texas, you could almost consider it a cold front. The stately red brick building came into view and I strode up the steps, headed to my biochemistry class.
It was Tuesday morning, and I had three classes today until two, and then I had to go in for my shift at my new job at Duffey’s Pub & Grub. As I passed through the entry doors, I saw students gathered around in the foyer with backpacks slung over their shoulder congregating as usual. Among one of the groups, Roman lingered with his typical serious expression and as though my body carried some kind of tracking device, his eyes soon landed on me.
I hooked a left, hoping to slip through the A hallway without incident. “Hey, aren’t you Theodora?” I glanced over and saw Taylor standing with two other girls holding a textbook in her arms.
“Yeah, Taylor, right?”
She smiled. “I thought that was you I saw you at the party the other night.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I haven’t seen you since…when was it? Three years ago?”
Like an animal that recognized a storm brewing, I felt a dark presence behind me. Taylor glanced over my shoulder. “Roman, you remember Theodora?” Then she caught herself, rolling her eyes, and chuckled as if she’d stated the obvious. “I mean, of course, you do since her mother worked for your family for years.” Her casual comment was meant to show I was beneath them. Or maybe it wasn’t. She didn’t sound malicious. It was more like stating a fact, which was true, but I held my shoulders high in any event.
“Yes. I remember her very well.” His voice was deep with a hint of derision. Despite my brave front, my nerves were skittering under my skin, and I could almost feel his heat behind me, although we weren’t touching. I realized my fingers crawled up my neck, and I quickly dropped my hand.
“Anyway. It’s nice to see you again. We should get together sometime.”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” I said, knowing that would probably never happen considering she and I had never hung out together in high school. She’d never been mean or hateful like some of the other girls back then, but she’d been friends with that crowd. Pretty sure we weren’t going to have lunch and share secrets about Roman. I hitched the strap of my backpack on my shoulder taking a step away, nodding down the hall. “Um, I have to go.”
I didn’t bother looking behind me, and he didn’t say anything either, but I could feel his eyes on me. When I made it to class, I found my seat with a shaky feeling that for some reason, it was probably inevitable at this point we’d run into each other more and more. I will always look out for you, Theodora. His words from the past came out of nowhere in my bank of memories, and I dropped my books on the desk. I shouldn’t have thrown down the gauntlet the other night. Foolishly. I’d demolished that line in the sand between stubborn and stupid.
When class finished, I closed out my laptop and stuffed it in my backpack. As I exited the lab, I saw Roman leaning casually against the wall across the hall alone, with arms crossed, staring intently at me like he’d been waiting the whole time.
I ignored him and took off toward the double doors leading out the side exit since my next class was in the following building. Without hesitation, he was beside me; his steps matched mine. There were a few other students headed that way too, so it’s not like I was too concerned he’d flat-out try something outrageous like the other night.
“Is there a reason you’re following me?”
“No. Why would you think that? Going to my next class, too.”
I shook my head, and he reached the door, holding it open. My brows furrowed, wondering what he was doing? What was his angle today? I rushed down the steps, but he clasped my arm, leading me off to the pathway away from the students that were filing back and forth between the two buildings.