Then she came along.
Felicity Giles.
Fuck, had she taken me by surprise. A dark-haired angel with no filter and crazy fashion sense. She was everything I didn’t want or need, and yet, she’d infiltrated my steel exterior before I even had time to realize what was happening.
“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?” Cam’s voice burst my daydream.
“Who, Hailee?” I quipped.
“You know exactly who I mean.” He smirked.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You keep saying that...”
“Because it’s true. We’re done.” We had to be.
“If you say so.”
I did.
Even if it was the biggest lie of all.
“And that’s how it’s done, ladies,” Coach yanked off his ball cap and thrust it in the air. “A damn near perfect season.” If we hadn’t have blown our last game.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it didn’t matter. We were in the play-offs. One step closer to the end goal.
“Get showered and get changed. I want to get out of here and back home stat.”
A chorus of ‘Yes, Coach’ rang out around me, the buzz of the win still crackling in the air.
“Hey, Cap, check it out,” Grady flashed me his cell.
@ThatcherQB1: Raiders might have made the play-offs but Ford is going down #youredone #watchyourback
“He’s just pissed the Eagles are out and we’re in,” I said, feeling my stomach knot. “Let him talk shit, we all know who’s the better team.”
“I still think we should go across the river and show him who’s boss.” Ash slung his towel over his shoulder.
“You over your tantrum?” My tone was cool.
He shrugged as we hit the showers. “I figured if anyone’s going to show to the party later, I need to make the peace.”
“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?”
Asher’s mouth curved. “What can I say, gotta give the people what they want.”
“Fucker,” I muttered under my breath.
After a quick shower, we got dressed and gathered by the buses where Hailee and some other fans hung around to congratulate us. “Great game,” she said to Cam and Asher, completely ignoring me. I edged away, hitching my bag over my shoulder. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask where Felicity was, but that would suggest I cared.
“Hey, Jase, we’re going to ride back with Hailee. You want a ride?”
My eyes slid to hers in question, and she gave a dismissive shrug.
“I’ll ride with—”
“Just get in the damn car, Jason,” she sighed.
“You heard the woman, Jason, get in the damn car.” Ash winked, and I flipped him off. He was so smug I wanted to tell him to fuck off. But I didn’t. Instead, I gritted my teeth behind my lips and got in the car.
Wondering when I became such a pussy.
Two hours later, everyone who was anyone was crammed into Asher’s house.
“Okay fuckers, quiet down.” He jumped up on the breakfast counter and thrust his beer in the air. “Now I know Coach said it all last week at Seniors Night, but this is my house and I want to say a few words.”
A couple of the guys cheered while Grady balled up a napkin and launched it at him. “Get on with it,” he yelled.
“This won’t take long,” Ash grinned at him, waggling his brows, “just like Mackey in the sack.” Another round of hoots and hollers broke out around me.
“Last year should have been ours; we should have been in that championship game, bringing home the crown. But this year… this year it’s ours. I love you guys and I don’t know what I’m going to do when the season’s over. So raise your drink in the air and let me hear y’all. Who are we?”
“Raiders.”
“And what are we going to do?”
“Win!”
“Damn right we are. Now let’s celebrate like the winners we are and get fucked up.” He chugged his drink down and thumped his chest like Tarzan. Cam laughed beside me, but I barely smiled. Because celebration or not, something was missing.
I followed Cam outside to our usual seats where Hailee joined us. “Everything okay?” Cam asked her as she slid onto his lap.
“Yeah, fine.”
“They’re not coming?”
She shook her head, her eyes finding mine. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Cam said quietly as I focused on my beer, scratching off the label with my thumbnail.
“Yeah.” Hailee’s eyes burned into the top of my head.
“Shots,” Asher appeared with a tray of Jell-O shots.
“Nah, man,” I grumbled, not in the mood.
“Aw come on, man, we made it. A near perfect season and State in our sights.” He thrust a cup at me, waiting for Cameron and Hailee to take theirs.
“I can’t believe this is almost the end.” Ash’s expression fell as he raised his cup in the air. “It’s been the best four years of my life. To good friends, football, and the future, whatever it may hold.” Something flashed over his face, but it was quickly gone as he downed his shot.
“Pittsburg won’t know what hit them,” Cam said, tossing his empty cup on the tray.
“Yeah,” Ash shrugged, “but it won’t be the same will it?”
A good friend would have reassured him, would have promised things wouldn’t change.
But he was right.
Come graduation nothing would be the same anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Felicity
“You must be Felicity. I’m George, welcome to A Brand New Tail.”
“Hi,” I smiled at the man. He was younger than I expected; with sandy blond hair and a bright smile. He couldn’t be a day older than twenty-five.
“Thank you so much for this.”
“No problem. Regina said you’re thinking of applying to study animal science at college?”
“It’s a possibility but I know it’s super competitive and some hands-on experience would really help my application.”
“Can I ask why now? Most of our volunteers from high school start with us in junior year.”
“I’ve always loved animals and vet school is something I’ve always had in the back of my mind, but my parents... well, they have a different idea where my future is concerned.”
“Ah,” he smiled. “Say no more. My parents wanted a doctor and got a vet tech instead.”
“How’d they take it?”
“It was a shock at first, but they came around to the idea. In the end, I think all our parents really want is for us to be happy. Shall we get started?”
“I’d love that.”
For the first time since Mya talked me into this whole thing, I felt a seed of hope blossom in my chest. George got it. He’d been where I was now and come out the other side without too many bumps and scrapes if his senior position here was anything to go by.
“First things first. This is Serena, our front of house manager.” He motioned to the pixie-haired woman manning the desk. “Serena, meet Felicity. I’m giving her the grand tour.”