Of course, Jason still liked to talk dirty and make me blush at every opportunity, but I didn’t mind. In fact, I’d grown to love it. He pushed my boundaries and I pushed his right back.
And I couldn’t wait for the next summer when we left for UPenn to start the rest of our lives.
Together.
Jason
“Raiders, gather in,” I yelled like a general commanding his army. My teammates huddled together, waiting for my words of encouragement. For the profound speech to carry them into the fourth quarter.
“Listen up,” it came out breathless. I was running on empty; we all were. “No team ever wants to be in this position; going into the fourth trailing by eight points. But we can do this. I know we can. Forget all the other games, forget what happened last game.” When we’d almost fumbled our comfortable win by giving the opposing team room to score a touchdown with two minutes on the clock. Luckily, we were able to get the conversion before the final whistle, but it had been the most stressful two minutes of my life.
“Four years and it all comes down to this. Whatever happens, I’m proud to call myself a Raider, and you should be too. Hands in, Raiders on three.”
The huddle grew tighter as my teammates dropped their hands on mine. My eyes found Asher on the sideline and before I could think about it, I yelled, “Yo, forty-two, get your ass over here,” giving zero fucks he wasn’t supposed to move from the bench. He deserved this as much as the rest of the guys.
“Feeling the pressure, QB?” he smarted as he jogged over to me.
“You deserve to be here.” I held his eyes, silently telling him everything I’d been too chicken shit to say.
Thank you.
I owe you.
You’re the best friend a guy could ever have.
He gave me a curt nod and then said, “Are we doing this or what?”
“On your word, Ash.”
“Raiders on three. One. Two. Three…” Our battle cry rang out around me for the last time, our six-thousand strong crowd echoing the word at us.
It was something to behold, standing there on Hershey Stadium’s now tarnished field, the blinding Friday night lights blazing down on us. Making us seem larger than life. Worshipped and adored. The next time I did this, my jersey would be Penn Quaker red, white, and blue, and I’d be a rookie. But I was ready. Hungry for it.
College.
Football.
A fresh start with Felicity.
It couldn’t come soon enough. But first, we had a game to win.
Felicity
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked no one in particular as I stared up at the neon sign reading Ink City, nervous energy vibrating through me.
“He’ll love it,” Mya whispered in my ear as the guys jostled one another, the effects of our few celebration drinks showing. “Besides, it’s the last item on your list, you can’t back out now.”
I nodded slowly, watching the guys. They were buzzed, we all were. Still riding the high of the win. The Raiders had done it, in the last minute of play. Cam getting the final touchdown.
“My parents will—”
“Never find out about it. Stick to the plan.”
“The plan, right.” I took a deep breath. Hailee caught my eye and frowned.
“What are you two up to?”
Ignoring her, I moved to the front of our group and grabbed the door handle. “Are you guys doing this or not?”
“Fuck, I love it when she takes charge,” Jason smirked, and I rolled my eyes right back.
“Oh, I’m in,” Asher bounced on the balls of his feet. “I’m so fucking in. State Champs 2019, here I come.”
“I hate to break it to you, Champ,” Mya clapped him on the shoulder, “But can you claim the title if you didn’t actually play?”
“Way to burst a guy’s bubble.” He scowled but it quickly melted away. He was too damn wired. We all were. The after-game celebrations had been crazy, everyone rushing onto the field to celebrate with the team. Then there had been dinner at the hotel’s restaurant with close family and friends. Afterwards, Coach finally let us off the hook. Officially, we weren’t supposed to leave the hotel, but unofficially, Coach agreed to turn a blind eye as long as we all surfaced tomorrow morning for the buses home.
“Either way,” Asher went on, “I’m getting it done. No girls at college are going to know I didn’t play. They’re only going to see ‘State Champ’ and flock to me like—”
“Flies to shit?” Mya deadpanned.
We all streamed into the store, instantly assaulted with the sound of tattoo guns and rock music. Jason walked up to the desk and did all the talking. “Three?” he called over to us and the guys nodded. But before he could confirm with the receptionist, I called, “Make that four.”
“Holy shit, Fee,” Asher whistled between his teeth. “For real?”
“Just something small,” I said, my eyes sliding to Jason. “It’s the last thing on my list.”
“Hell yeah, you heard my girl, make that four.”
His girl. I don’t think I’d ever get used to hearing him call me that.
“Take a seat and Auden will be with you shortly.”
Jason came over to me, dipping his head to my ear. “You sure about this?”
I gave him a little nod, not trusting myself to speak. We’d talked about what I might get if I went through with it. After all, it was the only remaining item on my list. But when he saw it, he was going to freak.
I’d already fallen in crazy messy love with him, so I might as well get the crazy messy tattoo to go with it.
Jason
“What’s taking them so long.” I growled, pacing back and forth outside the room where Felicity currently was, alone with Auden, with his hands on her body, touching her.
“Chill, man.” Cam’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. “He’s only doing his job.”
“Yeah, well, she should have let me in there with her.”
“Maybe she was worried about passing out or getting sick.”
I threw Ash a hard look. Like I gave a shit about that. My favorite version of Felicity was first thing in the morning, hair all mussed up and crazy, her eyes heavy-lidded with sleep, her skin damp from my touch.
I loved sleeping with her, but it usually didn’t lead to much actual sleep. It wasn’t my fault she was so irresistible, and I was a hot-blooded guy who was powerless against her voodoo magic.
The vibration of the gun behind the door finally stopped. “Thank fuck,” I grumbled, moving closer.
A few minutes later, it swung open and Felicity skipped out.
“About time.”
“Sorry,” she said meekly. “It hurt more than I expected.”
“Can I see?” I asked expecting a tiny heart or some script-font life quote girls liked to get. She’d had a few ideas but had been tightlipped about a decision. So when she said, “Don’t freak out,” the floor went from under me.
“What did you do?”
Felicity glanced around the store, and moved in closer. She lifted her sweater up, yanking the neck of her tank down, and everything slowed down.