“You two look good together,” I said, the words spilling from my lips in a blast of jealousy.
“I’m not going to let you do this, Mya.”
I pressed my lips together in defiance, hating the way he saw right through me.
“It’s you I want, you I love.” He leaned in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You I’ll be buried deep inside of later. Kellie Ginly is no one to me. No. One. How could I even see her when all I see is you?”
He pulled back to look at me, his expression softening. “Better?”
“A little,” I said, feeling some of the anger ebb away. “But you should probably keep going. Just to be sure.”
I was joking but challenge flared in Asher’s eyes.
A challenge I’d gladly let him win.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Asher
“Look alive, ladies,” Coach Hasson boomed as he entered the locker room. “It’s a full house out there and the Eagles are looking for blood.” A wave of grumbles rose around me. “I want a clean game, got it?”
“Yes, Sir.” Our collective response echoed off the walls.
“This marks the start of a clean slate. We go out there and win the way we know how, through hard work, teamwork, and giving it our all. Jase, Son, do you want to say a few words?”
My best friend stalked into the center of the room, helmet hanging by his side, hunger glittering in his eyes. “Being a Raider, leading this team, has been a privilege and something I will never forget. But Coach is right. This game is a chance to put all the bullshit with Rixon East behind us. A chance to show them once and for all who the better team is on and off the field. Kinnicky, I’m looking to you tonight to step up to the plate and prove you’ve got what it takes to lead after I’m gone.”
My gaze snapped to Cam who looked as confused as I did.
“Coach, I’ll lead the team into the game,” he said, “but I think Kinnicky should take my place in the third quarter.”
“Are you sure that’s—”
“It’s the right call.” Jase nodded at Kinnicky across the huddle. The junior looked ready to piss his pants, but he managed to stand tall and return his quarterback’s nod.
“Well, all right then.” Coach looked to me. “Asher, how about it, Son? One final time.”
My chest tightened, Coach’s words like a vise around my throat.
This was it.
The last time I’d ever put on my jersey and play with my teammates. My best friends and brothers, for all intents and purposes.
“Asher...”
Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to leap into action and get them pumped up. But there was something so bittersweet about it, I could barely find the words.
Until Jase caught my eye and said, “Together, we’ll do it together.”
With a tight smile, I moved into the center with him. He slung his arm around my shoulder and shouted, “Who are we?”
“Raiders,” the team replied.
“I said who are we?” My voice rang out, strong and clear, spurred on by my best friend’s reassurance.
“RAIDERS.” The team echoed back at us, their collective roar sending a surge of energy coursing through me.
“And what are we?”
“Family.” Jase squeezed my shoulder, his eyes sliding to mine, saying a hundred things I knew I’d never hear. This time, on the field as a team, and off the team as brothers, it was everything.
“And what are we gonna do?” I grinned at him, falling into my role with such ease, despite the deep ache in my heart.
“Win.”
“I said what are we gonna do?”
“WIN!”
Adrenaline pumped through me, the kind of high that could only come from being surrounded by your teammates; the guys who had seen you at your best, your worst, even your butt nakedness. Four years of my life had been dedicated to them. To the team. Four years that had flown by too quickly.
And now, it was at an end and I would never have this again.
“One more time,” Jase said quietly, squeezing my shoulder, and I knew his words were for me and me alone. He might not have understood my decision to give up college football, but right now, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was going out there and playing the best game we could possibly play.
Kicking some Eagle ass in the process.
Adrenaline pumped through me as I pushed my legs harder, eating up the distance between me and my target. Head down, shoulders squared, I drove straight into the offensive player’s side, tackling him to the ground. He landed with a loud thud, fumbling the ball.
“Nice, Bennet,” someone yelled as the rest of our players closed in.
We were winning comfortably in the fourth quarter, the Eagles disorganized and sloppy with no Lewis Thatcher to lead them. It didn’t stop us from going hard. The hunger for the win tethered us, pushing us harder, faster.
I’d been prepared not to play with my team again, but now I was out here, the roar of the crowd fueled me. And knowing Mya was out there watching me only made me stand taller.
God, I was going to miss this. I’d been lying to myself; thinking I could go off to college and focus on school instead of football. But being out here, wearing a blue and white jersey, it meant something.
Something I couldn’t just forget.
“Nice tackle, Son,” Coach said, offering me a stiff nod, as I jogged off field to let the offense do their thing.
“This one’s for you,” Jase clapped me on the back as he jogged out to the huddle, ready to give the play.
“How does it feel being back out there?” Coach asked me, keeping his eyes ahead.
“It feels good, Sir.”
“The Panthers will be lucky to have you next season, Son.” The words hung between us, and I half-expected him to call me out on why I hadn’t yet committed to the team.
He didn’t though. Jason threw a perfect ball to Cameron who took off down field, every single Raiders fan making the run with him.
“Go, go,” Coach yelled, thrusting his clipboard in the air, as if it was the final play in the Championship game.
“Touchdoooooown!” the announcer yelled over the PA system, sending the stadium into a frenzy.
Jase caught my eye across the field, understanding passing between us. Football would always be a huge part of us, of our friendship. I didn’t doubt that. But he was only just beginning his journey. While mine… mine ended here.
And I had to be okay with that.
“You did it,” Felicity and Hailee rushed over to us. Jason caught his girl, pulling her in for a kiss.
“We never doubted you for a second.” Hailee smiled, nestling into Cam’s side.
“Where’s Mya?” I searched the crowd for her jersey but couldn’t find her among the friends and family who had flooded the field to help celebrate our win.
“She got a call,” Flick said, coming up for air. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Son,” my dad’s voice cut the air like a knife and my spine snapped straight.
“Mr. Bennet,” Jase said coolly. “Nice to see you.”