“Thank you, Sir,” I said, my eyes flicking to Jase. “Couldn’t have done it without my QB.”
“Right, of course. Good game, Son.” Mr. Ford held out his hand to Jase who shook it with mild hesitation.
“Thanks, Dad.” His words were clipped, and we all felt the tension between father and son.
“Jason,” Hailee’s mom burst through our small huddle. “That was… I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.” She tried to pull him in for a hug, but he inched back. Denise faltered, covering his brush off with a wide smile. “We’re all real proud of you, all of you. And to think you could bring home the big one this year.”
We all smothered our laughter at her false enthusiasm, even Jase fought a bemused smirk.
“Okay, darling.” Mr. Ford wrapped his wife into a side hug. “Let’s leave the guys to have their fun. I want to talk to Henry.”
Henry, or Coach Hasson as we knew him, was outside at his huge grill, a cloud of smoke billowing into the air.
“This is your year, Son, we’re all counting on you,” were Mr. Ford’s parting words as they left us to our fun.
Thirty minutes later, we had all gathered outside on Coach’s orders. He and his wife served us burgers and hot dogs, steak and ribs. It was good, but I missed my parents. They hadn’t been at the game to see us beat the Eagles and they weren’t here now to celebrate with us.
And I hated it.
This was the biggest season of my life, and they weren’t here to see it, to share it with me. It fucking sucked but I had no choice but to plaster on a smile and celebrate with my teammates.
After everyone had eaten, Coach Hasson stood up, demanding silence.
“Speech,” one of the guy’s yelled and a ripple of laughter filled the air.
“Calm down, calm down,” Coach said. “There are a couple of things I want to say, so bear with me. First off, I want to thank my wife, Sandra.” He gazed warmly at the woman beside him. “Without her, I wouldn’t be half the man I am. And I’m grateful she lets me welcome you all into my home year after year.”
Everyone cheered at that, raising their glasses and bottles in the air to toast Mrs. Hasson. “Now to my boys.” His eyes roved over every one of us. “You fought hard tonight. You didn’t lie down when things got tough, you dug in your heels and kept on pushing. I’m real damn proud of you. Not only for showing those fellas across the river how we play ball, but for keeping your heads and not letting them provoke you into lowering yourself to their standards.” His gaze landed on me, Asher, and Jason, conveying some unspoken message. “Rivals Week is done. We won. We draw the line here, you hear me?”
We each gave him an imperceptible nod, irritation rolling off Jase in waves. He respected Coach, listened to his orders on and off the field, but we all knew this thing between him and Thatcher was personal. So even though we’d won tonight, had handed Thatcher his ass on the field, we knew it wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
Coach ran a hand down his face, swallowing hard. “I’ll be doing all this again in a few weeks at Seniors Night, so I won’t harp on too much longer. But know this, coaching the Raiders is a privilege, one I don’t take lightly. And this year, is our year. I feel it in my bones, this year we’re bringing it home.”
The Hasson’s yard erupted, my teammates making most of the noise as we whooped and cheered. He waited for everyone to hush before continuing, “And finally, I have an announcement to make. Where is Miss Raine?” He searched the crowd and my eyes spotted Hailee, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment as she held up a hand. “Miss Raine has kindly agreed to work with the team on an exciting art project this season. I’d like you all to show her the respect I know you’re capable of.”
A murmur of grumbles answered him, as Asher and I shared a confused look. “What the fuck?” he mouthed as I tried to process what Coach was saying.
Hailee was going to be working with the team? On an art project?
What the hell did that mean?
But more concerningly, why the fuck had she agreed to it in the first place?
I didn’t see Hailee for the rest of the night. That was until I went inside to get another drink and almost walked straight into her. “Shit.” My hands flew out, steadying her. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugged me off, smoothing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind an ear. “I was just…” Hailee pointed over my shoulder to the back door and started to move around me.
“Wait,” I rushed out, grabbing her arm. Her eyes dropped to where my fingers curled around her wrist, and then slowly lifted to mine, her brow arched in annoyance.
“Sorry, I just… can we talk?”
“You want to talk, here?” She sounded incredulous and I couldn’t blame her. Not after last weekend. But I needed to clear the air between us because all week it had felt like a heavy weight was pressing on my chest.
An idea sparked in my mind and my lip curved up. “Have you ever seen Coach’s trophy room?”
“You know I haven’t.” Her mouth mirrored mine.
“Well, then, you’re in for a treat.” I waited, letting her make the decision. It was a risk given her family was here, but everyone was outside, enjoying the warm evening and good company.
“It’s for research purposes only,” Hailee said quietly, dropping her gaze.
“Research?”
“For the Seniors Night thing.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” I ran a hand down my face. I’d almost forgotten Coach’s announcement that Hailee would be painting the seniors, but only because once I’d realized it might mean spending some one-on-one time with her, I couldn’t think about anything other than me and her. Alone. Together.
“Cameron?”
I blinked down at her, shaking the thoughts from my mind. “Hmm, yeah, come on,” I said before I did the sensible thing and walked away. “It’s just down here.”
Hailee
I followed Cameron down the hall and into a big room, my eyes widening at the rows and rows of trophy cabinets and shelves. “Wow.” I didn’t know where to look first. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah.” He walked up to one of the glass cabinets. “Coach was a big deal back in his day.”
“You don’t say.” I ran my eyes over the collection of silverware. “What’s that one?” I asked pointing to a small bronze figurine.
Cameron gave a smooth chuckle. “That is the Heisman.”
“Oh, I think I’ve heard of it.”
His eyes widened with amusement. “It’s kind of a big deal.”
“Something to do with college football, right?”
He repeated my words, mumbling them under his breath. “How is it you’ve lived with Jason and his dad for six years and still don’t know any of this stuff?”
“I have excellent avoidance skills.” He gave me a pointed look and I felt myself blush. “I didn’t mean...”
“So, you haven’t been avoiding me all week?”
The air in the room turned dense as Cameron’s gray-blue eyes stared at me intently.