“He has a point,” I said. “And it’s not even on top of his head.”
With his free hand, Callahan messed up my hair. “Surprise, surprise. You’re not pointy-headed either.” He laughed, bowing his body to avoid my fist.
“That in honor of the first scrimmage?” I asked Bax with a nod to his T-shirt, which read “That’s a horrible idea. What time?”
Grinning down at his chest and back at me, he said, “Seemed appropriate.”
I bumped my fist to his.
Spring scrimmages were an opportunity for the coaches to assess our skills, to figure out who of the underclassman would move up on the depth chart, and which of the starters was truly ready to lead. For the three of us, it was the start of the most important season of our lives. While none of us were taking it lightly, each of us was focused on having a good time playing the game we loved.
At the facility, the locker room had an air of game-day anticipation. Guys went through their game-day rituals, like the class clown Tarvarius Johnson doing some kind of electric slide as he listened to R&B through his earbuds. Dalton Sneed, no longer our rookie kicker, did something with touching his thumbs to his fingertips over and over in a pattern. Weirdest damn thing I’d ever seen, but I couldn’t argue with nineteen of twenty field goals last season and no missed PATs. Dallas “Dally” Cousins, our center, gripped a football like he was trying to make it one with his hand.
I sat quietly in front of my locker and closed my eyes, visualizing jumping off the line of scrimmage at the exact second the opposing center hiked the ball. This season, I was determined not to penalize the team by jumping offsides in my eagerness to blow up the opposing teams’ offensive plays.
Coach Ellis and the rest of the staff entered the locker room together. “All right, men. Huddle up.” The guy never raised his voice, even over the din of fifty-four players moving around in pads and cleats, music playing, and other nonsense going on, yet by the third word, we were all quiet and ready to listen to him.
“Fans and media will be watching today’s practice. They’ll want to know if we’re going to be a contender for the national title again this year.” His steely ice-blue eyes roamed the circle of players. “We already know the answer to that.”
The seasoned players nodded, while a couple of freshmen walk-ons let out some “Hell yeahs!” that Coach shut down with a narrowing of those intense eyes.
“What the coaching staff wants to know is who is in it for the long haul? Because making it to the title game starts today, and it doesn’t stop until next January.” He let that sink in for a minute. “Go out there today and play hard. Play smart. Show us you’re in it for the title.”
That was our cue to let loose with our victory cries. Bax and I fist-bumped each other from where we sat together on the bench. ’Han might have been my best friend, but Bax was my partner in the defensive trenches. Today it was defense versus offense, and Callahan and our other roommate Danny were fair game.
Donning our helmets, we rolled out of the locker room and jogged down the tunnel. Though we ran out onto Holland Field without all the fanfare of the band and cheerleaders and twenty thousand screaming fans, the small crowd on hand to watch the scrimmage shared their enthusiasm for Wildcats football with cheers and wolf whistles and applause loud enough to give us an adrenaline rush. I scanned the stands for Chessly, locating her with her friends Saylor, Piper, and Jamaica. Squinting my eyes against the spring sun, I noticed a fifth girl with them and recognized Danny’s lady, Taryn. Guess the gang was all here, which put a warm glow dead center in my chest.
I loved showing off for the crowd, but showing off for Chess was a whole other thing. I wanted her to be proud of me.
Over the course of the sixty-minute practice, the offense ran the forty plays Coach had scripted, with the starters in for half of them. I managed not to jump offsides even once, which earned me a few attaboys from Coach Ainsworth and a nod of approval from Coach Larkin. By the time we’d finished, we were tired, sweaty, and amped up. Coach Ellis had even managed a grin or two at the success of our play.
The raucous noise of fifty-four excited players reverberated around the locker room as we showered and dressed. I was looking forward to spending the rest of the day with my girlfriend. The word had been rattling around in my head for weeks now and had settled in. We were in a committed relationship, and Chess was my girlfriend. The thought brought a smile to my face.
As I headed down the hallway to meet her in front of the facility, Coach Ellis stepped out of his office. “McCabe. A word, please.”
The tone of his voice gave nothing away. But after the way I’d played in the scrimmage, I thought I might be in for some attaboys from Coach for once.
“Tell Chess I’ll be out in a few,” I said to Callahan, who nodded and kept walking.
“Hey, Coach. What’s up?” I asked as I strolled through the door.
“Have a seat, son.”
Only then did I register other people were in the office with him, a man I’d never seen before and a girl I vaguely recognized.
“We have a problem, Finn,” Coach began. “My players play fair—with everyone, all the time.” His steely-eyed stare said I’d broken that rule, but damned if I knew how.
“It’s been brought to my attention that you’ve been ignoring your responsibilities to this young lady. Perhaps you’d like to explain?”
Only then did I pick up on the thunder on the strange man’s face as he directed his gaze from me to the girl. Looking back at her, my heart dropped to my knees. While I could harbor a wild hope, I was pretty sure she wasn’t hiding a basketball under her shirt.
Fuck!
“Coach, I don’t know what’s going on here.” For once I thought about my words. “But I barely know this girl. And I swear I’m not responsible for her situation.” Staring directly into his eyes, I willed him to believe me: to take my side.
The man jumped up from his chair to loom over me. From the looks of him, he could have played my position at one time. “Are you calling my daughter a liar?” he yelled.
It was tough to hold my ground while I looked up into his mottled-red face, but I had to stand strong. Whatever this girl was up to, I wasn’t going to take the fall for some other guy’s mess.
