I hadn’t seen any action at all, which—not gonna lie—truly bummed me out.On one third-down play early on in the first quarter, Patty had Danny wide-open for a touchdown, but he threw the ball short.Pretty sure I would have dropped it right into Danny’s hands, but I wasn’t in a position to make the call.Still, the halftime adjustments Coach outlined gave me some hope I might see some action in the second half.No way could I have seen the reality of how that action would play out.
Midway through the third quarter, Patty chose to scramble on a run-pass option play.After looking off the outside linebacker, who bit on the pass after Danny streaked by him, Patty made a mad dash for the hole that bit of subterfuge had created.From where I stood beside Coach Wiley, I couldn’t quite see what had happened other than it looked like the middle linebacker and the D-tackle had crashed the gap Patty thought he had.The referees raced to the pile of bodies on top of our QB, and a long, slow-motion minute later, the team trainers were gathered around Patterson.
One of the trainers sent a signal to the sidelines, and my stomach dropped to my knees.Coach Ellis ran out onto the field to join the staff gathered around Patty, while Coach Wiley turned to me.“Looks like you’re going in a bit sooner than we planned, son.Better toss some warm-up throws.”
Deliberately, I moved up the sideline away from where the team medics were working on my friend.Having experienced it myself, I knew how disheartening it would be for him to glance over and see me warming up.Though necessary, because we all knew the game would continue, I remembered how callous I’d thought it when my backup had been warming up when I was the one lying on the field hoping the injury wasn’t as serious as the horde of medical staff around me implied.
A couple of trainers slipped beneath his arms and hoisted Mick Patterson to his feet, but I saw where he held his left foot off the ground, the trainers acting as human crutches to help him off the turf.The ref signaled for play to resume, and I jogged out to the huddle with Coach Wiley’s instructions still buzzing in my ears.
“Patty managed some good yards, so they’ll be expecting me to hand you the ball,” I said to Tarvi.“Which is why I’ll fake that play to you while Mitch runs a skinny post to the left and Danny runs one to the right.Danny’s my first read.”
Callahan grinned.“I love this play.Hop in behind me, Tarvi.We’ll give Cash two more targets just for the hell of it.”
We broke the huddle and surprised the Idaho D-line with our flawless timing.All those times of playing pickup ball after lifting last spring meant the guys and I were on the same page with the cadence.I sent Tarvi in motion, which forced the middle linebacker to move with him.When I called hike, I faked the handoff, dropped back three steps, and grinned as Tarvi and Callahan broke into the secondary.
The backers bit on Tarvi, while the weak safety ran downhill toward Callahan.When the safety dropped out of position, Danny raced upfield, giving me a clear shot at him.Instead of the third down heroics my girl had demanded the other day, I zinged a sixty-yard strike at Danny on second down.He caught it in stride and took it to the house, putting us up 21-0 and sucking all the air out of Idaho’s balloon.I hoped Saylor was watching the game.
That play seemed to maintain morale on our side of the field even though we didn’t score again.The defense did their job, and we headed home with a 21-7 win, but no one was celebrating.We all knew it was bad luck to speculate, but we were all hoping for the best for Patterson—me most of all.
LeSean caught up with me in the locker room after we returned home in the wee hours of Sunday morning.“Looks like you got your wish.”
“As someone who lost my job to a backup after I got hurt, I’d never wish injury on another player.”After tossing my gear inside, I slammed my locker shut and leveled him with a glare.“I want to win my reps, not get them by default because the starter can’t play.You might want to keep that in mind, Call, because karma can be a bitch.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Saylor
“Wyatt, Callahan, Finn,and Patty were all in the same recruiting class,” Piper said over drinks the Thursday night before the Wildcats’ big rivalry game against the Golden Bears.“But Wyatt says the team is one hundred percent on board with Cash after his heroics since Patty’s injury.”She eyed me over the rim of her lemon drop martini.“He thinks with the way Cash has been throwing the ball, the pro scouts will be coming around for him again.”
My friend was fishing.After the way I’d called her, Chessly, and Jamaica out for falling for guys who had a real shot at the NFL—something that would necessarily impact my friends’ goals if their relationships remained on their current trajectories—I knew what she was truly after.What was my status with Cash?
Tipping back the lovely chocolate stout I’d been nursing, I pretended to savor a sip that had soured in my mouth.“Cash is focused on doing his best to keep the ship headed in the right direction after Patty’s surgery.”
“Uh-huh.So what happens if Cash decides to go for it and put himself in a position to play at the next level?”
I shrugged.“He attends Pro Day with the rest of his teammates who are looking to play up and hope some NFL scouts like what they see.”Working the edge of the label on my beer bottle, I managed to tear off the bottom half.“Cash and I are having a fling.It’s nothing like what’s going on with the rest of you lovesick saps.”
“Riiight.”Piper laughed.“Those aren’t your eyes glued to Cash no matter where he is on the field—or at a party following a game.”She put her hand up when I started to protest.“Those aren’t his hands that can’t stay off you whenever the two of you are together.”
Bubbling out a sigh, I said, “For the last time, Pipes, I’m not serious about him.Besides, even if he doesn’t pursue the NFL, he’s headed to med school in the fall, which means our little interlude ends at graduation.It’s that simple.”I tipped back a long pull from my beer.“How are things with you and Pippa?Little sis still learning how to take care of her own business?”
Piper shot me a look from beneath her brows—one that said she knew a deflection when she heard one.Yet she said, “It’s going to take time, but Pippa and I are getting there.We’ll probably never be as close as we once were, but maybe our relationship will be better for it.We can deal with each other as equals rather than as big sister and little sister.”
A shadow fell over the table, and when I looked up, there stood Cash and Bax.I shot my friend a questioning look, at which she merely shrugged and scooted over in the booth to make room for her boyfriend.
A throat clearing from my left drew my attention away from the kissy-face going on across the table from me, and I slid over so Cash could sit beside me.
“Aren’t you supposed to be doing team-building or something tonight?”I asked.
“We did.Then Piper texted Bax where you two were, and here we are.”Leaning in, he said into my ear, “I texted you too, but you didn’t text back.”
Holding up my purse, I said, “Sorry.I put my phone away when I picked Piper up and didn’t hear the alert.”
“Good thing we have good friends then, yeah?”
I could feel his smile on my skin right before he brushed a kiss over my temple.Much as I didn’t want to respond to him, especially after the conversation I’d been having with my friend, I couldn’t seem to keep myself from melting into his warmth.
Bax waved the server over.“Another round for the ladies.I’ll have an IPA.What are you having, Cash Money?”
