Kevin sucked the back of his teeth, shaking his head as he re-joined the other guys still practicing.
“Mind distracting him for a minute?” Kyle asked. “Think he needs a friend.”
“Of course.” I smiled, glad to have some sort of distraction myself. When I leaned over Silas’s head and moved his arm, he cracked one eye open.
“It’s a sprain,” Silas repeated in a lower voice. “That dick thinks he’s got one up on me because of a common injury.”
“I thought we liked Kevin now? But I see we’re back to referring to him as a dick.” I raised a brow and glanced over at the usual crew. Kai was currently in a circle with David, Kevin, and Dakota. The four looked like they were working through a play as Kai mimed throwing a pass. Dakota fake tackled David, pressing his shoulder against the guy’s stomach and pushing him back. When the two pulled apart, Dakota’s gaze found mine. He offered me a quick, subtle wink and mouthed, “All good?”
I smiled back and nodded. He turned back to the guys before they noticed the exchange. No one knew about us yet. We hadn’t found the right time to tell people because nothing felt right. Not during practice, or family breakfast, or late-night workout sessions.
Dakota wanted to tell my dad first by meeting with him in his school office. I convinced him to hold off with the excuse of them needing to focus on the upcoming game.
In actuality, I wanted to figure out this Axe stuff first. I’d search for information online but came up with nothing. Lawrence didn’t come all that way to tell a lie so why wasn’t anyone talking about it online?
“You good?” Silas asked, bringing me back to the now.
“Perfect,” I said, still sounding a bit distant even to my ears.
“Because you’re the one who’s supposed to be comforting me right—shit, Kyle,” Silas cursed when Kyle removed the ice pack and tried to readjust Silas’s leg.
“Sprain, huh?” Kyle shook his head.
Silas’s face went red from the pain. He spoke through it in a strained voice, “Yeah, just tape me up, alright?”
“Ssh.” I patted Silas’s head. His floppy hair felt drenched in sweat so I pulled back, wiping my hand on my jeans. “Relax, okay? Let’s talk about something.”
“I’m relaxed—Damn it, do you have to pull on it like that?” Silas frowned at Kyle.
The poor guy looked sorry and shrugged. “I barely touched you, Silas. This isn’t looking good.”
“Christ,” Silas sniffed and wiped his hands over his face.
“Hey, come on, talk to me about this next game. Who are we up against?”
Silas’s hands fell from his face and his eyes found mine. “You don’t know?”
“I haven’t looked at the calendar in a while,” I admitted with a one-shoulder shrug.
“Amber U,” he said, careful like he was talking to a scared animal.
I took a breath. “Home game for us?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “You okay?”
“Peachy keen,” I said. “There are bigger things to worry about outside of what happened there. There are bigger things than what is happening here too.”
Silas studied me; eyes wide with shock. “Wow, that’s mature of you.”
“I’m determined to keep my sights on a brighter future.”
I straightened my back and did my best not to glance over at Dakota when I said it. But my eyes went there anyway. Dakota was doing a running drill now. My brother stood halfway across the field as Dakota dodged one of the linebackers. He moved with impressive speed to catch the ball. The pass was near flawless, but the catch looked perfect. I’d watched enough games in my lifetime to know Dakota’s skill was a perfect combination of raw talent and hard work. He didn’t want it, but he’d get a spot on a good NFL team. After a few years, he’d probably even be a permanent starter.
“You’re not good at hiding it if that was your attempt,” Silas said.
I glanced back at him. “I know.”
He laughed. “Then why are you even trying?”
