“I know.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I did regret saying that to her. “She knows what I’m like when I’m pissed. Maybe even more than Jett.”
“You think you two will work?”
“Fuck knows,” I told him honestly.
“I don’t think I can take it,” he admitted, “seeing you two together.”
I cast a quick glance at him and ran my tongue over my teeth. “If you make me choose,” I started.
“You choose her, I get it,” he cut me off.
Stopping, I stared up at the sky and the cloud cover. “I’m sorry.” I turned to look at him. “This is a shit way to find out, it’s a shit situation, and I know a thousand times I made the wrong choices, but the choices I made were for her. She’s mine, she wasalwaysmine.”
“I’m going to lie to myself and pretend that she didn’t get the memo either,” Ash said with a rueful laugh. “My ego needs to believe the lie.”
“She’s ruthless, I agree, but she isn’t callous,” I told him quietly. “She didn’t play you.”
“I hope not.” Ash resumed walking, and I followed him. My desire to hit something was dissipating until I realized he wasn’t walking tothe house.
“Where we headed?”
“Going to get Izzy to check your hand, so when we tell Coach tomorrow that you fucked up royally, he won’t kill you if he knows first how long it will take to heal.”
I nodded in agreement as I jogged to catch up with him. “That’s actually a great idea.”
“You’re a shit cousin and a bad friend, but you’re still the best running back on the team.”
I laughed out loud at his honesty. “Still family too, cousin,” I said as I nudged him with my shoulder.
“Yeah, well, you’re a dick. I hope you’re out all season.”
“No, you don’t.”
He grunted and then nudged me back a little more forcefully than he needed. “No, I don’t, but I sure as hell hope it hurts like a motherfucker.”
“If it’s any consolation, it really does.”
Ash grinned maliciously as we headed to the team’s doctor’s house, and I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope that we would be okay.
* * *
“Tell me again how you messed your hand up worse when you haven’t been doing anything?” Coach Bowers glared at me, and I met his stare.
“It must have been worse than we originally thought,” I lied blithely.
“You’re out for the rest of the regular season.”
That did suck, and I was pissed, but I couldn’t do anything about it. “Yeah, Izzy said that.”
“You punch the center for the basketball team?” Coach asked me shrewdly.
“What? Denzel? Nah, why would I?”Who the hell told him?
Coach looked at me for a long moment, and I didn’t give him anything. “Out.” I didn’t argue but stood and headed to the door. “Santo,” he called, and I turned back. “You do nothing for these last few weeks. I am not ruling you out for the conference championship. If we get there. You’re not going on the reserved list. You hear me? You fuck this up, boy, and I will gut you myself.”
“And if we don’t make it to the conference championship?” I asked.
“Then your brother and your teammates know who to blame.”
