I just needed to be free to find space.
They blocked my run at every turn. Jett tried to change to the running game, but we had no Gray ready to pass the ball to. The wide receivers were shut down almost as much as I was, and we were seven points behind. Glancing at the clock, I saw we had only one minute thirty left. I just needed to hit one touchdown, and we were in overtime.
’Bama’s forty-nine was looking at me. I could feel his eyes. He’d shut me down on the last three plays. I needed to cut loose. I heard Jett shout the play, and I moved my foot slightly to the left. Forty-nine was too busy eye fucking me to notice.
I heard the snap, and I took off like I was at the races. My legs pumped hard as I ran, swerving the oncoming body that was looking to take me down. My head dipped a little as I willedmore speed into my feet. With practiced movement, I turned my head and stretched up and caught that cowhide as I ran.
I was at the thirty, and a field goal wasn’t enough; it was end zone or go home.
Runkept chanting through my head. Turning my head, I saw the corner coming for me, and I knew he was going to catch me.Shit. I needed to change direction; only Gray could do this well. Losing speed, I swerved and ducked a body as it came flying toward me.
Run.
Keep running.
You have this.
The hit took me from behind. I was going down; no matter how strong my will was, I wasn’t staying upright. I extended my arm, and the hand clutching the ball loosened.
No. Fuck no.
I hadn’t hit the ground yet, and I saw it in slow motion. The ball came loose, and the safety for ’Bama caught it.
And no one caught him.
As I landed hard on the turf, I heard the screams from the home crowd, and my eyes closed in despair. The fuckers had the ball, and there was no time left.
Fuck.
Chapter 13: Mia
I looked at Quinn and Ava as I sat on the couch, my legs curled under me. Both were on their feet. Ava had her hands behind her head, her eyes closed, with her head tilted back to the ceiling. Quinn had both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide as they watched the Alabama players celebrating.
Looking between the two of them and the TV, I wasn’t entirely sure why the result was so bad. They lost — I mean, they had a fifty-fifty chance of winning, and today just wasn’t their day. However, with the way Ava and Quinn were reacting, I got the impression something worse had happened.
I watched the cameras zoom in on Ash as he got to his feet and pulled his helmet off. I lurched forward slightly in my seat. He looked . . .devastated.
Wetting my lips, I looked him over as number eight approached him, and then I saw Jett put his arm around his cousin. Ash dropped his head onto his cousin’s shoulder, and the two of them walked off the field.
“Kentucky can still lose,” Ava said as she focused on the TV.
Quinn was nodding, but her phone was in her hand. “Yeah, they could.” They shared a look, and Ava tried a smile, which to me looked weak, but Quinn was heartened by it. “Yeah, and there’s still a game to play.”
“When do they play?” I asked from my seat.
“Now.” Ava dropped onto the couch and kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.
“Are they on TV too?”
“No, I’m keeping up-to-date on the sports app,” Quinn told me absently as she began to pace. “He’s going to blame himself,” she said softly as she walked back and forth.
“Ash?” She was making me seasick with all the pacing. “Well, he did kind of drop it.”
Both of them stared at me like I had told them the sky wasn’t blue. “If you want to show Ash support, I suggest you don’t mention that,” Quinn said sharply.
Now that I knew what drunk Mia had said to her last night, I was slightly uncomfortable around her. I’d wanted to apologize, but when I saw the text messages between Ash and me, well . . . all other things had ceased to matter, and all I could think about was the fact that I had to see him again and, worse than that, live with him.
I’d never been so bold in my entire life. I didn’t participate in dirty talk, and reading that thread from last night, I wasn’t sure I recognized the drunk Mia I had obviously been.
