The slightly earlier than usual game brought a smaller crowd, and Jace was thankful for it. He’d sat up with Noah until nearly five, and hadn’t been awake all that long as a result. It wasn’t Noah’s fault at all. If anything, Jace felt guilty for leaning on him. He’d needed to be around someone else last night. He needed to be reminded that pain and illness weren’t the only things in life.
Noah had given him that without a word of complaint. Jace knew he was often hard on himself, and couldn’t see how much of a force for good he was in Jace’s life. He’d have to come up with a way to help Noah see how much he meant to him.
Right now, though, he needed to focus on the game.
“Okay team,” Coach Williams called. “So far, we’ve got enough points to make it to nationals, but we need to keep that lead. So you take the play when you can see it, and you don’t get precious about hurting yourselves on me, or I’ll come out there myself.”
Jace chuckled. Coach Williams never gave them a break, which was what made her so good for them. Between her and Noah—who wouldn’t let anyone make excuses about why they weren’t playing their best game—no one ever got the chance to slack off. Slacking off happened when they weren’t mid-game. That was why they’d needed to keep Noah.
“And you listen to what Noah has to say out there, okay? You voted for him—and even if you didn’t, the rest of your team did. We all do better when we work together.”
There was a general nod and murmur of agreement, and then everyone went back to checking their equipment. Jace hoped people would take that advice. On the days where they really worked together as a team, they did better. Derby wasn’t the kind of sport where one person could accomplish anything on their own. It all came down to teamwork, and Jace was afraid that they’d lost sight of that a little.
Brian had said to him after training that everyone had seen Rafe push Noah too hard, but Jace hadn’t been sure what to think. He knew Noah hadn’t run into him on purpose, but accidentsdidhappen. All the same, he hadn’t seen it. Maybe the rest of the team had seen something he hadn’t.
“I totally voted for you, by the way,” Jace said. He had done, when they’d been electing a new captain at the beginning of the season. Noah had always been the best bet for the team.
Noah snorted, looking down at his laces and giving them one last tug to tighten them. “I voted for you.”
Jace grinned. “True love.”
“I just figured that if it wasn’t going to be me, it might as well be you.” Noah shrugged. “I like you.”
“Youloveme,” Jace insisted.
“Fine, I love you,” Noah agreed. Though he was obviously trying to seem annoyed, a smile tugged at the edge of his lips. “You would have made a good captain.”
“You make a better one. But I think the guys want to hear a speech.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “No.”
“Too late.” Jace shoved Noah’s shoulder gently, encouraging him to stand up. “Speech,” he said. Someone else heard him, and repeated it.
Soon, the whole team had taken it up as a chant. Speech, speech, speech.
Noah glared at Jace, but he wouldn’t stay mad. Jace was encouraging him, and they both knew it.
“Okay, okay,” Noah stood. “Firstly, I am so proud of you guys. And we are totally going to pull this off. We’ve earned our place so far, and now isn’t the time to back down. I stayed here instead of going home because I believe in this team and I want to see us win. I want every single one of you to show me that I made the right decision. Are we good?”
There was a general murmur of agreement among the team, which Jace joined in with. Noah would take them where they wanted to go.
That could only happen if people trusted him, though. Whatever Jace could do to help with that, he meant to do it. He’dmarriedthe guy so they’d have a hope in hell of making nationals next year. He was all-in on this.
“So how do we win this one?” One of the newer guys who’d just come up to the team this season asked. Jace hadn’t had time to learn his real name yet, but they called him The Grey Hulk. He was a big dude with greying hair, so Jace had never wondered why that was. Jace—and most of the team—had taken to calling him Grey.
“We play better and harder than the other guys,” Noah said. “Derby is not a complicated sport. Strategy happens on the fly, and we play to our strengths and their weaknesses. Right now, our strength is that we have big blockers, so we can afford to play defensively and wait for our moments. But if you see another opportunity and you can communicate it to whoever you need to pull it off, go for it.”
Noah paused for a moment. “I did not actually mean to make a speech about that. Just go out and play, okay? When in doubt, run interference. Maybe we can annoy them into submission.”
A laugh rippled through the team. Noah was trying to hide that he knew exactly how to play this game, and that he had a strategy all planned out. Jace understood why—he didn’t want to look like a dictator, he wanted people to follow him because the things he was saying made sense.
Or maybe he lacked confidence in his abilities. Jace hoped it was the first option, because Noah had no reason to doubt himself. He was amazing.
The officials started making noises about getting onto the track, so Jace stood and put his mouth guard in. Despite the fact that it wouldn’t have saved him from the split lip he’d gotten last week, he was still being extra careful about it.
In the interest of really selling that he and Noah were married, Jace smacked Noah’s ass on the way past him. Not hard enough to hurt, or even really sting, but just enough to make him jump. He laughed all the way to the starting line, until Noah got into position.
“You’ll pay for that later,” Noah said. Jace knew he would, but paying for it was half the fun. His and Noah’s relationship was at least twenty percent friendly teasing. He wouldn’t have had it any other way.
