Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
It was my father we still needed to be wary of.
“You two should call it,” Nathan said when I covered a yawn. “You’ve still got a bit of a drive back to campus, and traffic is always a nightmare heading into the city no matter what time it is.”
Holden nodded, standing and helping Nathan clear glasses. “Yeah, Coach has us practicing early tomorrow. He wants us all to get some rest tomorrow night before the big announcement Sunday.”
“We already booked our flights and hotel,” Kevin said.
Holden paused. “We don’t even know if we made it yet.”
“Oh, we know just fine,” Nathan answered for him, then he and Holden disappeared into the kitchen as Kevin turned toward me.
“How’s your dad hanging on with all the bowl madness up in the air?”
I sighed, rubbing my palms down the length of my jeans. “He’s always a little crazy during the season, but I can tell he’s even more wound up than usual. He gets more controlling in these situations, kind of like a helicopter parent, but with the players instead of me.”
Kevin smiled.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen much of him outside of when our paths cross at the stadium.”
“What about Thanksgiving?”
I cleared my throat. Not even Holden knew that I’d spent that holiday alone. I told him I was with Mary and her family, but it had just been me, a bowl packed with marijuana, and a Christmas movie marathon.
“Uh, he flew down to see my mom.”
“Oh,” Kevin said. “I didn’t realize she wasn’t here with you.”
“She loves our home in Alabama too much to ever leave. She’s got all her church friends there, and her yoga groupies.” I smiled, but it fell a bit too quickly.
“You miss her?”
I shrugged. “I missed her long before I didn’t live under the same roof as her anymore.”
Kevin frowned, and when I saw his expression, I realized I’d said too much without giving context.
“We don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“Ah,” he said, and then he leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees. “I know that feeling well.”
I nodded, staring at where my hands were folded in my lap.
“We don’t get to choose our parents, and sometimes, I think we forget they’re humans,” Kevin said. He looked a lot like Holden in that moment — same dimples, same sharp jaw line and bright green eyes. It made me wonder if he and Holden’s dad had been close to twins when they were younger. “But they have complex emotions just like we do, and sometimes, when they’re working through them, we’re collateral damage.”
“I think she’s worked through her emotions just fine,” I said. “And decided in that process that she’d rather forget she has a screw-up daughter.”
“You’re not a screw up,” he said quickly. “I know that just from one night with you, and my bet is that she knows it, too. Give her time. Even if you’ve given her a lot of it already. She just might surprise you.”
I breathed a laugh through my nose. “And if she doesn’t?”
“Ah, well, then you do what I did,” he said, sitting back and spreading both arms over the back of the love seat. His hands gestured to his surroundings as he did. “You make a family of your own.”
Holden
“Goddamnit, Moore!”
Coach blew the whistle before Leo could even finish the route and run the ball in for a touchdown — which is exactly what he would have done. I ground my teeth before turning to face him.
“Are you trying to piss me off today?”
“I don’t have to try very hard, do I?”
His head snapped back. “Excuse me?”
I bit my lip against the urge to push him more, to fight. He was being more of an asshole than usual, and I knew it was because it was the last practice we had before bowl reveal. He was wound tight, we all were, and tensions were high.
He glared at me for a long while, the rest of the team hanging their hands on their hips and catching their breath. I stared right back, waiting.
“I called a flat. Kyle was your man.”
“And defense was in the perfect position to sack me if I didn’t get the ball out quickly, so I called a slant instead and found Leo.”
“You don’t get to change my direction because of a hypothetical sack.”
“It wasn’t hypothetical. It would have happened. And this is my job as quarterback, to see everything and make changes when needed.”
Coach Lee’s jaw was tight, and every player on the field was tense where they watched us throw down.
“Run,” he said, and then he turned his back and walked to the sideline, knowing without having to watch that we would all do exactly as he commanded.
We ran until we nearly puked.
The rest of practice was brutal, and I was exhausted by the time I dragged my ass up my stairs to my room back at the Pit. A lot of the team was planning on going out, on closing down the bars and sleeping in until the bowl games were announced tomorrow at noon. My roommates were already in the shower. I had no plans of joining them, though. My only plans consisted of me and my bed.