“Are we going to hide behind these cookies for a while?” Brogan murmurs.
“We aren’t hiding,” I say. “We’re avoiding. How bad do you need a peanut butter ball?”
“Peanut butter is a wonder food. It boosts your immune system—”
“There’s chocolate chips and old peanuts at home. Let’s run out the door in three, two, one—”
I grab his hand, and we dash for the exit.
“Life sure does want you to see him,” he murmurs.
I grimace. Fate is a tenacious bitch.
And sometimes when she doesn’t get what she wants, she tries again and again.
Chapter 9
TUCK
“Tuck, hey, you got a second?” Coach Hardy calls from his office as I walk out of the locker room. Barry Williams, the offensive coach, is with him. Shit.
I keep my face bland and my body loose even though my back aches from a hit I took at practice. “Sure.”
I take a seat on the leather couch in his office and stretch out my legs.
Williams sits in a club chair, not meeting my gaze, while Hardy sits on his desk, eagle eyes fixed on me. I stiffen. Lately his attention feels keener, sharper, when he looks at me.
“You’re having trouble on the field” is how he starts. “You’re missing cues. Hell, son, you look like a fucking amateur out there.”
I exhale. “We’re working on the plays, making them sharper.” I look at Williams, hoping he’ll jump in and take up for me, but he’s silent.
Hardy scoffs as he rubs his jaw. “Hmm, yeah, so why did we get beat by the worst team in the league this week? You seem ... preoccupied lately. I need your focus on the goddamn game.”
My hands clench, and I release them slowly. “It is, sir.”
It fucking isn’t.
I’m thinking about my mom.
About how my body won’t do the things it used to do.
“I’m taking heat for keeping you on the field, but I can’t do that anymore. The owner is breathing down my neck ...” He pauses as he holds my eyes. “Just wanted you to know that we’ve decided that River Tate will start against Kansas City. Look, you’re smart—you know this is the right thing for the team.”
It feels as if he’s slapped me. Sure, I’ve envisioned this very thing, but I never thought it would happen so soon. Being a starter is prestige; it’s confidence that the franchise believes in you. Panic makes my heart flutter, and I breathe in and out slowly. My words come out low and rough. “He’s not seen the experience I have.”
“We’ve got faith in him.”
Another slap. Harder. But no faith in me? My jaw flexes. “Is this permanent?”
Hardy gets off his desk and opens his door. “It’s a one-game-at-a-time thing. Show me you want to be the number one receiver on the team, and we’ll reassess.”
Fear ripples over me as I leave in a daze. If they’re benching me, then what will they do when my contract comes up at the end of the season? Is this the beginning of the end?
A few minutes later, Jasper and I head out of the stadium.
“What did Hardy want?” he asks.
“Tate is starting against Kansas City,” I say tightly as I open the trunk of my Ferrari. I throw my duffel in.