Page 72 of Cruel Steps

His eyes flicked to Holden, and I instantly knew. Hope.

“Fuck.”

Blood pounded in my ears, followed by a high-pitched sound I was certain only dogs could hear. Running my fingers through my hair, I sat on the bench and tried to calm my mind.

But nothing worked.

The wariness I had before the game grew, and I knew something had happened. The urge to run to her overpowered me, and I was glad I’d sat down as the floor shifted beneath me. I didn’t want to stay here if she was hurt. But there was no way I could leave in the middle of a game without repercussions. Jumping up, I paced, my thoughts running faster than I could process them.

“What is it?” Holden asked, eyeing me before scowling at Cody. I snorted. We were too alike sometimes.

“I’m concerned about Pe—Mer,” Cody said.

Holden’s face hardened, and I stepped between them so our backup QB didn’t end up on IR during his first game.

“They’re friends. We have to trust Mer,” I whispered. Holden’s eyes searched mine, his jaw twitching, but he stepped down. I turned to stand beside him, our shoulders touching as we faced Cody.

“What do you know?”

Cody held up his hands in a surrender gesture. “Not much. Or, I know about,” he gestured at us, “but not why she’s MIA.”

“You insinuated Hope had something to do with this,” I added, peering at Holden from the corner of my eye.

“Um,” Cody stalled, his eyes bouncing between me and Holden.

“Spill it,” Holden demanded.

“You know Hope’s been bullying Mer since high school, right? Leaving roses and notes, making her think she has a secret admirer. Picking on her, recording things, and then sending them to everyone. That video on Monday, Hope was the one recording.”

Holden’s jaw hitched hard, to the point I worried about his molars, but he nodded, shocking me.

“Why doesn’t she say anything?” I asked.

Cody scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, because people believe you when you tell.” There was enough emotion behind his words that I knew it wasn’t all for Mer’s benefit.

“But Mer’s rich,” I said and then instantly regretted it. How dumb was I to think you didn’t have problems just because you had money?

“I’m not even going to acknowledge that,” Cody scoffed.

“After the game, I’ll confront Hope. I already planned to speak to her, anyway.”

My gut sank. I knew we couldn’t leave, but waiting for another two quarters felt like an eternity.

“Yeah, okay.” The wariness didn’t dissipate, but I shoved it out of the way. Get through the game.

The three of us lined up with the rest of the team and headed out of the tunnel. The Wolfettes and cheerleaders stood on the sides of the field, chanting together as we re-entered. I met Hope’s eyes and had to school my features. Her saccharine grin had my stomach churning, and only knowing she was Holden’s sister kept me from running over to her and demanding she tell me what she’d done.

Thankfully, our team was a well-oiled machine, and we easily fell into the gameplay. I blocked defenders and found openings to gain yards. I caught, I ran, and I blocked. Over and over. I didn’t think about anything but football, knowing the quicker I got through the game, the sooner I could see my girl.

Hopefully, she’s still your girl.

Finally, the game ended, and we won 45-10. One game under our belt, eleven more to go.

In some unspoken agreement, the three of us showered quickly, but Holden and I got pulled for the press conference, delaying our exit.

“That was some great playing out there today, Holden. How are you feeling this season?”

“I feel great. I’m in the best shape of my career and plan to play the best football possible.”

---