Page 55 of Out of Bounds

"What?"

"It could’ve been better."

"This is the part where you thank me and admit I’m right."

Ryan made a noise at the back of his throat, squashing out the compliment. "It went Washington to Thau to Nolan, back to Thau, it could’ve been—"

"Motherfucker, I am trying to compliment you."

"It could’ve been better," Ryan reiterated in a firm voice. "We won the game. Practice is off tomorrow, but the team needs to talk about that for the recap."

I frowned. "Didn’t you just recap after the game? Why was I waiting in the parking lot for half an hour?"

"That’s the first recap. This’ll be a recap with footage."

His car pulled into the driveway of a two-story light blue house, one of those best ones that still counted as campus housing.

Football players walked up the street, all tugged by the lure of cold beer and sizzling barbecue. More and more cars pulled up to the sidewalk. Everybody waved at us. I couldn’t have named any of them if someone offered me money.

I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Is this after every game? Are we eating barbecue every week?"

"No, just this game." Ryan clicked the button on his keys, locking his car. "We knew it’d be easy."

"The cockiness rumors are unfounded, I see."

Taking a moment in front of the front door, he glanced down at me with a slow grin on his face. It was amazing how much a simple smile softened his features. It didn’t erase the hard lines, but it eased the cold sculpture into a warm painting. "You could say that."

June’s place was aNational Lampoonwriter’s wet dream. Football players lounged on seventies-style furniture, all laughing and joking together, cheerleaders crowded around the kitchen, arguing over an R&B album, and the outsiders to the college sports life weren’t dangling on the side. They were submerged in the culture. I was one of them.

"We have thirty minutes on the clock," Ryan reminded me. "We’ll take pictures and head back to the training center, my physiotherapist said he could work in an appointment today."

My eyes flickered up to him. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. He’s paid double on the weekends."

"But…you just had a game?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows at me and didn’t say anything. His reply was pretty obvious. Yes, it was over the top. Yes, it was necessary. Both things coexisted. I almost asked if the rest of the football players were filing out of the party in thirty minutes but there was no way.

The back screen slid open, and the barbecue welcomed us. It was the same scene as inside but with a few picnic tables. Kinglooked too funny in hisKiss the Cookapron, and a couple of football players dragged lawn chairs to make a circle.

Adam strode to our place on the grass. The girl with a high ponytail on his arm offered me a warm smile, but I couldn’t remember her in the slightest. Was she at practice? She couldn’t have been. The last one he brought was the girl with the bangles that got caught in a Marrs flag.

Adam grinned. "Are you two ready forHeadbanded?"

"The kids’ game?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, yeah." Adam’s grin widened. "It’s a way for June to show off how good King is at memorizing flashcards. I’m starting the betting pool. She’ll ask King what her birth time was, astrological sign, and last time somebody nicked her car."

"I’m sorry." Ryan gave his teammate a hard look. "Did Kassie ask you?"

22

Kassie

Headbanded (Kassie’s Version)

Adam switched the focus of the conversation to me and presented the girl on his arm. "Elsa, meet Ryan’s girlfriend. Kassie’s our illustrator-in-chief. Kassie meet Elsa, the next great geologist—"

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