Page 17 of Out of Bounds

“Okay, then. Last drill for this morning, wall ball. Hop on up—” He extends his hand, helping me up, and I follow him over to the concession stand to the left of the bleachers.

“Stand there, good—” He points to a red taped line about five feet away from the wall, then tosses me the ball. “Throw the ball at the wall and catch it. Sounds easy, but we both know it’s not. Start head-on, that’s right?—”

I hammer the football at the wall and it bounces off tothe left at an angle. I race to catch it, barely getting there in time.

“Good hustle. Again…”

I follow his instructions, throwing the ball at the wall at all different angles and speeds, darting to catch the football before it falls to the ground. By the time Coach calls the drill, sweat’s pouring down my face, dripping into my eyes. My shirt clings to my soaked back and I’m pretty sure my antiperspirant failed me.

“Good practice today, son. You can hit the weight room later. Tomorrow’s off, then Monday afternoon we’ll have the boys out here. You hit the weights in the morning, then we’ll run routes in the afternoons.”

“Thanks, Coach. I appreciate it.”

Coach pauses, waiting for me to make eye contact. “Crawford, you looked fine out there. We’ll get you back up to speed in a month or two, tops. You’ve got this.” He pats my arm and a tiny fragment of anxiety chips away.

If Coach believes in me, that’s saying a lot. He’s not one to mince words or blow smoke up people’s asses just to make them feel good. There’s a reason he’s the winningest high school football coach in the entire state of Georgia.

“Hey, Daddy, Cam.” Sloane skips down the bleachers, her dark ponytail swishing behind her. She leans over and hugs her dad, shooting me a wide, pretty smile.

“Hey, baby. Thought you’d still be asleep.” Coach picks up his clipboard, tucking the stopwatch back into his pocket.

“No. I’m so used to getting up early. Habit, you know?”

“Always good to seize the day. Listen, I need to swing by Mack’s house and work on a few last-minute summerroster changes. You think you could give Cam a ride home?”

“Sure,” Sloane says. “No problem.”

“Thanks, baby. Good practice today, Cam. Go eat some breakfast, refuel.”

“Will do. Thanks, Coach.”

Coach shoots us a two-finger salute, then heads out to the parking lot, whistling.

“You ready?” Sloane tips her head, adjusting her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.

“Sure.”

We walk out to the almost-empty parking lot together at an easy pace, Sloane keeping step with me even though she’s much shorter.

“You looked good out there,” she says, sliding into the driver’s seat of her Volvo. “Sorry, let me move that stuff.”

Reaching across the console into the passenger seat, she grabs a thick stack of files, chucking them unceremoniously into the cluttered backseat.

“You probably need to adjust the seat.”

I kick a few empty water bottles out of the way and fold myself down into the leather, jamming the plastic button on the side of the seat to move it back. The motor groans as it slides backward, relieving the pressure in my knees.

“Wow, I didn’t realize the seat went back that far.” Sloane peers over the rim of her sunglasses, one brow arched high on her forehead. “Who knew?”

She presses the start button and the engine roars to life. Gunning out of the parking spot, she does a quick one-eighty, heading back toward the house. Instinctively, my fingers grip the door handle as she flies down the residentialstreet. At this rate, we’re going to be home in half the time it took to get here.

“You always drive this fast?” I ask, glancing over at her. Her small hands grip the wheel and at least she’s staring straight ahead and not fiddling with the radio or something.

“You think this is fast?” She cuts her eyes at me for a quick second before turning back to the road.

“Yeah, for Thunder Creek. Maybe not in Chicago.”

“I’ll slow down for you, how about that?” Her voice is light and teasing, the mood between us easy. I always appreciated that about her. Where other girls made things tense and weird, with Sloane I could always just be me.

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