Page 21 of Caged in Flames

Damn it.

Charlie's grin immediately slips away. "Fuck." He barely has a chance to look around before we see his mom dragging Richard over.

"Charles!" She greets him with an air kiss that's inches away from his cheek. To any other person, it might seem like she’s filled with pride. We know that isn’t true though.

"Mother. Richard. I didn't realize you'd be here."

"Yes, well, we couldn't miss the first game of your senior year." Regina doesn't even look at her son. Instead, she's looking at all the people around us. Ensuring they see her being a concerned parent. She’s a nutcase.

"Great game, boys." Richard's voice is short, but not void of warmth.

This gets his wife's attention. "You say that as if you didn't spend the entire time looking everywhere but the field for that brat." She practically snarls the words, even raising her voice just a bit. She corrects her tone fast enough, not wanting to draw negative attention. “I’m sure you have something to say to Charles, though. Both of my football boys.”

Richard isn’t the only one that rolls his eyes. "The pass you made in the third quarter was well done, but a little weaker than normal. Work on that, son."

I wish my dad gave enough fucks to show up to a game and offer advice. As far as he is concerned, the fact that I like to play with balls off the field outweighs any positive attributes I might have.

Charlie nods at him. He'll never admit it, but even though Richard often addresses all of us as "son", it makes him happy. "Yes, sir."

Jude speaks up. "Do you mean that Nix was here, Mrs. Westbrook?" Of course, he isn’t going to let that go. Charlie’s eyes light up at her name, but he hides his interest quickly.

She stares at him for all of two seconds, blinking excessively, before spotting someone in the crowd to schmooze. She walks away without ever answering him.

"Who is Nix?" Richard asks.

The three of us look at each other, but I take this one. "We mean Diana. She goes by Phoenix now. Changed her name."

"She's Phoenix Carter now." Jude adds with a little bit of snark in his tone. No doubt hinting blame towards Richard for some of her pain.

Richard's eyes look down to the ground. "Well, I guess that suits her, huh? Let me go find your mother so we can get going. See you soon, Charlie. Boys." He acknowledges Jude and I before walking over to Regina the Giant Cunt.

We watch him walk away before heading to the locker room, following him over to the corner area that we claimed back in Freshman year. Charlie and I throw our pads into our lockers and start stripping the sweaty gear off.

This has been our spot since the day Coach put our names on the roster. Mainly because fuck everyone else, but also because we need the privacy. Even boys can be gossiping little dicks, and the last thing we need is one of them getting a glimpse of Charlie’s back.

I shove the cleats off my feet, not bothering to untie the laces, and the tall sweaty socks follow. I throw those at Jude’s head.

"Think she saw him?" Jude asks as he dodges the socks.

Fuck. Did she? I tear the rest of my clothes off and stand there naked. Neither of them pays me any attention.

"I hope not, but something tells me she wasn't that lucky tonight." Charlie says as he tosses his jersey into his bag. He’s proud to wear Richard’s number. He’s never let the school staff touch it. Instead, he sends it out to be dry cleaned with care. "Whatever. Let's hit the showers. I'm ready to call it a night."

"Fine. But tomorrow, we party!" I tell them both with a stern voice as I head to the shower area. Letting the water wash away the pity I feel for a girl who doesn't want it.

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