Page 22 of No Place Like Home

“I should get going,” I said as I stepped toward my car.

“Yeah…it was nice to see you again,Jessa.”

I ignored the way he said my name. It was unfamiliar coming from him, but I didn’t hate it. “You too, Quincy.”

“You live far from here?”

I shook my head. “No, I live in Jake’s old house. Blake and I share it.”

“Do you live together?”

I shrugged. Blake and I had been roomies since college.

“When he’s home. He works as an engineer for the factory's company, and they send him all over the States to upgrade the machinery or fix it.”

There was a pregnant pause, but it wasn’t awkward. Both of us were trying to say something other than goodbye. I’d known Quincy my whole life, but this was one of the first times I’d talked openly with him. Other than because we were working together and were forced on each other.

“Bye, Quincy.” I started to walk away, but my hand got pulled back into his embrace.

“Bye, Jessa.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

I felt that feather-light kiss all the way to my tippy-toes. When we pulled away before he got in his car, I don’t know why I admitted to him what my therapist had only guessed, but something in me felt safe.

“I haven’t cried since before my mother's death.”

He didn’t know what it meant to me to let go, but I think he knew when his head tipped just a fraction, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

The next day, any hope of running into Quincy again left when I heard the news that he had to fly out. I knew it had only been one day, and we weren’t really friends, but I grieved the absence of his friendship.

CHAPTERSIX

26 years old

My muscles werein a world of pain, but my focus was sharper than ever. No pain, no gain, right? I hadn’t gotten to where I was by sitting on my ass.

Since I could remember, I’d been busting myself to do better. My only competition was myself. No one pushed me harder than I did. It wasn’t always a good thing, because I wasn’t the best judge when it came to my game.

Three seconds before the whistle blew, I threw the ball I held in my hand with an intense amount of force before the wind was being taken out of me and I was sacked. I had loved playing ball since I could remember. It was the one thing that made me happy. People didn’t think much about the consequences that came with playing pro. Sure, it was fucking rad to do shit most people only dreamed about. The bigger the reward, the higher the risk. And one of the dangers in this game was falling. Not much scared me, but being sacked was close. The unknown of falling, the way my heart stopped for a second, holding my breath and praying that I landed the right way and not some fucked-up way that could injure me. No one ever thought about the pressure of the unknown when their game was strong.

“You okay, man?” Tony was already giving me a helping hand after he’d knocked the wind out of me.

“Jesus, man. You’re like a fucking tank,” I muttered.

“We both know Caleb is bigger, and he’s gunning for you,” Tony replied.

I didn’t bother with a reply. It was a fact that Caleb hated my guts. Unlucky for me, he was a defensive end for the Packers. In my defense, I might have fucked his girlfriend after a game, but that bitch said she was single.

“He can try.” I took off my shirt to wipe the sweat off my face.

Being number one in the country, I wasn’t cocky; I was confident. People liked to talk about talent as if that alone had gotten me to where I was today. Yeah, having talent helped, but everything else…that was all me. Talent didn’t wake my ass up at the crack of dawn or make me eat healthy. Talent didn’t push my mind so it could force my body into becoming a well-oiled machine in return. All of that was me. The dedication and love I had for the sport. So yeah, maybe I lied and I was cocky with my game, but I worked hard as fuck, so I deserved to be.

“Hardwell!” Coach yelled.

I clapped Tony on the back and left him on the field.

“Your head on straight?” my coach asked as soon as I was within earshot.

He asked me the same thing before every game. Football was a team effort, but some of us held the team's weight on our shoulders. Coach knew that, and so did I.

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