Page 31 of How to Score Off Field

“You were going to say something, so say it. What did you mean when you said you weren’t allowed to think for yourself?”

“You knew my dad.”

Four words.

Small words that pack a punch.

I nod slowly.

I did know of his dad but hadn’t ever met the man in person. If I had, I’d probably have wet my shorts. He was a shrewd asshole of a guy, according to Grady, who spent the most time at the Colter household.

“I don’t want to disrespect his spirit by speaking ill of him, but…” He shrugs. “My dad wanted us to play ball. So we played ball, end of story. He wasn’t even around much, but if he caught wind that we were doin’ something else with our time?” He whistles low. “There was hell to pay.”

You know. You see people like Drew Colter…and his brothers playing the same sport. And you never wonder what it’s like behind closed doors. All you see are four good-looking (like, seriously good-looking) brothers who grew up in a wealthy family with a famous father and a beautiful mother—and you never stop to think about the emotional toll the pressure may have put on them.

All of them.

Imagine not having a choice.

Weallhave choices, of course—but imagine thinking you didn’t. What must that be like?

“I’m sorry.”

He shakes it off with that pleasant, handsome grin. “Don’t you worry your pretty head. Everything worked out.”

I’m still stuck in one place, frozen like a statue. “But…”

He cocks his head to the side, waiting for my next words.

“Do you even want to play football?”

A second goes by.

Then another, then twenty.

“Sure.”

That’s not really an answer—not actually—especially not when it took him so long to respond to the question. But I’m only his best friend’s little sister. We are not friends in the literal sense, and I am not his confidant. Who am I to pry into his personal business?

His response makes me sad.

I smile, though.

Then I bite my bottom lip and set to sinking this ball.

CHAPTER11

DREW

MY DATING LIFE CAN BE SUMMED UP IN ONE SENTENCE: WELL. THAT DIDN’T FUCKING GO AS PLANNED.

“Do you even want to play?”

I hesitated.

“Sure.”

Now why did I go and say a thing like that?

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