Page 96 of Ready to Score

Vonte, look at me.” Jade squatted so she could be eye level with the boy.

His helmet was on the bench next to him, and his face dripped with sweat. She didn’t need to take in the way his shoulders slumped or the stains coloring his uniform to know that he was knock-down, drag-out tired. But when he caught her eye, there wasn’t even a glimpse of the same exhaustion his body showed. They were up against West Beaufort again, this time fighting for the title of season champions.

“I’m good, Coach,” he nearly growled around his mouth guard. “I’m good to go back.”

“You’re looking tired, boy.”

“Coach, I’m telling you I’m good. I’ve got this.”

Jade spared a glance at where Sam Coleman, their best JV linebacker, was waiting in the wings to be put in the game. The kid was good, but he was a newly recruited freshman and not nearly as strong with his tackles as he could be. They were working on it. Jade had faith that he would get it. She just wasn’t sure if now was the time to test that theory.

“We’ve got twelve seconds left on the clock and we’re up by six. We could take this whole thing, but not if they make it to the line.Not if we let them past. You’re telling me right now that you have the energy to make sure that doesn’t happen?”

Vonte’s breaths were still coming in deep. His chest pads moved with every single one. There was doubt in his eyes when he caught hers again. “I… I don’t know.”

“Tell me how you’re really feeling, then.”

“Tired,” he said. “My legs are burning, and my lungs are on fire. I feel like I can keep pushing, but I… I don’t know how hard I can actually go.”

Jade swallowed, her heart thudding even harder in her chest than it had been the past few hours. “Jaxon,” she called out, and within seconds, the lithe red-haired kicker was at her side.

“What do you need, Coach?”

“Run over and find Coach Lim for me. Tell her I need her over here immediately.”

It was a request that felt incredibly familiar, and Jade made a quick note in her mind to look into getting some walkie-talkies. That was a thing that could be handled for next season, though, not while they were trying to finish this current one as champions.

Lim and Jaxon were jogging toward her within moments. Franny’s cheeks were flushed from the cold, and her fingers were clutched tightly around her clipboard. Franny was her offensive line coach, but Sam had grown close to Alonzo Holton, which meant that he’d grown close to Franny as well. He might have been on defense, but she trusted Lim’s opinion on the matter—whatever it was.

“We’ve got one minute left on this time-out,” Lim reminded her. “We’ve got to get them back out there.”

Jade rose out of her squat to speak more closely with her. “What do you think of Sam Coleman?”

The boy in question was sitting on the bench, biting at his lipsand shaking his knee like there was something trapped under his pants. She watched Lim look him over.

“He’s a solid lineman. Vonte’s been helping him a lot this season. Every time we’ve put him in to sub, he’s done a good job.”

“I’ve watched him in practice, though he misses a lot of his tackles.”

Lim nodded. “This is his first year as a linebacker. He needs to have his fundamentals drilled into him, but he can do it.”

“We don’t have time to waste, not even a second.”

Lim looked past her, expression pensive. “Sam, come over here a second.”

“What? Coach?” Vonte’s tone was alarmed, but when he tried to stand up, he hardly made it a few inches off the bench before his own weight forced him back down.

“Yes, Coach Lim?” Sam was incredibly soft-spoken, and his voice cracked on every word. He was big for his age, but Jade didn’t know if what she saw in his eyes was determination or apprehension.

“How are you feeling tonight?” Lim asked him.

“I’m feeling great.”

“Do you think you can handle subbing in for Vonte?”

The kid swallowed hard. “There’s only twelve seconds, right? I can handle that.”

“That’s going to be the longest twelve seconds of your life,” Lim said, beating Jade to the punch. “They’ve got the ball, so we’re going heavy. A four-three defense, something classic, no tricks. But we need you tight out there. We need you on your game and ready. And when it’s time for you to take some of them to the ground, I need you to do it right. I need to be able to trust that you can get out there and make it happen. Can I?”

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