Page 54 of Final Down

“Sorry, Coach. But . . . weren’t you the captain here?”

I smirk, realizing I did sort of indirectly brag about myself. I waggle my head and roll my eyes, feeling the burn of embarrassment.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t just me. I wasn’t always the captain. I learned from some awesome upperclassmen, and there was a system in place where the seniors chose their successor before graduation. I’m not sure why that practice stopped, but maybe . . . we should bring it back.”

The girls look around the room at one another, a few of them lifting their brows. They seem excited by the idea. My gazesettles on Kyra and Lily, and the two of them turn to look at one another with what I think is a sense of unease crinkling their eyes. I didn’t think they wanted the captain roles, which is another reason I didn’t simply pick them for it. I can see their hesitation now.

“I’m not coronating you, guys. Relax,” I say, and Lily lets out a nervous laugh and shakes her head as she stares at the ground.

“No offense, Coach,” Kyra adds. “It’s not that I’m not ambitious. It’s just that I don’t think I’d enjoy being captain. And I have a lot on my plate with academics. And?—”

I hold up my hand, stopping her from giving herself anxiety.

“I understand. And I wouldn’t ask that of you, unless it’s something you want.”

They both nod and exhale through their noses, their smiles returning.

“But”—their smiles drop again; hopefully this proposal will be all right with them—“as the seniors, maybe it is fitting that you two get to decide who leads this team. It’s your last year, and you’ve both been at this for a long time. You know what works and what doesn’t. You have insights none of us have, not even me, because these are your peers. This is your last year in this uniform, and you deserve to help decide the direction. How does this program go from here?”

I can tell they’re taking this role in thoughtfully, both blinking as their gazes drift to the empty space. I give the rest of the squad a gut check, glancing at the other girls to see if I sense any jealousy or bitterness. Mostly, it’s smiles. A few girls look relieved. And all of this tells me that the person who should lead this squad isn’t in this room. But I can’t be the one to make that call.

“We’ll do it. Or, well, I’ll do it. Lily?” Kyra looks at her friend, and she nods.

“Great. I’d like you to think about it today, through practice. We’re working on basic skills all afternoon, and that will give you a chance to observe the others, or pull anyone aside and talk to them, or?—”

“We don’t need to do that, actually,” Lily says, biting her lip and lifting a brow at Kyra.

“No?”

My body floods with tingles, and I’m not sure whether I’m excited or terrified. I think both.

“Uh uh,” Kyra confirms. “We all know it’s Alissa. She’s the heart and soul of this squad.”

My belly buzzes, and my eyes well up a little. I blink the emotion away, but I’m pretty sure half of this room saw it. I smile and nod, looking Kyra in the eyes first, then Lily.

“Do you think you two can run skills practice today? I’ll have the weight-lifting teacher sit in, but he doesn’t know what we do. I need to go talk to Alissa’s mom.” My stomach roils with a wave of nausea. Why is doing the right thing so fucking hard sometimes?

Both girls nod. I direct the team to line up in groups, then pass the reins off to the two seniors to get the squad started. I pick the eraser back up next and wipe away the names from the board, all of them but one. I doubt this is what Wyatt had in mind when he gave me that advice earlier. He’s going lose his crap when I tell him I walked up the Sommers’s driveway today and rang the doorbell. I hope I don’t also have to tell him I got punched in the face.

It takes me twenty minutes to get to Alissa’s house. Her mom works out of the home office most days; she’s a realtor. Her face is plastered all over this town, even on the one bus that runs from the library to the dairy farms down south. Her white Cadillac is in the driveway when I pull up, which likely means she’s at home today.

“Peyton, what the ever-loving fuck are you doing?” I whisper to myself as I touch up my lip gloss in the visor mirror. I’m not sure if I’m saying that in my own voice or my mother’s.

With the same gusto it always took me to hype myself up for a tricky tumbling pass, I focus my thoughts and suck in a deep breath before getting out of the Jeep and marching up to the Sommers’s front door. I press the button for the bell and take a step back when I hear the deep growl from the other side of the door. Of course they have dogs. That woman probably has attack canines trained on my scent.

“Sugar, down!” I recognize Adrian’s voice through the door and smile on one side of my mouth hearing her dog’s name. I would never guess that sound came from something named Sugar.

It’s quiet and still for a few seconds, and I lift my chin and smile, figuring she’s probably checking to see who’s here through the peephole. I’m not sure whether she considers me a solicitor or not, so I adjust my feet and hold my ground while she works the locks. Our eyes connect the second she opens the door.

“What could you possibly want?” I figured she would come out hot. Frankly, I’m relieved she doesn’t pop the screen open and poke me in the chest.

“I was hoping we could talk for a minute,” I say, ignoring the acid crawling up my esophagus.

“Mom, who is it?” Alissa’s voice sounds from the distance.

Adrian drops her gaze to the floor as her shoulders lift, then suddenly drop.

“Come in,” she finally says, pushing open the security door for me and holding the front door wide while an overweight basset hound lies at her feet.

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