Page 5 of Why We Break

Will opens his mouth, probably to snark back at me, but Seth walks over, interrupting him. “First of all, shut it Will. I can’t deal with y’all’s bullshit tonight. We’ve known this fence needs some serious attention for a few months, but that price is outrageous. Why don’t you let me price out some materials this week, and see if I can’t get that way down. If so, Will and I will do the labor free of charge.”

Will looks like he’s about to argue, but before he can get a word out, Theo chimes in. “Yeah, I’ll come help too when I can. It’ll be a lot of work, but we should be able to knock it out in a week or two if we work in the evenings and on the weekends.”

Caroline must see that I am about to tell them not to bother because she hastily agrees. “That sounds perfect. I can help you with Ruby and some of the other farm chores while the boys work, and Margaret can cook us some of those yummy snacks she’s always trying out,” she offers, smiling at me.

The boys jump back to work while Margaret and Caroline grab the bottles of water we brought for them out of the cooler on the tailgate. Meanwhile, I take a moment to stare into space, feeling both thankful for their friendship and longing for the days when I didn’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders before focusing back on the farm.

CHAPTER 4

HANNAH

SEVEN SUMMERS AGO

“God, Caroline, are you sure you don’t want to come home with me for the summer?” I ask for the millionth time, making sure to school my expression into the most miserable one I can manage.

She lets out a laugh before nodding. “You know, as fun as that sounds, if I leave Tuscaloosa, I won’t have my job in the fall. Plus, my parents sold the house when they moved to Brazil, so I don’t even have a place to stay in Springside right now.”

“I told you that you could stay with me!” I remind her pitifully.

“I love you, Han, but your grandfather has enough on his plate. You both just lost your grandmother, and we’ve already paid for the lease through the end of the summer. Plus, you’ll be back here soon! In two months, we’ll be together so much you’ll be sick of me again.” Caroline reminds me while I make a final lap around my bedroom ensuring I have everything packed.

“Okay, fine,” I tell her begrudgingly. “I just can’t believe you’re sending me home to rot this summer. What the heck am I going to do? I know Gramps needs me, but I’m gonna be bored to death.”

“I highly doubt that. You and I both know there’s more than enough trouble for you to get into at home. But really, just focus on making sure the farm is back in order. And remember our rule—this is a boy free summer. We both need a break from the frat boys who are only looking for a one-night-stand, and if we’re gonna make the most of junior year, we can’t have a boy keeping us from partying it up,” Caroline says with a little shimmy of her shoulders.

“God, like you even have to remind me,” I retort with an eye roll. “Besides, who the hell am I going to date in Springside? You’ll be the one with all the hotties!”

“I promise I won’t have a bit of fun without you. But next semester, we’re going to have the best time!” my best friend exclaims.

“I can’t wait!” I say, giving her a squeeze. “August can’t come fast enough!”

CHAPTER 5

WILL

“Come on, guys, let’s run it again! We’re never going to beat Mills Corner tomorrow night looking like this!” I yell as I blow my whistle and shake my head at the other coaches beside me.

The team lines back up and runs the new trick play again, but the ball whizzes past the receiver’s head before he’s in position just like it has the last four times we’ve practiced.

“Blake, you’ve got to make sure you’re hitting those outside passes! That’s an interception waiting to happen. And, Drew, why aren’t you getting there in time?” Marcus, one of my assistant coaches, yells above the groans of the other boys.

I blow out a frustrated breath at the scene in front of me. Marcus isn’t wrong. Mills Corner is currently undefeated, and several of their players are being recruited by teams in the SEC. Plus, they have one of the loudest student sections in the state along with home field advantage tomorrow, so we have no room for error if we want to come away with a win.

“Okay guys, grab some water and hustle back! We’re gonna keep running this until it’s right.” I groan with a frustrated breath before turning my attention to the four assistant coaches beside me. Once the rest of the team is on the opposite side of the field, I ask, “Anyone have any ideas? Because if we play like this tomorrow, we’ll get our asses beat.”

The men beside me start offering suggestions, and after talking through a few options, I feel myself starting to relax. “Okay, Jason, I like your suggestion of shortening the route, and Theo’s right that Wesley’s a bit faster than Drew. Why don’t we swap them out and show them the new route so he isn’t getting held up and see what happens?”

Everyone nods at my suggestion, and after calling the team over to implement the suggestions, they set up again to run the play. As soon as the ball is snapped, I know they’re going to hit it this time. Sure enough, Blake gets set and throws the ball right into Wesley’s waiting hands before he runs it into the end zone. A few of the boys on the team let out a loud whoop while Marcus throws his hands in the air like he just won the Super Bowl.

“Okay, guys, good job. Now let’s run it about a hundred more times,” I yell before blowing my whistle again.

After another hour of running through our plays and working with special teams to be sure we’re prepared for anything Mills Corner could throw our way, I signal for the team to gather around before we end practice.

The team jogs over to where I’m standing beside my coaching team before taking a knee and waiting for me to wrap up practice. I gesture for the other coaches to go first, and Marcus does his usual job of hyping the boys up while Theo, Kent, Jason, and I watch on with amusement. Marcus is in his late thirties, but I’m pretty sure he’d put on a jersey and take the field tomorrow if he could. His love of the game makes him a great coach, and his enthusiasm always gets everyone ready for game day.

Once he’s finished, I look at my team seriously before saying, “Good practice today, Saints. You have all worked hard, and I’m proud of what I saw out there. We’re gonna need every bit of that hustle tomorrow if we want a chance at beating Mills Corner. Y’all know this is a region game, and this is a pretty big stop on our road to state. And you know those boys have a reputation for having some short tempers, but I expect y’all to keep your head on straight and make sure we don’t give the refs anything to call us on. We’ve got a long day tomorrow, so get some rest and be on the bus after school ready to dominate. See you then.”

The team turns and makes their way to the locker room with the other coaches while Theo and I pick up the little bit of equipment left over from practice. We work in silence getting everything put away before he finally starts. “So, I talked to Seth and we’re going to get started on the fence on Saturday. Are you going to be able to help around Hannah’s farm without the two of you ripping each other’s heads off?”

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