Page 69 of Why We Break

Theo rolls his eyes at me before responding, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I guess this town’s turned me into a big old softie or whatever. But I mean it, this team is something special.”

I look out into the locker room where the boys are waiting for us to start the pregame speeches, and I nod. “You’re right. And as much shit as I may give you, you’re great with these guys. We’ve done all we can do though, so it’s kinda up to them.”

“Yeah. So, you ready to get this thing started?” he asks.

“May as well.” I shrug, blowing out a breath and taking a step toward the players in front of me. I raise my hand to get their attention and the locker room goes silent as they wait for me to say something.

“I know I’m supposed to come up here tonight and tell you how big of an opportunity this is. I’m supposed to remind you how hard you’ve worked this season and tell you that you probably won’t ever get a chance like this again in your lifetime so you’d better take advantage of it.

“That’s what I think I’m supposed to say, and honestly, it’s all true. But you already know all of that. So instead, I’m just gonna tell you that I’m proud of you. There weren’t a lot of people who were betting on us at the beginning of the season, and week after week, this team has shown up, put in the work, and won ballgames. And as much as I hope there’s a trophy and some state championship rings in our future, I’m not all that worried about the outcome. I know y’all have given me a hundred and ten percent of everything you’ve had over the last six months, and I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

The boys in front of me nod as I continue. “Before we run out on that field tonight, I want you to take a minute and soak this in. The other coaches and I have given you everything you need to come out of tonight a champion. So you’ve gotta decide right now how you want to feel at the end of these four quarters. What are you gonna do to make sure you don’t come out of tonight with any regrets?”

I pause, letting my words sink in before gesturing to the other coaches. “In just a minute, I’m gonna shut up and Coach Marcus is gonna get you all hyped up before we go out there. But before that, I just wanted to remind you that you can do this. Now, what do you say we win one more?”

The room erupts in cheers, and I nod at Marcus to take over. Theo, Kent, Jason, and I laugh at his usual antics, while he hollers encouragement at the boys, jumping up and down while he hypes them up. After a few minutes, we motion for the boys to line up to run out of the locker room, and I take in a deep breath when I see the huge college stadium where the state championship is being held.

“All right, let’s get it one more time boys,” I yell as we hear the band start to play the fight song. “Let’s go!”

With that, the team runs out of the locker room and through the run-through sign that the cheerleaders are holding up, leaving the coaches and me to jog behind them over to the sidelines. We clearly traveled well, despite the game being played in Crestview over an hour from home because the noise our fans are making is deafening.

“Damn, I wasn’t expecting this many people,” Theo admits, taking in the crowd.

“Yeah, me either,” I admit, looking over at the sidelines and immediately see Hannah. She’s standing with Caroline as they wait for the cheerleaders to run back to the sideline, and I have to shake myself to keep from staring.

After our emotional talk on Monday, all I’ve wanted was to spend some more time with her, but this week has been way busier than I thought. Between meetings, practice, and the community pep rally last night, we haven’t had time to do much more than send a text here or there. But seeing the way her face lights up when she sees me, I know I won’t be able to stop myself much longer from showing everyone that she’s mine.

She mouths “Good luck, Coach” at me, and I smile and wave in acknowledgement before turning my attention back to the field where the captains are lining up.

“That was cute,” Theo teases, and I shake my head in his direction. “It’s about damn time y’all admitted you want to fuck instead of fight.”

“I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but I’m not sure I like it,” I answer. “When did you become so observant?”

He just shrugs in response, and we both let out a whoop of excitement when the speaker crackles with the announcement that we won the coin toss and will defer to the second half.

The other coaches walk over as the team gets set for kickoff, and I pull on my headset. After making sure it’s ready to go, I blow out a breath. “Let’s do this thing, boys.”

“Come on guys!We’re better than that,” I yell when the defense jumps offsides for the second time tonight. It’s early in the fourth quarter, and while we’re up by a touchdown, I’m not impressed by the careless errors we’re starting to make.

Looking over, seeing the other coaches have similar looks of frustration when Jason walks up, motioning out to the field before asking, “What the hell do you think’s gotten into ’em? We haven’t looked like this all season.”

“Yeah, I think it’s nerves and they’re psyching themselves out. Not to mention it’s the coldest weather we’ve played in all year. But we need to get it the hell together.”

Jason nods in agreement as the defense moves closer to the end zone after the penalty and lines up, waiting for the Bakersville Tigers to snap the ball.

As soon as it’s snapped, their quarterback dashes through our line and sprints down the field heading straight for a touchdown, leaving all of our players behind. “Damn it,” Kent curses under his breath, before running a hand over his face. “I don’t know how many times we ran that exact scenario at practice this week, and they were all over it. But now they look like they’ve never seen a football before, never mind practiced the play.”

I watch as the kicker from Bakersville gets ready to attempt the field goal and fight the urge to groan when it’s good.

We’re down to the last three minutes and we’re tied. Blowing out a breath, I motion to the referee to signal for a timeout and wait for the team to make their way over to me.

“All right, bring it on in,” I tell them, gesturing for them to pack in so they can all hear me. “Okay, we have three minutes, guys. Three minutes that decides if we win or lose. If we go home as champions or not. Now, I told y’all before that I’m proud either way—and that’s still true. But I just gotta tell you that team out there is not better than you. So let’s do what we can to score and keep this thing out of overtime, okay?”

The boys all chime in with a chorus of “Yes, sir” and “Okay, coach” before Marcus calls out the play we’re about to run. I remind myself to breathe as the team lines up for kickoff and then groan when the return is marked down at the fifteen-yard line.

“Damn, that’s a whole lot of field to cover,” Theo mutters, and I nod in agreement. After they set, the center snaps the ball into Blake’s hands. He catches the snap and executes a beautiful pass to one of his receivers on the forty-yard line before he’s tackled.

“First down, Springside Saints,” the announcer calls out over the loudspeaker and the crowd behind me cheers.

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