Page 10 of Zone Protection

“Go walk around and see if she’s here tonight.” Pitz nods to the other room, where we saw the girls walking in. There are also some girls dancing in the dining room. “I’ll come with you.”

“Good luck!” Smith laughs as we walk out.

We walk into the dining room first. I look around, but don’t see anyone who looks like her.

A brunette latches on to Liam, wrapping her arms around him. “Hey, Pitzy! I’m so glad you came tonight. You had an awesome game today.” She looks up at him with a very clearfuck melook.

“Thank you, babe. Come dance with me to celebrate.” He hands me his beer, then unwinds her arms from around his waist and takes her by the hand. She’s good-looking for sure—brown hair with some blue streaks running through, tight body.

One of the girls she was standing with comes over to me. “Hey, Archie. Wanna dance?”

I put both beer bottles into one hand and take off my hat with my other hand and put it over my heart. “I appreciate it, doll, but I’m not gonna stay long tonight. But next time.” I wink at her.

Placing my hat back on my head, I look at Pitz dancing with his girl. “Yo, Pitz. I think I’m gonna head out.”

He lifts his chin and smirks. “Later, lover boy.”

Fucker.

Walking back through the kitchen, I set his bottle on the counter, down my beer, and toss it into the garbage on the side of the island.

As I walk back toward the front door, I see more of my friends hanging out, talking to some of the girls who were at the front of the house when we arrived. I take off my hat again and lift it in the air.

“Boys, I’m out. Good game today, fellas. Ladies … have a good night.”

Goodbyes are said as I walk out, but I don’t look back.

I make it back home in less than five minutes.

When I walk in the door, I set my hat on the hook and kick my boots off. Our family room is off the entryway, so I make my way over to the couch and turn onSportsCenter.

The highlights are on from today’s games, and I catch some footage of one of the tackles I made—and not trying to hype myself up, but I’m one of the best tackles in NCAA football—even though the commentators are talking about Liam.

Once they move on to other news in the sports world, I pull out my phone from my pocket and scroll through Instagram. I might have looked for Emma on social media a time or two without success. But it’s not gonna stop me from trying again.

CHAPTER

THREE

EMMA

It’s been a rough day.We’re playing our third tournament of the season in Tulsa, and I’m not having my best outing, partially because I’ve been nauseous all day. Over the last week or so, I’ve felt like I had some kind of stomach bug. I brushed it aside and kept powering on through classes and practices. But today, being in the heat is getting to me.

Coach walks over to me as I set up my tee. “Emma, you need to try to aim for that straight to get as close as you can to the green on the other side of the hill. Use your 4-iron to get the drive you need to try to make up some ground in the standings. We really need your score to move up in order to win the tournament.”

“Yes, Coach.”

I know what I need to do, and I also know my team is counting on me, but I’m feeling worse and worse as the day goes by. I’ve chugged some Gatorade, but that almost made me puke too, so I don’t think I’m dehydrated. I just need to get through the next four holes, and then we’ll be done. I’m going to crash for the rest of the weekend.

I walk back over to my bag and pull out my 4-iron, then walk back over to the tee. I gaze out over the green to try to gauge how much power I need to put into my swing. Then I line myself up with the tee, move my hips back and forth, and curve my back just right to get the power I need in this hit.

I pull my club back and swing. It sails a little farther to the right than I needed to or planned to.Shit. I look over at my coach, and she’s marking her clipboard. As I turn back to go to my bag, Mia walks up to me.

“Em, are you okay? You usually rock this course.” She takes my hand in hers.

Just moving my head back and forth is making me queasy so I look down and close my eyes. “I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I’ve been feeling bad all week. I think I must have caught some kind of bug or something. You know me; I never get sick.”

And that’s true. I’ve always been a healthy person, even as a kid.

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