Page 9 of Fourth Down Forever
"Yes."
Coach then straightens in his seat, and I watch as he visibly calms himself. "Well, I’m happy for you. Why don’t you bring her to the team dinner in a few weeks? I’m sure everyone would love to meet her."
"I'll have to see if she's free. She's finishing up her last semester of school.” I give him my signature smile.
"Great!" Coach says, standing up for his desk, placing his hand out. I follow suit.
"Thank you, sir,” I say, dropping the handshake before making my way toward the door. Before I’m able to make my escape, Coach's voice freezes me in my tracks.
"Thank you, Kade. I’m proud of you. This is a good step for you and the team."
I just nod and try to get out of the room as quickly as possible. My stomach fills with a brick-sized amount of guilt, making me feel sick. Fuck. This is so bad. How the hell am I going to convince Sam to do this? She's going to have my balls and so will Coach when this all blows up in my face.
Exiting the administrative area of the stadium, I'm greeted with Shane sitting on the chair. He looks up from his phone. "Hey, how did it go?"
"As good as it could," I reply.
"You’re still part of the team?” he asks.
“Yep.”
“Do you know how you're going to handle this?" he asks me.
"No," I state, but don't explain any further. If I'm going to figure out how to convince Sam to go with my plan, I can't tell anyone else about it.
"Ready to go?" I ask him, wanting to get out of here. It's time for me to get home and gather my thoughts. I need every chance to present my case. Sam can be stubborn, but she's also willing to give the shirt off her back for those she cared about.
Chapter eight
Kade
When Shane pulls up in front of my apartment, I hesitate to get out. Even though I was certain I didn't want to explain any further to him about my plans, now I'm thinking that he and Janae might be my best allies in this.
As my hand hits the door, I turn toward him, giving him my best pleading eyes. "Will you help me win Sam over?"
"Is this something you really want?" he asks me.
"Of course. Sam is amazing."
Shane nods his head, narrowing his eyes at the same time. "For real, though. Tell me what is going on?"
"After talking with Coach, I want to see where this goes?" I say.
"I'll help you, but promise me you won't hurt her."
"I won't hurt her."
"Great," he says cheerfully, like he might have been waiting for this. "Let's all go out to dinner tonight. I'll make sure Sam shows up."
"Thanks. I owe you one." Giving him a wink, I climb out of the car and make my way toward the apartment building.
It only takes me a few minutes before I'm walking into my apartment. My place of solitude. A modern condo dressed in white marble, black paint, and silver accents—the colors of my precious team.
Some people, like some of my teammates, might say that my apartment is douchey, but I call it loyalty. I've only ever played for the Vipers, and they are the only team I plan to play for, if possible.
Placing my keys into the bowl by my front door, I walk into the living room. In my condo, you can see every spot from the living room, like one giant room. One side of the room is wall to wall windows giving me the view of downtown Vegas. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.
My body buzzes with restlessness, needing to know if my plan would work out. Pacing back and forth, I try to convince myself that I should wait until Shane is able to bring Sam to the restaurant for dinner. I know all the reasons why I should wait, but all I can think about is getting to her and convincing her that this is the best for both of us.
