Page 162 of Red Zone
I don’t even wait for the play call—I already know what we need here.
I jog into the huddle, dropping my hand to my knee.
“Read option. Shotgun. Follow me. I’m keeping this one. Let’s move the damn chains.”
The guys answer with a round of claps and slaps.
We line up, quick.
Jaxon’s wide again, drawing coverage. Logan’s to my left.
I glance at the linebackers—both creeping forward, eyes already locked on Logan.
Perfect.
The snap hits my hands.
I ride Logan for half a second, selling the fake handoff, then yank the ball back into my chest and cut left.
The edge rusher bites on Logan.
I’ve got daylight.
I sprint upfield, cutting just inside the safety, feeling the turf tear under my cleats.
A linebacker dives at my ankles—too late.
I tuck the ball tighter and slide just past the first down marker, skidding to a stop at the twenty- one.
The ref signals first down, and the sideline erupts behind me.
I pop up, smacking my hands together as the guys rush up to me. Logan slaps my helmet with a laugh, Jaxon jogging over to clap my shoulder.
“You just love stealing my touches, don’t you?” Jaxon grins, but his eyes are sharp.
“Quit complaining,” I throw back, grinning. “We’re in the red zone, aren’t we?”
I jog back to the huddle, heart hammering in my chest as the crowd noise swells around me, my eyes automatically searching for red curls, but she’s not on the sideline today.
One play at a time.
And we’re just getting started.
My chest heaves as I jog back to the huddle, wiping sweat from my forehead with the back of my glove.
21–27.
We’re down by six.
Two minutes left.
This is it.
The crowd is deafening, a wall of noise and chaos all around us, but it doesn’t touch me. Not here. Not now.
All I hear is the sound of my own breath, sharp and steady. The pounding of my heart. The creak of my pads when I bend over, hands on my knees, and the faint metallic clink of my face mask when I snap it back down.
I glance at the scoreboard again, then at my guys—at Jaxon, standing across from me in the huddle. His chest rising and falling fast, but his eyes locked on mine. Waiting.
