Page 13 of The Lie
“I’ve seen you play football, kid. You have what it takes to go all the way. College and shit. I want that for you. No one else had that kind of opportunity here, and I don’t want your life wasted here when you can be out there, living it.”
I shake my head, and he clamps his hand on my shoulder and nods as he comes in closer. “College,” he repeats again, and I just blink at him. He’s serious.
“Look, the way I see it. You go to college, get a free ride on a football scholarship, and you play ball and study something boring like business. Fuck, you want to be some arts major, go and paint shit. That’s not gonna change a thing here. You’ll have a place waiting for you here.”
He taps my chest with his index finger and nods again. “You have an opportunity that most people in your situation don’t ever get. Take it. Don’t waste it, Roman. Make something of yourself. Don’t settle for anything less than what you deserve.”
I don’t deserve anything.
SIX
MILA
Roman’s back.
Hunter called me as soon as he turned up at school yesterday begging Coach to let him play in tonight’s game. I need to be there; I need to see him. Not that I’m having any luck while I’m a prisoner in my own home. He won’t take my calls—it just goes to voicemail. Hell, he’s barely speaking to Hunter.
Not being able to see him causes this prickling under my skin, a warning my heart and head are listening to. But there’s nothing I can do about it. Even though Hunter said he looked better, I need to see Roman with my own eyes. I won’t be able to shake this tight feeling from my chest until I do. The need to see that he’s okay is driving me hard.
Coach didn’t want him playing in tonight’s game. Roman hasn’t been at school for almost two weeks, has missed a bunch of schoolwork—not that it seemed to make a difference before—but the excuse of being hit by a car and that he proved he was fit enough to play seemed to be enough to win the coach over.
Last week’s shocking loss probably helped push Coach in his decision. Especially with Hunter playing tonight as well. He has his best team on the field tonight, so he must be feeling generous enough to overlook the fact Roman was MIA for almost two weeks.
I know Roman feels responsible for my accident. That’s what I’m calling it—my accident. I’m worried Roman is also staying away from me because he thinks I told the cops what really happened. He has to know who hit me; hell, he was hit too…just differently, by the same people, I suspect.
But tell the cops? I would never. It would bring them to Roman’s door, and he doesn’t need that with the illegal fighting and everything else in his life I don’t know about. Whatever Roman is hiding from me and Hunter, the cops would find it.
I haven’t spoken to anyone about what really happened. Hunter hasn’t directly asked me, but considering the way he talks about that day, I presume he knows there’s more to the story. Little things he’s said gave it away. Still, the only people who know the full truth are Roman, me, and the two assholes in the car.
“Kate, can’t you drive me to the Rebels game? Madison can stay with me, and it will be our little secret,” I beg her at the dinner table, my hands clasped together in a pleading gesture.
She eyes the cast on my right wrist. It’s covered in drawings—hearts, butterflies, and dicks—that Madison, Hunter, and Asher have done. There’s nothing like boys finding empty real estate on my cast and scribbling dumb shit on there. I’ve had to cover two more dicks with hearts. I’m not the best at drawing with my left hand, so it looks a mess.
I’m downstairs tonight and eating at the dinner table. Thankfully, I’ve improved enough that I can walk around the house without needing someone with me. I’m sore, and things hurt that I didn’t know could from just lying around. But I can’t stay up in my bedroom forever.
“Mila, no.” Kate shakes her head with a smile. “I’m so excited to see you down here tonight and looking so much better. But I love your father, so please don’t use those big blue eyes to ask me to go against his wishes.”
I bat my lashes at her, and Madison giggles beside me and joins in. Kate groans and chuckles. “You’re both hard to say no to. Butno means no.”
I let out a long, very audible sigh, and she shakes her head with a grin. At least I don’t seem to be getting on her nerves, despite my sulky mood. I’ve only asked her like ten times to go since she turned up here to feed me an early dinner before going off to watch Asher at a home game. Madison is staying with me overnight. Girls’ night.
“We tried. You want to watch a movie now or later?” Madison asks as I twirl the pasta on my fork, using my left hand, and try to shovel it into my mouth without it all falling off. It’s weird to use my left hand. But there are lefties out there, like Roman, who use them every day and make it look easy.It’s not.
I switch the fork to my right hand, and the way the cast and my thumb are, it makes me look like I’m still shoveling. Kate makes atsksound. She’s worried I’ll get the creamy pasta sauce under my cast and it will smell. She has a point. I had some M&M’s the other night, and one lodged itself just where my palm is, under my cast.
It turns out that, yes, they eventually do melt. And the white edge of my cast now has a brown and blue stain that kind of looks like I wiped my ass with my cast. Okay, so I didn’t think that at the time. Asher saw it and asked if I wiped my ass with it. And now that’s all I see when I look down at it.
Switching my fork back into my left hand, I put my right arm under the table so I won’t be tempted to use it for food.
“I want to watch the game first, if that’s okay? We can chill on my bed and watch a movie after I watch the Rebels kick ass. And maybe watch Hunter’s and the guys’ tight…ends?” I wink over at Madison.
Madison’s cheeks grow red as she giggles, and Kate snorts and chuckles a little, then coughs, trying to hide it.
“Is Hunter your boyfriend now?” Madison asks, and it makes me blush a little.
I shrug and grin widely as she giggles. We never said it exactly like that, but I guess he is.
“Oh my god. He’s so cute, Mila,” she practically screams from beside me, and I move a few inches away to protect my ears. But I can’t wipe the grin from my face because, yeah. He’s cute. More than cute.
