Page 37 of Fair Catch
He rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky your stats for NBU don’t mirror the ones you have for Madden.”
He offered one last wave over his shoulder as he turned and wheeled toward the end of the parking lot, and I watched him the whole way, not shying away from the way my chest ached to watch him. I waited until the van pulled up, until Ralphy’s brother helped him out of his chair and into the car before loading his chair in the back.
Gavin was all smiles and laughs, likely already cracking jokes to his friends inside the van before the door slid shut and the van pulled away.
He was happy.
He was okay.
He’d forgiven me long ago.
I wondered how long it would be until I would be able to do the same.
Zeke
I hissed and groaned as I unlocked the front door when I got back to the dorm, a movement that shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, but it lit every muscle in my back on fire. I was always sore after a game, the result of sixty minutes of hard-fought yards gained.
But after a loss?
The pain always seemed worse.
I barely managed to swing my duffel bag into the corner of my room before I face-planted on the bed, already considering another shower. I’d already taken one at the stadium, but here, I could stand under the stream of hot water for an hour undisturbed and soak away some of the soreness.
If I was going to, I needed to do it before sleep pulled me under, so I pushed myself off the bed with another groan.
But then, I heard the music.
Sad and slow, a somber beat that drifted through the thin wall separating my room from Riley’s. I sighed, walking over to rest my back against the wall, my head falling back to do the same. I listened for any hint that she was crying, but heard nothing other than the music.
I closed my eyes, chest aching with what I knew she was putting herself through in there. In all the time we’d played together, I’d seen her miss a handful of kicks — and never more than one in a game. She was off tonight, and we paid for it.
I knew she’d never let herself live it down.
Pushing off the wall, I left my room and walked right over to hers before I could talk myself out of it. I rapped my knuckles on the old, thick wood door, but no greeting came.
“Novo,” I tried, but she didn’t answer.
With another knock of warning, I tried the door handle, turning it slowly and opening her door just a crack to give her the chance to scream or throw something or spew fire from her mouth like a dragon if she wanted me to fuck off.
Again, nothing.
I opened it a bit more, heart sagging at the sight of what I found. Riley sat on her floor, feet soaking in a sad container of soapy water, shoulders hunched and eyes out of focus as she stared at the bubbles. A bowl of melted vanilla ice cream sat untouched beside her, sprinkles swimming in the goop. The song ended, but another melancholy one took its place in the next beat, and she didn’t so much as look at me when I sat down across from her.
“I see you and Gavin went to get ice cream after all,” I commented, nodding to the melted mess and pretending like I didn’t already know.
Riley looked at it, blinked, and then looked at the bubbles again.
“You okay?”
She didn’t move.
I sighed, crossing my legs under me and balancing my elbows on my knees. “It’s not your fault.”
She finally looked at me then, pinning me with a look that said bullshit.
“It’s not. You missed a kick. But there were plenty of other opportunities where we could have scored, or defense could have stopped them from scoring.”
“Defense played the hell out of that game, and you know it,” she countered, her voice gravelly and raw. “And I didn’t just miss a kick. I missed two. One of them being a fucking extra point. An extra point kick, Zeke.”
I pressed my lips together, giving a tight nod to let her know I understood her frustration. I glanced at her feet in the tub, then. “Hurting?”
“More than usual.”
“That’s the pride,” I said with a smile.
She didn’t return it.
“Here,” I said, unfolding my legs and reaching my hands out for her feet. I made a give me motion with my hands when she didn’t move. “Let me help.”
As if she wasn’t already frozen before, every part of her stiffened, and she arched one eyebrow so high it could have passed as bangs.
I barked out a laugh. “Give me your feet, Riley.”
“Ew! Are you insane?” She coiled away from me, taking her bucket of suds with her. “Absolutely not.”
