Page 13 of Tempt Me

“Blaze, what’s up?” Zephyr answers the phone.

“Want to get dinner?” I ask him. “I need advice.”

“Sure thing,” he says, not hesitating. “I’ll meet you at Kat’s Kitchen in ten.”

I’m lucky to have an older brother like Zephyr. He always looks out for me and Canyon.

He always knows the right thing to say.

And he managed to get an amazing woman like Priya to date him, so he must know something about women. And if he doesn’t, maybe I’ll give Priya a call.

When I unload my situation on him over breadsticks and a large pizza with everything, he sits with it for a minute before he starts to dole out his advice.

“Well… that’s a pretty fucking crazy situation,” he admits.

I nod. “Yeah, so what do I do?”

“Well, the first question you have to ask is if this girl is worth all the trouble,” he tells me.

I don’t even have to second-guess my answer. “She absolutely is. You would love her. She’s funny. She’s driven. She has so much passion that it’s intoxicating.”

Zephyr laughs at me. “Okay, well you’re a goner. Seriously, dude. I want to make fun of you so bad right now, but you’re in crisis, so I’ll refrain. The next question is are you ready to lose football over her?”

I sit with that for a second.

The truth is that I have already lost football.

Even after I recover, I don’t know if I will be the same player that I once was. I don’t like to admit that to myself, but that is the reality.

Would losing football really be so bad?

And can I make that kind of choice based on a girl that I have known for a week?

“I don’t know,” I tell him. “I just don’t even know if football is an option for me at all anymore.”

Zephyr nods. “Well, I think you should consider talking to Coach. Maybe he won’t be so against the idea. You won’t know until you try. And hell, he won’t kick you off the team just foraskingto date his daughter.”

He made a good point.

I could try.

I could do that much.

My future was in Coach’s hands… one way or another.

* * *

I feel the sweat pouring down my back as I wait outside Coach’s office.

I don’t know what he is going to say to me.

But I know that I can’t let go of Melissa without a fight.

I have to try.

“Come in, Trist,” I hear him beckon.

Here goes nothing.

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