Page 22 of Roughing the Princess

“Did Tova actually say she was coming?” Jasper asked.

“Not exactly.”

He groaned. “Why am I so invested in this saga? I’m going to have to intervene again, but I’m running out of ideas. Maybe I should just start hitting on her instead.”

“I’m game,” Mav said.

I glared at both of them.

Mav laughed. “I’m joking. Kind of. But damn, I was really hoping she’d come. We all were.” He gestured to the rest of our teammates who were all definitely eavesdropping on our conversation.

“Well, we’ll just have to see what happens.”

***

I looked up from the huddle and into my box for what felt like the millionth time. My mom waved at me. Some of my friends were up there too. But there was a noticeable face missing. Tova’s.

The game had already started.

She hadn’t come.

I’d told her what that meant. That whatever the hell we were doing was done. That I would stop texting her. I thought about my last texts to her, all unanswered. Saying I was dreaming of her. This had turned into more of a nightmare than a dream. My postgame interview was going to be a disaster.

Stood up at her concert.

Stood up for quite a while after that podcast reveal.

Stood up in NYC.

Stood up at my game where I’d told the world I’d invited her.

She thought I was a player. She thought this was some kind of twisted PR stunt. Apparently she thought very little of me.

But I wasn’t the player here. She was. She’d fucked with my head. Sending me those pictures? Saying all that shit to me?

I shook my head and tried to listen to Mav shouting out the play call.

I didn’t need Tova Saber. I had this. My friends. The game. This was all I needed. But I didn’t even believe my own thoughts. I’d been so close to having everything I’d ever wanted. My high school self was so close to giving present day me a well-deserved high-five.

Focus.

I had a fucking game to win.

And a team I wasn’t going to let down.

The ref blew the whistle and we lined up. I was going to win a third Super Bowl ring. And then a fourth. And I was going to get MVP both times and tell Mav to suck it whenever he mentioned his MVP wins. This was what mattered. This is what I had control of.

***

We got up 7 zip and I ran over to the sidelines. Everyone was talking excitedly. I mean…Zayden Slayer had made a good catch. For a rookie. If Mav would ever throw me the ball I would have done it better. But I was glad to be up by a touchdown.

I pulled off my helmet and grabbed some water.

“Holy shit,” Mav said and clapped his hand on my shoulder.

“What?”

Jasper squealed at the top of his lungs.

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