Page 273 of Wrong Pucking Jersey

This isn’t a hallway or gym where he can get away with violence.

If a fight breaks out, his present and golden boy future are done.Ruined. Completely over.

Yet I’m not moving on his behalf.

I’m moving and skidding to a stop in front of Wolfgang to stop him from making a move.

If Wolfgang punches him, he could lose the opportunities waiting for him after his performance these last few weeks. I can’t let Jayce hurt Wolfgang’s future like he’s potentially hurt Ace’s.

No. I can’t let Jayce hurt what’s mine any longer.

“Mikayla!” I hear Maddox and my dad scream at the same time, but there’s no time to react.

I can barely get Jayce’s name out of my mouth.

“JAYC—”

He doesn’t register me until the last second. His eyes, filled with nothing but fury, widen for a split moment.

He’s far too late to stop the motion, the move already executed and ready to hit its destined target.

His retracted arm is shooting forward.

His fist hits the hindrance in his way.

Me.

My world goes black.

Semifinal Heartbreak

~WOLFGANG~

My hammering heart suddenly freezes.

The whole world seems to be frozen as my mind fights to process what just happened before my very eyes.

One second, Mikayla was in front of me.

The next, she’s being punched in the face.

The sight triggers more than a reaction.

It triggers something I’d completely forgotten from my past.

“YOU SICK BITCH!”

I stare in horror, my body trembling helplessly in the shadows as I watch Mama drop to the floor. I want to help her, to save her from the drunken man screaming at the top of his lungs, but I can’t.

Mama told me no matter what happens, I have to stay in my spot. The corner that hides me from the evil man who always comes out to play in the depths of the night. It’s always connected to the strong, nasty-smelling liquid. The one that shifts from dark brown to an odd yellow.

It brings out the devil.

The man who laughs and screams for no reason.

The monster who likes to bring pain to our little family.

“WHAT DID I SAY? NO PINK IN THIS HOUSE!”