my arm and slipped away from me. “Stay away from me, Cameron.”
But as she walked away from me, I knew I was screwed.
Because the rules had changed, and I knew I couldn’t stay away from her.
Even if I wanted to.
After giving myself five minutes to calm down, I found Jase outside, throwing a ball. He looked like shit: a deep purple bruise around one eye and an angry cut on his lip. Anger radiated from him like a warning sign that said, ‘stay the fuck away’, but I wasn’t anyone. And we needed to talk about this.
“I should’ve listened to you,” he ground out, hiking the ball and sending it flying through the tire.
Folding my arms, I shrugged. “I told you it was a bad idea, but you couldn’t have known she was going to be there.”
“She shouldn’t have been there, stupid fucking—”
“You know she wasn’t there to stir trouble for you.”
“Wasn’t she?” He levelled me with a hard look. “How can I know for sure this wasn’t all part of her plan to get back at me for your little stunt at the pep rally?” His brow rose. That was Jason though, so wary of everyone’s ulterior motives. I guess it came with the territory; the higher you climbed, the less you could trust the people around you. Because everyone wanted a piece of a legend in the making.
“Because, man, Hailee might get off on your games almost as much as you do, but she’s not you. Besides, she hates the limelight. Can you really imagine her going to an East party and announcing herself as Jason Ford’s step-sister?”
He mulled my words over, his eyes hard on the ground. “She’s made things real fucking difficult for me. My dad knows we butt heads, but if he found out I... fuck.” His fist clenched at his side. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”
“East know she’s family now, so you might as well start treating her like it. Rivals Week is the week after next. If they’re going to try anything you can bet your ass it’ll be then.”
Jase jammed his fingers in his hair, tugging the ends in frustration. “She’ll never go for that. And honestly, I’m not sure I can do it. I don’t like her.” He glanced up at me. “I’ll never like her.”
“You don’t have to like her.” The words stuck in my throat. “But she’s in the middle of this now, whether you like it or not.”
His grim expression told me he knew I was right. “She won’t make things easy,” he sounded defeated.
“She doesn’t need to. One semester; we only need to get through one semester and then the season is done.”
“One semester,” he echoed as if he was trying it out for size. “I swear to God, man, if she screws anything up for me—”
“She won’t.” If Hailee knew what was good for her, she’d keep her head down and her mouth shut, and this thing with Thatcher would all blow over. And if it didn’t… well, I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Fuck.” Jase let the ball fly and it hit the outer rim of the tire. Jason didn’t miss.
He never missed.
Looking my best friend in the eye, I said, “You need to keep your head about this, okay?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I just…”
“I know.”
Football, this life, was all he knew. The air he breathed.
And for someone like Jason, losing even an ounce of control was not an option.
Monday morning in the weight room was a bitch. Coach didn’t want us to get cocky after our crushing win over Marshall Prep, and had us work extra hard which meant practice was going to be a double bitch. He’d also given Jason and Asher an earful about their appearance, but he didn’t ask questions—he didn’t want to know. As long as they were fit enough to play and stayed out of Principal Finnigan’s way, that was all that mattered.
The buzz in the locker room was infectious, everyone still riding the high of Friday night.
“So, I heard Levinson are looking good this season.” Layton, one of the new players from JV said. “My cousin goes there, and he said—”
“Levinson can eat my ass,” Asher howled. “Last season, weren’t they like six losses to four?”
“Things change, man. I’m telling you, they got this new coach, and he’s really worked them hard over the summer.”
Asher shrugged. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Don’t get cocky, Ash,” Jase chimed in. “We treat every game