“I won't.” She squeezes my arms once and steps back. “Win this one, Z”
“I'll try my best.”
“Good luck, Evans.” Jamie gives me a nod over Ella's head. I give him one back as Ella leans out of Jamie's arms and nearly knocks her cap off in the process. Thankfully, Tiff is there to hold it in place.
“Throw the ball, Uncle Zach.”
“That's the plan.”
The room starts to empty out as family members filter toward the door. My mom squeezes my hand once as she passes and Dad gives me one final look over his shoulder.
When the door closes, and it's just the team, the pressure starts to sink in.
Everyone’s feeling it.
Dax, for once in his life, says nothing. He just picks up his helmet and studies it.
Reese is fiddling with his gloves.
Owen, who has been quietly retaping his wrist at the far end of the bench through all of this, has not looked up once. He catches my eye for a split second before looking back down.
We can't lose today. Not again.
Because if we do, we can't blame Coach Masters anymore.
I unconsciously stretch my fingers out, feeling the tingling in my wrist again. It had subsided a couple of games ago, but it came back like a persistent motherfucker when I got hit in game fourteen. And since I'm a bullheaded idiot, I haven't bothered to tell anyone about it.
It won’t fucking matter after tonight anyway.
I can feel all eyes now on me.
I know what they want.
A pep talk. One I've never been allowed to give.
I glance over at Coach Smith, who tips his chin, silently asking me to do the honors.
Okay. I've never been fond of these, but the team needs something today.
Standing, I look around the room at the guys who have bled beside me throughout this rough season. We’ve got busted knees, tape holding half our bodies together, and egos bruised by the headlines, but they never stopped showing up.
“We already know what everyone’s saying,” I start. “Our season’s been over for weeks, and this final home game doesn't matter.” I shake my head once. “But they're wrong, because this?” I gesture between us. “The grit and determination to keep going? That's something no other team has got.”
A few of my teammates whoop.
“We can still change the narrative tonight.” I tap my chest once, touching the Raptor logo sitting there. “This is still ours. This isourhome.” I sweep my hand across the room to the tunnel. “Not theirs.”
My eyes catch Owen's for a second. Then Reese and Dax. I look at every single one of my teammates.
“We want to fix their perception of us? We can't fix it all at once.” I shake my head. “But we can fix it one play at a time. One drive. One stop. One catch. One throw.”
My grip tightens slightly around the helmet in my hand.
“You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be better than you were yesterday.”
A few heads nod, and that’s all I need.
“We go out there, we play our game, and we make them regret thinking we aren't going to be a threat next season.”
