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“Sounds fun,” I lied.
“Have you talked to Seren?” she asked.
“No,” I said, unable to shed the perpetual pit in my stomach whenever I thought of him. “A long-distance relationship just wasn’t gonna work for us.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” she assured me, but I wondered if she really believed that.
“How’s Maureen?” I asked.
“She doesn’t look good. She seems weaker.”
My stomach dropped. I thought Martine would stop if I stayed away. I thought he said no one would get hurt. Was it the residual effect of what he’d been doing to her or was he still trying to hurt her? “That’s too bad?” I said, hating that I had the ability to do something to stop this man, but I was too scared to make any move that could jeopardize my mom or Seren. I’d heard of small children being threatened into keeping silent about abuse. But I was a grown woman. I had to be able to fight back. I had to be able to dosomething.
“She used to be so youthful and vivacious when we were kids,” my mom mused. “Even here at the manor before her husband passed…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, honey. These things happen sometimes. But Martine has been great, bringing in his own doctors to check on her.”
Doctors my ass.
The more information I learned from my mom, the sicker I felt. “I really need to get going, Mom.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” I said, before ending the phone.
I knew what I needed to do.
I shouldn’t have waited so long.
Seren
Showing up at the team party didn’t change a damn thing. The guys still dropped easy passes and missed blocks, and I was getting sacked more times than I cared to count. Coach gave us a post-practice speech, then the rest of the team made their way back to the locker room. I walked off the field discouraged and pissed, dropping onto the bench and staring out at the empty stadium.
Maybe I hit my prime in high school. Maybe I should’ve realized I’d be a small fish in a big pond in Alabama. Maybe I should’ve gone to a smaller school that would’ve been glad to have me as their QB. My decision had been clouded by my need to get away from Windham. But now, everything about this experience sucked. Maybe it was all just karma for not accepting my position at Grayson Industries.
“Shouldn’t you be in the locker room?”
I looked to my side. Caden Brooks, ex-Alabama quarterback and current pro quarterback for Miami, stood there with a football twirling between his hands. Never one to be speechless, I sat up straight. “Oh, I...”
“You the new starting quarterback?”
I shook my head. “Back up.”
“Really? Coach said you were the best prospect they had next to me and Cole Thatcher.”
I shrugged. “Things change.”
“I’ve got some time before tonight’s fundraiser,” he said. “Let me see what you’ve got.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect, but my skills aren’t the problem. I can hit any target you give me.”
He scoffed, likely doubting me.
“I’m serious. The problem’s my teammates. They want Kenyon as their QB.”
“Go out for a pass,” Brooks said, more of an order than anything else.
