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I stood up, knowing my younger self would’ve kicked my ass for not accepting a game of catch with Brooks. I jogged down the field and Brooks threw me a perfect spiral which I caught.
“Hit the thirty-yard line,” he called to me.
I lined up my fingers on the laces and threw my own perfect spiral, hitting the thirty-yard line like it was nothing.
Brooks nabbed the ball and passed it back to me. “Hit the fifteen.”
I did.
“The foul post.”
I did.
He grabbed the loose ball and walked toward me. “I wanted you to suck,” he said.
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Because you’re cocky. And you remind me of me when I got the starting position here and didn’t know what to do with it. I was never supposed to start.”
“Because Thatcher was,” I said, knowing the story.
His eyes dropped away and he nodded, seemingly still affected by the devastation of having his teammate drop dead on the field and then having to replace him. “No one knew how to feel about it—especially me.”
“How’d you rise above it?” I asked.
He met my eyes. “I knew I had what it took. I knew I just had to be ready to prove to everyone that I deserved to be the leader on the team. I practiced my ass off, and I made sure I was the best player on the field at all times.”
“So, you’re telling me to practice?” I asked.
“I’m telling you to fight for the job. Kenyon’s good. But Coach wants you to start.”
“He told you that?” I asked.
“He didn’t have to. He brought you here knowing you could lead this team to more championships.”
“I won’t be doing that from the bench.”
“What do you think’ll happen if he puts you in against Tennessee?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think your teammates will continue to screw you over?”
My lips twisted as I considered his question. They fucked with me at practice because there were no fans, no competition, no commentators to judge their screw-ups. When the stadium was filled to capacity, they wouldn’t risk looking bad. Why hadn’t I considered that? I just needed to playmygame. And if they continued to suck, that was on them. Brooks knew it. And Coach knew it. “I get it.”
“Good.”
He tossed me the ball. “You got a girl?”
“What?”
“A girlfriend. You got one?”
I shook my head. “Why?”
“Well, there are gonna be girls after you because you’re the starting quarterback. Then, there are gonna be girls after you for who you’ll be someday. And, then there’ll be one girl who could give two shits about you.That’sthe one you want. That’s the one you need by your side. She’s the one who gets the real you.”
“Are you really giving me dating advice?” I asked.
