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And the battle commences.
The ball flies back and forth, here and there, racing across the field in a haphazard fashion as players maneuver it, focused on weaving through the crowd to make a goal. Hugh almost gets one, but Jack hits the ball in the opposite direction. Aye, Jack is on my team. My brother wouldn't aid the enemy.
"Go, Team Callum!"
I glance at the crowd and see Kate, who still has her hands cupped around her mouth as a makeshift megaphone. None of us had named our team, but Kate did it for us. Not sure my cousins and mates would appreciate the team being named after me. We're all playing hard.
My cousin Aidan, who volunteered to play for Hugh's team, ducks around Lachlan, aiming to hit a goal. But I cut him off and steal the ball away from him, heading back toward the other goal post.
Someone slams into me from the side and uses acamanto knock me off my feet. I glance up to find Hugh standing over me with a wicked smirk on his face.
"I played rugby at university," he says. "That's a real sport. Shinty is what Scots invented because you're all too incompetent to handle rugby."
He's insulting my home and my family. No, I cannae let that one go.
The game has kept going around us, so I spring to my feet and rush back into the fray. No one needs to ask if I want to make the first goal to get back at Hugh. They start switching the ball between them to keep the other team from getting it, and we wend our way toward the goal post. Hugh tries to trip me again, but I slam my shoulder into his to knock him off balance just long enough for Jack to pass the ball to me.
I whack it into the net.
Cheers and whoops erupt from the crowd of spectators.
"Yay, Callum!" Kate shouts. "You rock!"
I cannae resist smirking at Hugh.
He glowers at me.
The game goes on, and Hugh's team makes two goals. But then Team Callum scores two more, giving us three total. My cousins bump into each other on purpose, though they're careful not to hurt each other. Everyone on the pitch is having a bloody good time—except for me and Hugh. We have a grudge to settle between us, though I can't say for sure why. I need to beat him, to prove he doesn't always win. What does Hugh want? Kate, but he knows he's lost that battle. What else does he hope to gain?
We take a break to drink water and recover from the MacTaggart version of shinty. We're all sweating. Since we're naked, we can't wipe our faces dry with our shirts. Emery and Erica, the wives of Rory and Lachlan, rush out to hand each player a towel.
Of course the American Wives Club thought of that. Those lasses have a talent for planning—and for plotting.
The break ends, and we take the field once again.
Hugh starts the match this time, hitting the ball so hard it smacks into Iain's shin. As the oldest man on either team, he seems the most likely to get injured, but Iain never lets hardship get him down. He brushes off the strike without even flinching and hits the ball, sending it sailing through the air.
It lands a few yards from the goal post.
Evan tries to get the ball, but Rory knocks it away from him.
The ball is rolling straight toward me. If I can hit it just right, I'll make another goal. So I dodge around other players, intent on regaining control of the ball. I've just taken it away from Logan, and I'm pulling mycamanback to swing at the ball, when a large weight slams into me from behind. I stumble and drop to the ground.
Pain stabs through my knee.
"Stop!" Kate shouts. "Stop! He's injured."
Every player on the pitch freezes—except for Hugh. He hits the ball, and it sails across the field to smack into the goal net.
"Time out," Damian declares. "Man down."
Hugh raises his stick above his head, grinning. But his triumphant expression disintegrates when he notices no one else, not even a single member of his team, is cheering for him. They all stare at him with expressions that run the gamut from confusion to disgust.
Jack offers me his hand, helping me get up. He aims a hard look at Hugh. "Donnae be celebrating when ye injured my brother."
Hugh swallows hard, the movement visible in his throat. "I thought that was how you lot played the game."
"We donnae hurt anyone. Especially a player who has a previous injury. You of all people know Callum suffered a serious accident earlier this year."
