“I missed you,” he said into her hair.
She turned her face and kissed him with a sigh. “I missed you, too.”
Their bodies melded together, and she forgot all about her argument with Pace. As she got lost in Eric, all the warnings left her mind. This was how it was supposed to be.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Bryna blearily opened her eyes and looked over at the clock. 6:00 a.m.
“Fuck!” Eric cried.
She was still in his room. She had passed out. “Shit! Who is at the door?”
“I don’t know. Throw some clothes on, and go into the bathroom or something. I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
Bryna hastily changed and rushed into the bathroom. How old am I? She was a fucking adult. She didn’t need rules about what she could do at night.
Eric cracked open the door, and she heard him speaking to the person on the other side. “What’s up? It’s six in the morning.”
“Sorry, Eric. Coach wanted us up and at a morning meeting in half an hour. He wanted me to let you know.”
Eric wiped his eyes and nodded. “All right. I’ll be there. Thanks, Coach Morris.”
Phew. Just one of the assistant coaches.
“Sure thing.”
Eric closed the door with a sigh. “Jesus, that freaked me the fuck out.”
“Yeah, these new regulations are insane,” Bryna said, coming out of the bathroom. “For a second, I thought that Pace had given us away, and we were in some big trouble. I actually had the weirdest dream that I snuck out of the room while Coach was investigating. I ran downstairs and turned Pace in for his deceit. It ended before I found out what happened to him though.”
Eric laughed. “You have an active imagination.”
“You’re right.”
He pulled her into a hug. The adrenaline was wearing off, and she felt really tired again. She had to be up soon to get ready for the game, but she still felt exhausted.
“I guess Pace didn’t do anything bad this time around.”
“Maybe he’s learned his lesson,” Eric said, but he didn’t sound like he believed it. “Go on back upstairs, and get some rest. I’ll see you at the game.”
He kissed her long and hard. Each kiss had a hint of desperation. It was like they both wanted to ensure that if this was the last kiss they ever had, it would be perfect.
Bryna scurried out of Eric’s room and went upstairs to get a little bit more sleep. Pace was gone when she arrived, and she was thankful that it was just she and Stacia.
When they woke up and were getting ready for the game, Stacia glanced over at her and asked, “Everything okay last night?”
“Yeah. Surprisingly.”
Stacia smiled bright. “See? We both were just having a good time. Nothing to worry about.”
Bryna relaxed and tried to believe Stacia. “I hope you’re right.”
They were driven over to the field early that morning. It was a noon game, and the sun was bright overhead. This game was important if they wanted to make it to another conference championship. They had already lost to Oregon earlier this season at home.
Nothing seemed to go as planned, not a single thing in the game. Bryna had never watched so many things go wrong in one game. It was like watching a live update of her love life over the past year. Injuries, bad calls, dropped balls, missed field goals. Everything that could happen, happened.
There it was. The final score. Loss.
They had lost to Colorado.
It was a crushing blow. After an undefeated season last year, no one was prepared for two losses so early in the year.
The team left the field with heavy hearts. The Colorado fans were cheering loudly in the stands. They had all stayed to watch last year’s national champions be brought low.
Eric came up beside her but didn’t say anything. She knew they were both frustrated with what had happened.
Stacia was in front of them, trying to console Pace. His objections to Marshall were getting louder and louder and drawing attention. The last thing they needed was for a camera to catch what he was saying.
“None of this shit would have happened if they’d put me in as quarterback. Marshall fucked up this game. He lost it for us,” he spat viciously.
“We can’t change it now,” Stacia said.
“We can change the fucking coaching staff being up Marshall’s ass. He’s not Blaine. He’s not going first round at the draft. Figure your shit out and work it out. Put me in instead.”
Stacia opened her mouth to say something more, but Eric lost it.
He grabbed Pace by the collar and threw him up against the cement wall. “Shut your fucking mouth.”
Bryna’s eyes bugged out, and she glanced around to see if any media were in the tunnel. It looked clear, but fuck, they could get in so much trouble.
“Get off me!” Pace growled.
They were nearly an even match. Eric had about an inch on Pace, but Pace was still in pads, so he looked bigger than Eric at the moment.
“You’re a worthless piece of shit. If I had it my way, the coaching staff would never put you in as quarterback. You have to prove yourself before you get playing time, and you don’t fucking deserve it after what you did.”
Bryna grabbed Eric’s arm and tried to pull him back. “Eric, stop! What if someone sees? Stop it!”
Stacia tried to get between them. “Eric, let him go now.”
Eric pushed off the wall and took a step away from Pace, but they were in a standoff.
“I don’t know what the fuck you think I did, but you and I both know I deserve playing time over Marshall.”
“I don’t believe that at all.”
Pace laughed. He looked between Eric and Bryna. “Have you been listening to Bryna? Is all of this because you’re banging my sister? So has everyone else, Eric.”
It happened so fast. Bryna hadn’t even seen it coming. Eric swung and punched Pace right in the face. They were on top of each other in an instant. Bryna and Stacia desperately tried to get between them, but when two giant football players over six feet tall want to fight, there was nothing they could do to stop them. A few of the other guys rushed over and tore them apart. Marshall was one of them.
He grabbed Eric and hauled him away. “What the fuck, E?” Marshall asked.
“He’s pissed because he’s banging my sister and listening to her drivel,” Pace said. He was holding his face. Blood was pouring out of his nose, and it looked like he had a busted eyebrow.
Eric seemed perfectly okay. He had gotten the jump on Pace.
“You got her fucking attacked, you fucking asshole!” Eric yelled at Pace.
“What are you talking about?” Pace asked. His eyes landed on Bryna.
“After what you said to Cam, he physically attacked Bryna.”
“What did you tell Cam?” Stacia asked. Her voice was suddenly flat.
“The truth,” Pace spat. He was still so riled up that he hadn’t heard the warning in Stacia’s voice. “That Bryna is a slut and fucks around and likes to play games with people.”
Stacia glared at him. “You went behind my back and behind her back to tell Cam that shit? He almost raped her!” she cried.
“What?” Pace asked, shocked. He turned to Bryna. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Bryna whispered. Great. Now all of her dirty laundry had been aired to the football team.
“I never believed her when she said you fucked with her life on purpose,” Stacia said. “Now, I get it. I don’t understand it, but I get it. I can’t be a part of that. You hurt my best friend.”
“Stacia, I didn’t know he would do that.”
“And you didn’t care!” she yelled back. “Then, you won’t care as I walk away.”
Bryna stared on in amazement as Stacia turned and left. Pace looked stunned.
“I didn’t know,” he said to Bryna.
“Too little, too late,” she said.
Then, she jogged after Stacia and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She released the tiniest of sobs that Bryna knew was sure to turn into a waterfall once it really hit her that she had lost her quarterback.