Page 6 of Replay

I notice a table has been seated in my section, so I wave off Phil and walk over to greet my first guests of the night.

Several hours later, my friend Graham strides through the doors, followed by a herd of hulking forms. My stomach sinks immediately… If Graham is here, does that mean Nate is with him too?

I make my way over to greet him, and he wraps me up in a big hug. “Hey, B, is there room for us in your section? There are…” He pauses to count how many of them are huddled in the entryway. “Seven of us.”

Taking a deep breath, I nod, then gather a bunch of menus and have them follow me to a table. Nervously placing the menus, I step back and eye the guys Graham has with him. When I realize Nate isn’t here, I can't tell if I'm relieved or disappointed.

Frickin’ fool.

They’re quick to order their wings and burgers, and I gather up the menus after delivering their drinks.

“Oh, we might have a straggler or two. Would you mind leaving a menu?” Graham asks, right as I'm about to walk away.

“Yeah...uh, sure. Here ya go.” I smile and walk away, but my knees shake with every step. Nerves ripple through me. What if the straggler is you know who?

I need to get my shit together. Regardless of if I see him tonight, tomorrow, or a week from now…it doesn’t change the fact that Nathan Outlaw will be attending my school and be the center of everyone’s attention. So, I'm going to have to get used to the fact.

Can't fucking wait.

Taking a deep breath, I start loading up my tray for their table’s second round of drinks when I hear a throat clear behind me. My eyes go wide, and my heart skips a beat before I turn around. But to my surprise, it’s Graham.

“What’s up? Did you need something?” I ask, but the look on his face tells me otherwise.

He gives me a half-hearted smile and nods for me to step off to the side with him.“You were supposed to text me when you got back… I wanted to talk— Shit, B, I know you’ve probably heard…” Trying to gather his words, he hesitates. His hand sweeps through his sandy blonde hair as he looks at the floor and then back at me.“Nate is here in Mountain Ridge.”

I take a steadying breath before responding. “Yeah, I read about it this morning. Great welcome-back surprise for me,” I say, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I found out right before you left to study abroad, and I wanted you to enjoy your trip. I know you purposefully don't follow his sports updates, so I was hopingI could tell you when you got back so you weren't stressed about it during your time away.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. But I'm okay.” I stand on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his six-five frame. Graham’s probably the biggest softy I’ve ever met, and I'm so glad to call him a friend. He’s basically like an older brother to me at this point, and seeing how he cares just proves that further.

He raises his eyebrow, and I laugh. “No, for real, I am. I have a lot going for me, and I have Carter too. I'm good. Don’t worry about me.”

Maybe the more times I say it, I’ll eventually convince myself.

“One last thing…” Graham starts. “He’s moved into The Wolves Den.”

Of course, he has…

“We knew that empty room wasn’t going to last long,” I tease and finish loading up my tray. Carter wanted that room, and even though Graham and Carter are friends and know each other from back home, Bellamy’s stepbrothers, who just so happen to be Graham’s cousins, hate Carter, so they didn’t vote him in.

As I follow him back to the table with a tray in hand, I try my best to come to terms with my new reality. Long gone is my safe haven; Nate has now infiltrated yet another place where I felt at home.

I’ve spent the last two years ignoring my past… Now, I have no other choice but to deal with all six foot two of it.

Two

“You’re looking strong out there, Outlaw. Dare I say, even stronger than you did before your injury,” Coach Price says from behind his desk. Pushing the images from my mind that Graves has on repeat after his taunts during practice, I embrace the coach’s words.

“Thanks, Coach, I’m happy to be here and excited to see where this season takes us,” I answer honestly. Getting injured in the last game of a record-breaking season is a tough pill to swallow and not one I took easily. Especially after feeling like I had already lost my world when I went to Texas.

“We’re happy to have you, bud.” He beams. His tough exterior from practice just a few minutes ago is nowhere in sight. I try to hold back my smile, but damn, it feels good to hear that. To go from a coach who so easily replaced me to one who took a huge chance on me makes me extremely proud to deliver.

Thankfully, for my former team, our second-string quarterback was able to take us to the championships. I hate to say, as excited as I was that day, jealousy I wasn’t used to feeling when it comesto anything other than a certain blonde crept deep into my bones, planting seeds of my likely unfortunate future at Texas Tech. And just as I and many others suspected, my former coach told me I would take the position of QB2 for my junior season. To say I was pissed is an understatement, but you know what they say… When one door closes, another door opens, and by the end of my spring semester, I already had several new offers. Mountain Ridge and two other Division 1 schools were the top three I narrowed it down to, and I would be lying if I said the thought of being at the same school as Berkley again didn’t make that decision for me.

He taps his pen on his playbook. “The shotgun offense seems to be working really well. You and Wynn are in a great groove, and I think for the game next week, it’s the way to go.”

I nod. “I agree. Tennessee's man-to-man defense won’t be able to keep up with Wynn.”

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