Page 56 of Sneak Attack

“I’m telling ya, man, only takes once and soon you’ll be eating turf every time we line up.”

“Yeah?” Carr stood, groaning as he pushed off his thighs to get off the bench. The man was taller than me by several inches and probably had one hundred pounds on me. The largest guy on our roster, he wasn’t a man I’d want to face off against. Ever.

Davis bounced all the balls off his feet, shaking out his arms like he was prepping for a boxing match. “Hell yeah, I do. Try it, right now.”

“Ohhh…Hall is throwing down.”

“Hell yeah, baby.”

Chairs and benches were pushed to the side, cleats kicked and in seconds, the inner circle of our locker room had become an area just for them.

“I got twenty on Hall!” someone to my right shouted.

“Hundred on Carr!” someone else shouted.

As captain and quarterback, I shook my head. Idiots, all of them, but this was too good to not join in on. I stepped onto the bench and threw my arms straight out to my sides. “All right. No punches. No tripping. Keep it clean and let’s see what you fools got.”

Butler, usually not one to join in on this stupid shit, walked between them and scraped his cleats against the carpet. It left a line in the carpet pile, and he waved him both in.

“On hike, let’s see what you got.”

He shoved Hall playfully, but Davis managed to stay on his toes. Carr lined up across, dropped down and growled. Made sense. The man was as big as a grizzly.

The entire team bounced and in unison, counted down. Hut one…hut two…

On hike, they threw off, Hall juked to the right. Carr followed. Hall duked left, and right as he went to break and get around Carr, Carr reached him, went low.

I flinched. If that man actually tackled him, injuries could be had. But nope.

“Let’s gooo!” Hall screamed, as Carr wrapped his arms around his knees, but he didn’t lay Hall out, he stood, throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

“That’s what you get, kid!” Butler shouted as Carr stalked off around the corner toward the lockers.

We heard a pitiful, feminine scream from the showers and Carr returned.

“What the hell’d you do to him?”

“Figured a soak in the ice bath would help him out.”

“Nice.” I fist pumped Carr and turned to my locker. Instinct had me reaching for my phone. It was usually the very first thing I did even before slipping out of my cleats. I was always on, always waiting to get a call about Jasper or Selma needing something.

Fortunately, there was only one missed call from a number I didn’t recognize. My voice mail icon told me they’d left a message, but whatever.

Coach came in with the rest of the staff and clapped his hands. As soon as he got everyone’s attention, he shoved his hands to his hips, started pacing in the open circle we created for Carr and Hall. “Good job today. You men are looking like a good team. A good damn team and I wanted to tell you I’m proud of the work you not only put in during the off-season, but every second since you’ve been here. I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again, I have nothing but love for all of you. We fall as a team, we rise as a team, and there’s nothing that makes me prouder than seeing you grow, focus, strive for perfection every time we step out onto that field.”

“Yes, sir!” Cheers went up which he silenced quickly, with a motion of his hands to bring down the noise. Coach was the best man I’d ever met outside my dad. Softer than some pro coaches, he rarely lost his cool. Didn’t mean he didn’t shout at you every once in a while, but he didn’t lose his mind like some others. He believed positivity bred optimism and strength and excitement for the next task—or game.

“We got a second home game in a few days and then none until the second week of the season. Stadium will be packed, the crowd will be electric. You go out and play every second of all sixty of them like you’ve been doing at practice, and I have no doubt we’ll give those fans what they love and bleed and pay for. You got me?”

“Yes, Coach!” I led the charge and pumped my fist in the air. We all crowded together around him, and as he calmed us down again, he scanned the room.

“Where in the hell is Hall?”

A muffled, chattering, “Here! Go Steel!” echoed from the ice bath in the other room.

“I don’t want to know,” Coach mumbled as we hid our laughter. “No hazing the rookie, guys.”

“He likes it,” Carr replied, shrugging. “Makes him feel loved.”

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