Page 49 of Catch Me

“Which means Sasha will know right after practice,” Lex says. His gaze switches from me to Reid. “Shit’s going to get worse. She’s already shown she’s capable of some fucked up shit.”

Reid shakes off the intensity of our gazes. “I’ll just tell her I have shit on her and to back the fuck off. The minute she comes after either one of us, I’ll tell everyone what I know.”

“We could just tell everyone now,” I say. “Why wait? If we tell everyone now, she’ll get in trouble.”

“But she could still retaliate,” Lex says. His gaze softens when it meets mine. It’s as if he feels sorry for going against my idea.

“I agree,” Reid says. “As long as we have something over her, it might keep her in line. Let’s just see how the talk I have with her goes. We’ll know more what to do after that. Whether we scare her enough to keep her in line, or if she’s just that stupid and crazy to try something.”

Every time Reid talks about Sasha I see a hint of something in his eyes. It’s not regret of not having her anymore. I know Reid loves me. He doesn’t miss her. He hates her. But I don’t understand what the vibe I get off him is. Reid did like her once upon a time. If I put myself in his shoes, I’d be wondering how someone I trusted could’ve turned on me like this. To go out of their way to hurt me. Maybe that’s what it is. A disbelief in how crazy this chick actually is.

Jules sits down a moment later, and we bring her up to speed. The guys talk to her as if she’s one of them—one of us. I hope that’s the case. Brady was her world. If she didn’t have us, she wouldn’t have anyone right now. She looks at Reid. “I’m so glad you’re starting again.” A small smile filters over her face, and then she goes quiet for the rest of the period, lost in her own thoughts.

When I see her a couple of periods later, we decide to watch practice tonight. We don’t want to miss the show if there’s going to be one. How Sasha’s going to react. Hell, how Oscar’s going to react to hearing the news. In my head, I still see the angry guy. The one who puffed up in front of his Heights buddies on campus and the one who strode toward Eli with the evil glint in his eye, but I’ve seen other parts of him too. I’m not saying he’s a good guy. Not at all. But I’m saying I think he’s doing what he thinks he needs to do to survive. The fact that he came to Spring Hill to start for the team—a position he thought was secure—is now going to be over… It’s going to crush him. He wants the All-State Scholarship as much as Reid, and he thought Spring Hill was his ticket.

All the way until practice starts, I’m plagued with worry over how Oscar’s going to deal with the news. Not all because I feel sorry for him, but because if he loses his shit and hurts Reid, I don’t know what the heck we’ll do. Why do bodies have to be so brittle? One wrong move and Reid could get hurt again. One tackle and Brady loses his life. Like, Christ, maybe we should all be running around in plastic bubbles.

I see Reid right before practice and give him a big hug before walking out to the stands with Jules. The cheerleaders are already there, practicing a pyramid. Sasha’s high-pitched screech rings around the field as she scolds two of the base girls. I swear she’s a tyrant. How anyone can stand her is beyond me.

“What do you think she’s going to do?” Jules asks.

“I don’t know, but it won’t be good,” I say, echoing the thoughts I’ve been thinking all afternoon. “She thinks she runs the school. Everything she does hasn’t told her any differently. She totally played Reid by bringing Oscar in and dating him, like he was some sort of Reid substitute.”

“That guy gives me the creeps,” Jules says, a shiver running through her.

I don’t say anything. Not that I don’t agree with her. I do. He’s a dick, and he’s admitted to me multiple times that he’s just in it for himself. But, I can’t help but think that if Oscar grew up in Spring Hill, he might’ve been welcomed into Cade, Lex, Reid, and Brady’s pack. Like they could’ve been five best friends instead of four. It’s clear he takes football as seriously as the guys do. He has to if he can even step in to Reid’s shoes and fill them.

As if on cue, the door to the locker room opens, and the team starts running out. Reid leads the way. He’s got his game face on, but I can tell he’s pleased. Sasha watches with a scowl during a break in cheerleading practice. And Oscar, well, he’s jogging behind the rest of the team. His face is impassive, but tight. The corners of his eyes are stretched a little too tight to be anything but worry or anxiety. He didn’t take the news well, but he hasn’t done anything about it either. I don’t know what I expected. A trip to his car, so he can get his baseball out and beat Reid with it? That wouldn’t be subtle at all, but it would put him back in the starting position.

Then again, he wouldn’t have had the chance to do it right before practice. That’s something that’s done in a dark alley, not surrounded by others. Especially coaches and teammates who can identify you. No, Oscar’s smarter than that. He wouldn’t let his rage get the better of him.

Jules bumps her shoulder into mine. “You okay?”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Just worrying about everything, I guess.” I run a hand down my face. “Oscar and Sasha. That’s a terrible twosome if I’ve ever seen one. I think they’re both willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to get what they want. Even Oscar himself told me to think bigger when I wanted to get dirt on Sasha—a girl he’s supposedly seeing.”

“I don’t think seeing is the right word for it,” Jules says, eyeing everyone move onto the field. “Partners in crime, maybe. Or just fuck buddies.”

She’s not wrong about that. Oscar doesn’t really care about her. He’s said so himself. The only nice thing he’s ever said about her is that she’s good in bed. Not sure that’s the best quality in a person, but to each their own. He’s not here for Sasha at all. He’s here for himself.

The whole practice, Reid doesn’t look rusty at all. His game is on point, and he knows it. He’s on top of the world. The only bad thing about him practicing in the quarterback position is that Sasha knows something’s up. She doesn’t even have to hear it from Oscar first. She’s glaring at the field for the rest of practice and even dismisses squad practice early. She sits on the bottom bleacher, waiting for practice to end.

When it does, I lose her and Oscar for a bit because Reid’s beckoning me to come see him. I look for Sasha again, but don’t see her, so I make my way down the bleachers and meet Reid at the gate in the fence. “That felt fucking amazing,” he says. His green eyes glitter with exhaustion and excitement.

“You don’t feel out of sorts or anything?” As I ask that, I realize he wouldn’t. He doesn’t get tackled on the field during practice. They don’t take the risk of him getting injured. The real test will be the game. I just have to pray he doesn’t get hit. My eyes immediately move to Lex. He’s sucking down water out of a green bottle. When he polishes it off, he throws it to the side. I don’t even need to tell him to watch Reid like a hawk. He’ll do it, anyway. Reid kisses the side of my forehead. “I’m going to shower and dress, let’s go out with the guys tonight. Pizza or something. Text your mom you’ll be with me.” He turns to Jules. “You, too.”

With that, he jogs off. Jules laughs at me while I stare after him. I can’t help it. He always looks hot right after practice. “I’ll have to pass on pizza tonight. I already promised Mom I’d go shopping with her.”

I turn toward her and smile. “Tell your mom I said hi. Maybe when the football season is over, I can make it out to your house.”

“She’d love that.”

I give Jules a quick hug, holding her tight for a brief second before letting go.

I make my way to the side locker room entrance while sending my mom a text that I’m going to get pizza with Reid and the team. My phone buzzes back with a response when I get to the door, but a growl grabs my attention. It isn’t an animal, but a male human. I move to the edge of the school and peek around the corner of the building. I move back as soon as I see Oscar and Sasha there. Whatever caught my attention before, I can’t hear anything now. It’s obvious Oscar is furious. I peek back around. He’s in Sasha’s face. I can tell she’s trying to stand tall, but she seems to shrink in his presence.

Sasha says something back, and Oscar lunges for her. I gasp, pulling back around the side of the building, my heart in my throat. I stay there with my eyes closed for a few seconds and then sneak a peek back around the brick. Oscar has his forearm wedged under her chin, pushing into her throat. She’s pushed against the side of the building, and he’s in her face again, their noses practically touching. He says one last thing to her and then pushes off. He looks up, his gaze wild, fury filtering through his features like an angry landscape. I move back, but not before he looks right at me.

I close my eyes for a brief second and blow a breath out. When I open my eyes again, he’s standing in front of me, his shoulders heaving with big, angry breaths. “I guess you must be pretty happy today.”

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