Page 117 of Forever

“Shake it off.” I put my hand out for him.

“Easy for you to say. Your balls didn’t just get violently attacked.”

I laughed and helped him back up to his feet. And then I ran over to Jacob. I put my fist down and he fist bumped me.

“Good job, grandson,” Tanner said. “You did that perfectly.”

“Thank you, Abuelo.” Jacob fist bumped him too.

Wait.Did Tanner tell Jacob to hit Rob where it hurt? Rob was still limping a little. I stifled a laugh. Okay, yeah.Tanner definitely told Jacob to knee Rob in the nuts. I probably should have said something about that not being okay, but we were still losing right now.

“Hut, hut!” Nigel yelled even though no one was lined up.

I sprinted to the endzone and so did Tanner.

Mason tossed the ball to the right to Tanner.

James jumped up. He almost caught the ball, but he ended up tipping it.

It landed perfectly in Tanner’s arms.

And then Rob completely decked Tanner.

Jesus.I ran over to them. “It’s tag football, not tackle, man.” I’d made that explicitly clear. The last thing I needed was for someone to break a leg before the wedding. I grabbed the back of Rob’s shirt and pulled him off of Tanner.

“He started it,” Rob said.

Tanner laughed and sat up, but didn’t stand. “How did I start it exactly?”

“By being super Tannery.”

Tanner brushed a leaf off his shoulder. “That’s the only way I know how to be, Young Robert.”

“Stop calling me that! I’m not young. We’re all adults here. Well, except Jacob. And…maybe Nigel?” He turned to Nigel. “How old are you, man?”

“It’s very rude to ask a boy his age,” Nigel said.

Rob shook his head.

“You really should have played in high school,” Mason said and slapped James’ back. “That was almost an interception.”

“Yeah.” James shrugged.

I knew he’d wanted to play back in high school. But his parents wouldn’t let him. And for some reason Rob played soccer instead of joining the football team. It wouldhave been way more fun doing this together. But that’s what nights like tonight were for.

“Enough of this lame tag team stuff,” Rob said. “It’s tackle football now. Unless you guys are scared of us.” He lifted his chin like he was ready to start a fight right now.

“Scared of Team Hunter?” Mason chuckled. “Never.”

Rob turned to me and raised his eyebrows.

This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. But I wasn’t backing down from the challenge. Besides, it had been a long time since I’d played a real game of football. “Bring it.”

“Hut, hut!” Nigel yelled and grabbed the ball. He tossed it at James to throw.

James threw it back at Nigel almost immediately. Nigel ducked under my arms and side-stepped Mason. Tanner and Jacob ran after him, but it was too late.

Son of a bitch, Nigel was so fast and sneaky. Nigel slammed the ball down in the endzone and did a backflip.

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