Page 74 of Necessary Roughness
“Sure it is,” Logan said, but I talked right over him.
“The two of you are obsessed with this girl. Grinning while group-texting with her at study hall. Chatting about the next time you get to see her.”
“Because she’s hot,” Logan argued. “And great in bed. Why wouldn’t we look forward to that?”
“You like her.”
Logan flinched. “I like her as a friend. That’s all.”
I slowly shook my head and rose from my recliner. “You’re a shitty liar, Logan. And the saddest part of all of this? You’re not just lying to me. You’re lying to yourself.”
“She’s good for my performance,” he said, voice weaker than before. “Hooking up with Sloane helps me focus on the field.”
I took a step toward him and jabbed my finger into his sternum. “Then go out and fucking prove it today.”
“You two are up early,” Knox said, emerging from his bedroom and rubbing one eye with a fist.
“Couldn’t sleep,” I replied, glancing at Logan.
“I’m just eager to start the day,” Logan said.
Knox yawned his way into the kitchen. “Know how you feel. This game is big. Gulf College is on the upswing, and if we lose to them…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. If we lost to Gulf College, our chances of winning the conference shrunk drastically.
“I’m gonna take a shower,” Logan said. But on his way out of the living room, he paused next to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “You need to get laid, bro. Maybe then you’d lighten up.”
I thought about what he said for the rest of the morning leading up to the game.
31
Sloane
I thought about my night with Logan all morning until the football game started at noon. Flushed with endorphins, I couldn’t have been in a better mood.
“The night before the game?” Bryson said after I told the twins about what had happened. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“Who cares if it’s a good idea?” Jayden cut in. “Fuck whoever you want, whenever you want. That’s what college is for.”
“Easy for the queer nymphomaniac to say,” Bryson muttered.
“It wasn’t my idea,” I argued. “Logan was the one to suggest it to me. Besides, he said he couldn’t sleep. Coming over to my place helped take his mind off the game.”
“Taking his mind off the game is what I’m afraid of,” Bryson replied. “Gulf College has a new defensive end who has been destroying wide receivers this year. If Logan is distracted, it could get ugly.”
I turned my gaze down to the field, where the teams were lining up to start the game. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Bryson said. “You were only thinking about the fun you two were having.”
“UGH, can you stop being such a buzzkill?” Jayden said. “I don’t understand how the two of us can be so different even though we have identical genes.”
“You’re fraternal twins,” I pointed out. “Not identical.”
Jayden rolled his eyes dramatically. “I’m majoring in theater, not genetics. You can’t expect me to knoweverything.”
There was a rising roar from the crowd, swirling and filling the packed stadium, cresting at the moment of the kickoff. Our team got the ball first, and I grinned widely as Knox and Logan jogged out onto the field with the rest of the offense.
The first play was a pass to Logan. But just as the ball hit him in the chest, the star defender for Gulf College slammed into Logan like a semi-truck, knocking him onto his ass. The defender stood over Logan, staring down at him, before jogging back to the line.
