Page 26 of House of Pain
Well, Andro wasn’t entirely wrong.
But still, in Blaze’s book, getting Alecto a few afternoons in the detention was just a means to put her back into her place. To get back the power he had lost that day at the Ceremony.
Now, they were even, back to square one. Blaze was again in control.
“Leveau!” Coach called for Blaze the moment he and Andro stepped foot on the field.
Blaze left Andro by the bench, jogging towards where the coach stood, his broad shoulders and six-foot-five figure as intimidating as it ever got with men.
“Coach.” Blaze came to a stop.
Coach’s glare was trying to drill a hole in his head.
“You remember what we talked about at the end of last season?”
Blaze nodded.
How could he ever forget the conversation he and his coach had, with his father present, of course, because the only thing Galliermo cared about when it came to Blaze was his professional rockey career?
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t party anymore, the coach had said that day.You need to be in top shape and keep up your grades so the Dean won’t have a reason to not let you play.
“Then you know what I’m going to tell you right now.” Coach’s brows rose all the way to his hairline. “I want you leading practice every morning. At sunrise. I don’t care how busy you think you are or how important the Game is. You’re here every morning before lectures, or I’ll find a new captain.”
Blaze squared his shoulders but only gave a curt nod.
It was tempting to say fuck you and walk off, leaving the field behind and never playing rockey again.
But it would only hurt Blaze.
Rockey was the only thing Blaze had for himself. All the glory and worship were due to his skills and abilities on the field and not because of his name.
It was the only reason he still showed up every day, despite hating the future his father had in mind for him as a professional player in the Premier League.
“Also,” the coach added, taking a step closer. “Lay off the booze, Leveau. If I see you with a drink in hand, I’m going to send you to detention on the weekends so that you won’t have time to get wasted. Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes, Coach.”
Coach grunted, clasping a hand over his shoulder, almost sending Blaze sprawling down to the ground.
“Go warm up now,” he instructed, glancing back at the field where the rest of the team was stretching already. “After we’re going to look over the new players and see which ones are fit.”
Without another word, Blaze jogged off to where Andro was sitting on the grass, stretching his legs while still managing to engage in some serious flirting with one of the newbie players.
“Get on your feet, ass hat,” Blaze said, tugging at one of his dreads. “Let’s run some laps.”
Andro slapped away his hand, quickly getting to his feet, and soon they fell into a jog side by side.
“What did Coach want?”
“The usual,” Blaze said, rolling his eyes. He dragged a hand over his hair, pushing it off his face. “Don’t drink, don’t do this, do that.”
Whatever.
Blaze knew exactly what he needed to do to win this season, to be just good enough to keep up and keep everyone else off his back.
“Oh, and practice every morning at sunrise,” he told Andro.
“He fucking hates us,” Andro whined as they finished their first lap around the large field.
