Page 84 of The Pass Protection
She nods.
“How are you going to get Q and Brynn away?”
“That’s the tricky part. The two hide away in her room whenever Q visits, barely coming up for air. I talked to Macy, and she said that she and Gregg would come up with something.”
For the next hour, the two of us scroll through our phones, searching for decorations and baby items we can order that will arrive in time. A reality show Chloe is addicted to is playing in the background as our soundtrack for the night. Everything about this moment feels like a dream come true. Warm fuzzies flutter in my stomach to be a part of a family. This CTU group has different personalities, but they all share one thing—their love for each other.
Everything about this day feels different. It’s not even nerves because we are playing a good team. As we approach the final weeks of our season and maintain our undefeated record, more hype surrounds us. With this week’s game being on Veterans Day, the university has planned a few ceremonious events to honor our servicemen and women.
It’s weird being around military appreciation days since my dad died and my brother is away serving our country. Growing up, my dad would come to school with us on Veterans Day since our district put on an assembly every year. With them both gone, it feels weird to celebrate them when all you want to do ishonor thembut in person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my brother for serving our country and fighting for our freedoms. I just miss him. I want to fix our relationship and feel like I have a brother in my life.
Sitting on the bench before my locker, I lace up my cleats before wrapping my feet with tape to keep the laces in place. Jitters don’t normally flutter in my stomach. I rarely suffer from pregame nerves, but something in the air tells me today is different. I can’t put my finger on why, though.
One different thing is our jerseys. The athletic department upgraded our home jerseys for today’s particular game. The white andpowder blue digital camo uniforms are sick as fuck. Our white helmets even have matching camouflage inside the CTU letters.
“Yo,” JP says from his locker across from mine.
The guys and I all turn our attention to him. “I had the weirdest fucking dream last night.”
Grant pauses from where he’s taping his shoes a few lockers down from mine. “What was it?”
“We were all playing football, but we were dressed like chicks.”
I shrug, glancing around at the other guys. “It doesn’t seem that weird. Were we in like dresses?”
“The hell do you guys get into in your apartment that wearing dresses isn’t that weird?” Grant scoffs, disgust and confusion morphing his features. “Please don’t tell me y’all parade around wearing my sister’s dresses.”
“First off, I’ve never seen your sister in a dress,” Harris chimes in. “And second of all, don’t be saying shit like that. It takes one of these fuckers to overhear, and we have a whole rumor on campus.”
I chuckle. “That’s not what I meant either.”
“Anyway,” JP drawls, regaining our attention. “We weren’t wearing dresses but tutus, like ballerinas wear, and cheerleading skirts.”
“Bro, that’s weird as fuck,” Harris says.
“Thank you.” JP waves his hands in front of him.
“Maybe you’ve fucked too many cheerleaders, so now you’re going to become one.” Grant howls, causing the room to laugh.
JP tosses his sandal at Grant, who catches it. He bounces over to our big defenseman and gives playful punches on JP’s pads.
“Man, fuck you,” JP grumbles as laughter fills the room.
I turn to lock up my safe and double-check I have everything as the coaches file in from the attached conference room. Coach Campbell claps his hands, commanding our attention.
“Gentlemen,” he starts, glancing around the room and making eye contact with each of us. “Today is a special day. I won’t stand up here and tell you what you need to do out there because you already know. I will tell you not to let today’s ceremonies distract you from playing our game. Let’s go out there and show them what we’re made of.”
Cheers erupt as we clap our hands, forming a huddle around Coach.
“Eagles on three,” Harris yells over the chaos. “One, two, three.”
“Eagles!” we chant back before funneling through the doors, our helmets in hand.
The sounds of our cleats clinking against the tile echo down the hall as we jog toward the tunnel. Lights from media photographers flash around us as adrenaline rushes through our veins. Helmets go on as we line up inside the chute and wait for our signal.
Coach stands at the opening inside the tunnel as our captains surround him. Coach raises his hand in the air as we bounce on our feet in anticipation of what’s to come. He drops his arm as we run onto the field.
The packed stadium erupts in cheers as we follow the male cheerleaders who hoist our flags high in the air and lead us to our sideline. The announcer continues to hype the crowd up as we find our places. Since there were more pregame ceremonies than usual, we were immediately directed to line up for the national anthem.
