Page 12 of Catch
Then there’s no more time for silly antics. My body springs into action, racing for the ball.
Dane and Axel are all over me, so I take it as far as I can and then pass it to Jackson. My teammate starts to bring it up the field, but I see Ethan in my periphery, chasing Jackson, and I race after them.
Unfortunately, I’m so focused on the ball that I don’t realize I’m suddenly too close to Ethan. We collide at thehalfway line, and both of us tumble to the ground, Ethan falling on top of me.
Worst of all, his face is only inches from mine.
“Watch it,” I grumble as I scramble to push him off me.
“You watch it,” he snarks as he rolls off me. “You ran into me.”
“No way. You’re the one at fault.”
He stands up and offers his hand to help me up, but I ignore it and get myself set to rights. Suddenly, Ethan backs away like I’m threatening to piss on him, and it’s not a moment too soon. I’m a second away from losing my temper, again, but I rein myself in. I glance around and wonder why Josiah didn’t call a penalty.
Then there’s no time for me to question it, because Jackson’s got possession of the ball and he’s getting closer to the net.
Only, Kayden and Finn are closing in on him.
I run as fast as I can, trying to find a spot that’s within striking distance. I feel Ethan hot on my trail, and I can’t shake him. Everyone’s attention is on Jackson, and when he turns quickly and passes the ball to me, I ignore everything around me and burst into action, running it up the rest of the way to take my shot.
Ethan crowds around me, his steps as lightning quick as mine, but I’m sneaky and manage to escape his grasp.
All it takes is one moment.
I kick the ball with everything I’ve got and then some, imagining that it’s Renner’s crotch I’m aiming for. Unfortunately, Maddox’s reaction time is faster than my attempt, and he blocks the goal with one foot, sending the ball flying back into the field.
“Fuck!” I snarl in frustration.
Josiah blows the whistle and calls out a foul.
What? What did I miss?
Josiah makes the signal for holding. On our side. Are you freaking kidding me?
I put my hands on my knees and bend over to catch my breath, then glance around. Jackson jogs up to me.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Iggy.”
I turn around to find Iggy gesturing wildly as he exchanges words with Dane. Iggy’s shaking his head, and Dane’s pointing at his arm.
“Better luck next time!” Ethan calls out behind me.
“At least I got near the net!” I clap back.
“Bad aim, though.” Ethan cackles.
“Better than you last Friday,” I quip and take off running again.
“Hey!” he yells after me. “Not fair, I was drunk.”
I can’t help but laugh at the memory. A week ago, me and the other guys in the Crew crashed one of Ethan’s frat parties. Well, Jackson invited us, but I went along for the ride. After a couple of hours of partying, the entire group headed to Lake Kinnear for a bonfire. Only, Ethan decided to skinny dip and gave everyone an eyeful of his junk. The cold water plus the cool night air meant he was less than his usual cocky self when he emerged from the lake. Not that he seemed to care. But when tipsy Ethan decided to take a piss, he missed his aim and hit the fire instead of the bushes. I laughed so hard that I snorted beer up my nose.
Even still, the guy is impressive, and way too hot for his own good. But I will never, ever, let him know that. Bad enough I thought it, never mind telling him and feeding his ginormous ego.
Ethan shrugged off the incident as only the most popular guy on campus could. Teasing bounced off Ethan like he was made of Teflon; nothing affected him except winning or losing a hockey game. And yet, whenever I bugged himabout it, it set him off. There was something strangely addictive about being the one to burrow under his skin.
