Page 209 of Steeling Her
My heart is telling me to give him a shot at just being friends while my head is telling me that, that’s playing with fire. However, I’ve always been attracted to fire.
Just as the music starts to play, neither one of us moves our eyes away from each other. It’s like a staring competition, only this time, it’s not awkward and it’s not a game to see who loses. It’s something more—something deeper.
With my eyes not leaving his, I’m stuck in a trance. I can see that his jaw is taut and tense. I’m so caught up in this that I don’t want to look away.
No matter what happened between us, I can’t deny the chemistry we have. It’s still there, even when I don’t want it to be. I’ve been scared all these years to ask him what happened and why he pushed me away. I’ve been terrified to know the truth, but looking at him with those big green eyes, I know that now is the time.
I want to know.
I want to know what happened between him, his dad, and his coach.
I want to know it all.
Every. Single. Detail.
Chapter Forty-Two
We Need to Talk
Carter
As we all sit and watch the game like everyone else in the stadium, we cheer each of them on. The more excitement there is, the louder our cheers become.
My dad and brother tend to be the worst out of all of us. Even when my dad coaches the opposition, you can always see him smiling when my brothers make a clean pass or skillful touchdown. He’s their number one supporter, without a doubt. He has a lot of pride for the two when they hit the field. There is no denying it.
“Come on, son!” my dad roars at Chris, who is not having a great day. He’s missed a few passes, and he knows he’s not playing well. Out of my brothers, Chris is the hardest on himself when things don’t go his way. Chris was never into school and education, so he knows he doesn’t have much to fall back on, which is added pressure for him.
I know he could always go back to school in the future, but everyone in my family knows that it’s not likely to happen. But there is one thing that he’s confident in: Chris is extremely talented in what he does. Nobody can deny it, some say he’s the best in his position. Ever.
That’s a huge compliment. I’ve even heard my dad say it to my mom about how much of a talent he is to watch. He’s a phenomenon. My dad is very proud of him, and you can see it every time he watches him play on the field, but he would keep that to himself. Chris’ head is already big enough with his ego.
“Come on, Chris!” Danielle mutters under her breath as she watches her partner miss another chance on the field to take the team ahead. He’s not functioning properly today. He’s not his usually self. Whatever it is today, he’s off and he knows it.
“Send it down the line!” My dad stands up out of his seat as we watch Nick holding on to the ball and seeing who is open. “Launch it!” he yells again to get Nick to listen to him. The likelihood of Nick hearing him is very slim. We are close to the field, but there are thousands screaming in this stadium right now. I’d say he can barely hear himself think right now. “Come on!” my dad repeats himself. Just as Chris makes another break and my dad shoots up out of his seat, Nick pulls his arm back to send my brother the ball. Just as it leaves Nick’s hand, Chris is nearing the end zone. “Jesus Christ,” my dad whispers in awe as we all watch the ball soar through in the air. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Austin throw from that far. If he has, he’s never been accurate enough or made it, but as soon as that ball leaves Nick’s grip, I knew it has the momentum behind it to reach my brother. It’s accurate enough too.
Hence, why my dad cursed. I don’t think he’s ever seen anything like it. There was so much strength and power behind that throw, I don’t think we’ve seen that one in a long time.
“Last time I saw a throw like that was in the eighties; Vincent Waldorf.” My dad keeps his eye on Nick even though his son gets the touchdown. The crowd erupts in a mountain of cheer. Taylor screams in happiness in her mom’s arms. She begins to scream for her dad because he finally got some points on the board. TJ has been doing all the work up until now.
My dad hasn’t sat down nor has he acknowledged the fact that the team has scored. He’s still staring at Nick, who hasn’t joined in on the celebrations. He’s just getting himself back into position and is waiting for his team to join him. He withdraws himself from the cheers and gets back into the game. He used to not be like that. If anything, he would be instigating the celebrations.
“Rodger?” my mom calls from him. He finally takes his eyes away from Nick and looks to the voice calling for him. “You okay?” she asks as soon as their eyes meet.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He nods and flicks his attention to me momentarily before taking his seat between my mom and Danielle with Taylor in her arms.
I don’t know what that was about. I don’t know why he was all of a sudden invested in Nick for those moments when there was a huge comeback underway; one his son started when he got his momentum back.
***
Nick
I can feel my chest rapidly moving up and down as I catch my breath from the quick run that I did to get the ball in the air for the boys. If I see an open man, you can be sure as hell that I will launch the ball at him.
I’ve learned that I won’t always have TJ on the team. He was my go-to man, the one I could always count on. I knew his style inside and out; it was what I was comfortable with. It was a familiar routine. Until we got drafted for different teams, then I had to adjust my game to suit the team I was on and not for my best friend anymore.
It took a while, but I had a great personal coach to help me focus on the teammate and to identify their traits on the field. It doesn’t happen overnight like I thought it would. It took time, and a hell of a lot of patience too.
I learned how to identify the trigger points of reading a person as I went on. I read a person’s game through their style of play, getting a feel for their signature and reading their body language on the field. It’s helping me work my way up the ladder.
