Page 10 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

How the fuck was I supposed to concentrate when Sofia was at the hospital being poked and prodded by the doctors?

“Kandon?” Coach barked and my head whipped up.

“Y-yeah?”

“I said, are you ready to run some plays?” His brows furrowed as he studied me.

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Everyone, warm up. Coach Macintosh will take the lead. Kandon, you’re with me.” He beckoned over to the sideline.

“What’s up, Coach?” I jogged after him.

“What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

His brow lifted. “Is this about Sofia?”

“What? No! Why would—”

The knowing look he gave me made the denial die on my tongue.

“I’m just worried.”

“And so am I, and so is Aaron and Ezra. We’re all worried, son. But I need you to leave it in there.” He tipped his head toward the door leading to the athletic building.

Easier said than done.

Because I’d hurt her. I’d hurt the one girl—theonlygirl—that tied me up in knots.

But she was Aaron’s sister.

His twin sister.

Fuck, she was so off-limits it wasn’t even funny. But she was also interesting and kind and loyal, and despite having a serious case of the smarts, she didn’t take herself too seriously.

I liked her.

The truth was, I liked her a whole lot.

And I’d fucked things up.

I’d do it all over again though, if it meant that she finally pulled her head out of her ass and told her parents how sick she felt.

“Look, Cole.” Coach squeezed my shoulder. “I get it, I do. But we have a job to do. And we need to be there for Aaron. If he’s managing to hold it together, then we—”

“I got it, Coach,” I snapped, hating the defensive edge to my voice. But I knew what he was getting at.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Aaron appeared, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

“Fine,” I said. “Ready to run some of those plays we’ve been going over?”

“You know it.” He gave Coach an eager smile, but when his eyes found mine again, they narrowed with concern. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “Come on, let’s get out there. We have some Tiger ass to kick Friday night.”

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