Page 47 of Campus Heat

Elizabeth

“— and here come the Highlanders!”

The announcer said the name in such a way that it dragged across the stadium and made us look like we were something mythical instead of mildly sleep-deprived and recently hitchhiked.

We burst through the tunnel in a wave of smoke that wasn’t ready to fully commit. The one cannon misfired while the other coughed. For the first time, the problems didn’t faze Ethan. He was laughing, like, actually laughing.

“Do you realize that we actually hitchhiked to a football game that’s three hours away from our home base?” I asked as we ran side by side.

“That must be what added to the mystique,” Ethan shot back, grinning.

“It’s some amazing mystique.”

A lineman slowed past us and smacked Ethan’s backplate. “It’s time to focus! Get your head in the game.”

“I am focused,” Ethan said, winking at me.

We reached the forty, and I knew we were going to split off, but I wasn’t ready for the time we’d spent together to end. So I grabbed his wrist, unsure of how that was supposed to help, but I just needed another moment with him before he disappeared into the huddle. He leaned down automatically, and suddenly I remembered the ritual. My stomach dropped.

“I don’t have a granola bar,” I blurted out. His eyebrows lifted. “I forgot… I don’t have one.”

The offense was lining up behind him, and someone clapped sharply.

I swallowed hard and looked up at him with pleading eyes. “But one play at a time.”

He stared at me for half a heartbeat, then he closed the distance between us. His movements were quick and sure. Then his hands slipped up my neck and over my jaw as he placed a firm kiss right on my lips. It was fast, yet it also brimmed with heat and breathy uncertainty.

“That’ll do,” he called out as he ran to his spot on the field, and was gone before I could react.

I stood there stunned until someone hissed, “Elizabeth!’

“Right,” I said, still breathless. “Defense.”

The first drive landed, and it was a lot steadier than I thought it would be. There was something different about the guys and I think Ethan’s attitude played a major role in that.

“Highlanders ball at twenty-five,” the announcer called.

There was a snap. Quick out and to the right. It lasted for a whole five yards. Another snap, but this time there was an inside hand-off. They went three yards before a cloud of rubber pellets surrounded them. Third and two, the line shifted.

Ethan crouched under center, voice low but clear. “Hard count.”

He said it only once. There was no jump, just a snap and a quarterback sneak. Bodies collided as the pile surged forward.

“First down, Highlanders!”

Our sideline erupted with cheers, and for a moment I actually thought that we’d won something. Ethan popped up from the scrum with his helmet smudged and jogged back without celebration.

For the next play, the pressure quickly came off the edge. The defensive end slipped past our tackle as if he’d been invited. Ethan barely got the ball away before he was driven into the turf. I felt the force of his crash in my ribs, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it. He just rolled, pushed himself back up, and shook his hands.

“You good?” Lucas asked as he jogged back.

“Fine,” Ethan scoffed. “Watch that edge.”

The drive stalled after that. We punted, and Fitchburg answered with surgical efficiency. They had short passes, clean routes, and a draw that sliced right through our linebackers.

“Touchdown for the Fitchburg Falcons!”

Their crowd roared as ours became quieter. Ethan stood on the sideline with his helmet on, watching every snap of the extra point as if he were memorizing it. The second drive came; there was a snap, and the guys dived into play-action.