Page 93 of Campus Heat

But the knot in my stomach tightened as soon as the words left my mouth. We started the second quarter, but our rhythm never came. On the first drive, I scrambled when the pocket collapsed. My cleat slipped on the wet turf, and I went down hard before gaining the first down. Groans came from our sideline as Lucas pulled me up.

He gave me a pointed look. “You have seriously got to stop slipping, man.”

“I know,” I muttered.

During our next possession, Lucas broke open downfield. He was wide open, but I saw him too late. I threw, and the safety nearly intercepted it. Lucas jogged toward me, and his frustration was clear.

“Ethan! I was open five seconds ago.”

“I know,” I scoffed.

“Don’t keep telling me you know. Throw the damn ball.”

Cam stepped between us to stop any potential fight that might arise because of this.

“Hey!” Cam said firmly. “Just focus, and it will be okay.”

I ran my hand over my head, forgetting that I was still wearing my helmet.

“I am focused,” I snapped.

But I wasn’t, because every time I looked at the sideline she was there watching me with that sad look on her face. And every single time I saw her, the same thought hit me like a punch in the gut. She had spent the night with someone else, and there was no working around it.

The third quarter was worse than all the rest. I fumbled a snap when the ball slipped in my wet glove. Endicott used it to their advantage and quickly recovered. Of course their crowd exploded with cheers. Not long after that, I overthrew Cam on what was supposed to be an easy pass. It was enough to piss him off as well.

He ripped his helmet off and stormed up to me. “What the hell is going on with you today?”

I didn’t answer him because I didn’t know how to explain that I was having girl problems with a chick I wasn’t in a relationship with. And that goes without mentioning that no woman should be able to affect my game this much. I hated the amount of control she had over me. That she could bring me to this level without even saying a word to my face.

But by the fourth quarter, the scoreboard was telling everyone the whole story. Endicott had the lead, and we were more desperate than a hooker who had a bad night. I called one last deep play, hoping it would at least give us something.

There was a snap. Lucas sprinted to the sideline, and Cam cut across the middle. I threw, and once again, it was too high. Lucas jumped as high as he could, but he still couldn’t reach it. There was a turnover on the downs and the final whistle blew a few minutes later. Endicott’s sideline erupted in celebration while we stood scattered across the field with heavy shoulders and loosely hanging helmets.

“What the hell happened back there?” Cam snapped as he approached me.

No one answered. Dylan just kicked at a loose water bottle that was lying on the field. Harris didn’t even yell, and for some weird reason that almost felt worse.

“Get yourselves cleaned up,” Harris said quietly. “The bus leaves in forty minutes.”

The locker room was even quieter than the field. If you asked me, I’d say it was far too quiet for any good to come out of there. Eventually, Lucas spoke up and cut through the tension.

“There’s a pool bar a couple of blocks from here,” he said casually. “We could stop for a drink before heading back.”

“Two drinks,” Cam countered.

“At least three,” Dylan muttered.

A few weak chuckles spread through the room, but then Lucas looked at me and the entire atmosphere shifted.

“You coming?” He asked.

I looked over at the rest of the guys and shook my head. “Nah. I’m going to sit this one out.”

Cam frowned. “Seriously? I think you need a drink more than the rest of us.”

“That’s exactly why I’m refusing,” I admitted.

I knew it was going to turn into a discussion, so I grabbed my jacket and made my way to the door.