Page 38

I meant that. There was no point pretending I knew more than I did. That wasn’t confidence. That was stupidity. These men had experience I didn’t, and if they were willing to give it to me, I was smart enough to use it. But I also refused to spend the season apologizing for being here.

The team was mine to lead, and I planned to do that no matter what they thought of me.

“All right, look,” I began when I had everyone’s attention. The team was sprawled across the field in various stages of collapse after another full day of me working their asses into the ground. “We’re taking tomorrow off.”

“Oh, thank fuck!” Drew exclaimed, falling back on the lawn. I laughed under my breath. That reaction was immediate enough to tell me I’d made the right call. They needed the break. Hell, I needed the break.

“Instead,” I continued, “all of you will sleep in tomorrow.”

The vocal relief drowned me out, and I stood there to let them have the moment. They needed sixty seconds to celebrate the fact that I wasn’t going to drag them out of bed before sunrise. I stood there and waited, arms crossed, pretending their ridiculous level of happiness wasn’t amusing me until the noise eventually settled.

“All of you have done a great job these past two weeks,” I said. “I know nothing about this situation has been ideal. Trust me, it’s kept me on my fucking toes. But I think we’re doing well despite it.”

I meant that, and I was proud of them—not that I was about to get sentimental in the middle of the field and say that out loud.

“Eh.” Jude drew the word out, loud and dramatic. “You aren’t too bad.”

“Douchebag,” I shot back. “Shut up so I can keep talking.”

I glared at him, expecting the backlash, but he said nothing more for now. I knew better. Jude would say something sooner or later.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to meet at the high school’s old scrimmage field and fuck around for the day—have some fun, play some games, and at the end of it all, it’s back to my place where I’ll feed the lot of you. All I’m asking is that you don’t do something stupid—”

“Oh, come on!” Sam interrupted. “Where’s the fun in that?”

I closed my eyes, sighing quietly out of frustration.

“At least, not stupid enough to get yourselves hurt!” I said over him. Jesus fuck. I could practically watch bad ideas forming in real time. “For the love of God, our first game is next week. I need all my players to have their shit together and their limbs attached.”

“We’ll do our best, Coach K.” The grin on Wyatt’s face as he said it wasn’t encouraging. Neither was the way Theo immediately looked at Jude.

Yeah, some part of me would regret this shit. However, another part of me was already looking forward to it.

CHAPTER 14

Rhodes

Ihave a question—dude, why are you naked?” Jude demanded as he waltzed through my office door.

“I’m not naked, asshole,” I snapped. I wasn’t. I was missing my shirt, but I had my jeans on. I’d managed to get in a quick shower after all the players left for the evening. “What do you need, Jude?”

“Serious question,” he began, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door frame. That caught my attention. There wasn’t a lot that Jude took seriously. Or at least, there wasn’t much he let anyone see him treat seriously. He’d always been laid-back as a kid, but somewhere along the way that easygoing personality had become louder. I’d started noticing it after I came home. Everything about him was exaggerated, especially after Mom’s diagnosis. Being home for ten months had taught me more about my little brother than the previous decade had. “Is Theo being scouted?”

“What gives you that idea?” I demanded quickly. I was determined not to tell the team who was being scouted. I didn’t want it to create more tension during an already stressful time.

“You talked football with him.” Fucking hell. I should’ve talked about football with all of them. Hindsight was twenty-twenty with that one. “Oh, come on, Rhodes! I can keep a secret.”

“You’ve never kept a secret in your life,” I retorted.

“I have secrets.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“If I told you, then they wouldn’t be a secret.” He smirked. And damn it, the fucker was right.

“I’m not telling you anything I haven’t told Theo,” I said, which was probably already more information than I needed to give him. I hadn’t told Theo anything. I wanted him to focus on playing this year. He’d perform better without the anxiety of trying to impress scouts.

“Okay, then… if you’re going to be that way,” he replied, “I want you to make me a better quarterback. You know… on the off chance Theo is being scouted. If I play better, it’ll give him more opportunities to impress the scouts.”