Chapter 26 Cash
TWENTY-SIX
CASH
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD
Cash sauntered down the long hall of his high school. A buzz of energy surrounded him.
His classmates cheered him on as he passed by, building up the anticipation of what was to come. Tonight, they played a rival team from the south. A win would secure their chance at playing the state championship game in a week.
Scouts would be in those stands. He needed to be on tonight in a way he’d never been before. Show them what he was made of and the potential he possessed.
Yeah, there was little question about him playing college ball, but he had those big dreams, too.
The idea of pro lingering out in the periphery, inspired by the praises of his coaches that he had a skill unlike anything they’d ever trained or seen. Flickering ideas beginning to spark to life that he might be able to go big.
All the way.
He was almost scared to entertain it, worried he was only getting a big head in all the small-town furor. Built up because they didn’t have anything better to look at.
Even if that was true, he was going to bust his ass for the chance to make it happen, anyway.
“Yo, you ready for the big game?” Paulo asked as he waltzed through, the guy clapping him on the back as he passed.
“Ready as I’m ever going to be.”
“Which means you’re ready to kill it on that field.”
A chuckle rolled out of him, that pride rising high. “I’ll do my best.”
“You always do.”
Cash kept moving, angling down the aisle to where Brandy would surely be waiting at his locker.
She was.
All long blond hair and long legs, wearing her cheerleading uniform, the same way the rest of the squad did during every home game.
She bit down on her bottom lip and went coy when she saw him coming.
At the sight of her, guilt nipped at his conscience. A tiny prodding that he was with her for all the wrong reasons. The sex was great—but he didn’t have that burn he knew he was supposed to.
They’d been together for almost two months. The two of them shoo-ins for homecoming queen and king. They should be perfect together.
But something always felt off.
Still, he strolled up casually. “Hey, baby. You ready for lunch?”
He was sure his stomach started to actually feed on itself if he didn’t eat a full meal every two hours.
Brandy brushed the tips of her pink fingernails down the front of his shirt, and she peeked up at him with a glint in her eyes. “I was thinking maybe we’d skip lunch and go do a little early celebrating by ourselves?”
Cash slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Hmm. While that offer is tempting, I need to stick to school grounds. Can’t risk getting caught and benched tonight. Besides, Daisy is going to be waiting at our table for us.”
Air huffed from her mouth. “Are you serious right now?”
Most of the time Brandy was pretty chill. But when it came to Daisy, she was getting weird. Territorial, he guessed. But he’d laid it straight to her from the beginning.
Daisy was his best friend, and that wasn’t going to change.
Mostly it’d been a sour face when Daisy would come around, but last week when she found out Daisy sometimes climbed the tree to get to his room at night, Brandy had freaked the fuck out.
She didn’t get it, though, what that girl meant.
And maybe that was the whole problem. Cash wasn’t allowing himself to recognize it, either.
Uneasily, Cash raked a hand through his hair. “Uh, yeah, I’m serious. You want me to get suspended and benched from the game?”
Brandy rolled her eyes. “Like they’re going to bench their star player? You could commit murder right now, and they’d act like it didn’t happen. This is about Daisy.”
He hiked a shoulder. “So?”
Did she really think he was going to ditch Daisy for lunch? After he’d pretty much fucking had to beg her to keep sitting with him since she always thought she was in the way?
Like she was some kind of burden?
Like she didn’t make everything a little bit better every time she came into his space?
Incredulity dropped Brandy’s jaw. “So? You’re so clueless, Cash. The only thing you really care about is her.”
“That’s not true.” The words were coarse splinters.
“It isn’t?”
“No.”
Brandy cocked a hip. “Then prove it.”
“And how exactly would you like me to do that?” He tried to keep his voice hushed, but anger was spinning high, his teeth grating together as the protectiveness he felt toward Daisy surged through his system.
“Tell her to go fuck off and sit with the rest of the losers where she belongs. The only reason you hang around with her is because you pity her, and I’m sick of seeing her stupid, pathetic face wherever I go.”
Disbelief burned in his chest. A riot of fury and disgust that Brandy could be so cruel.
He’d never taken her for a mean girl, but clearly, he was wrong.
Before he could respond, he heard a choked gasp behind him. A gasp of hurt the person tried to keep fettered and subdued. One he knew could only come from one person.
He whipped around to find Daisy stumbling away, trying to blend into the crowd, though she fucking tripped over herself in her bid to escape.
The girl landed hard on her left hip.
She tried to hide that cry, too. It might have been silent, but he heard it.
Felt it.
He rushed that way. “Fuck, Daisy.”
She ducked her face and pushed herself backward across the slick floor, like she was going to try to crawl away. “Just leave me alone, Cash.”
He only angled forward. “Come on. Get off the floor.”
Frantic, she shook her head. “Please, just leave me alone.”
“You know that’s not going to happen,” he ground out, and he took her by the hand. A small cry erupted from her as he helped her to her feet, and she kept hiding her face that he knew was written in humiliation.
“See what I mean,” Brandy spat as she flung a hand in Daisy’s direction. “Look at her. Pathetic and stupid. Stop wasting your time with her. Tell her to fuck off.”
Cash felt the pitching of Daisy’s chest, a silent cry as she tried to turn and dip into the crowd that had surrounded them.
“Nah, you can go fuck off because I’d definitely rather spend my time with Daisy than with a vapid bitch like you.”
It was his fault. He never should have started something up with Brandy. But that didn’t mean he was going to let her demean Daisy.
He dove into the sea of people surrounding them. Probably every fucking person at school.
He didn’t care.
He shoved at the people in his way, shouting, “Daisy! Daisy! Would you wait up?”
She kept moving, shouldering through. Frazzled, pained energy rolled off her in waves. She pushed out the double doors at the end of the hall.
He ran out behind her, eyes scanning to find her running down the steps and toward the parking lot. The hints of cinnamon in her brown, wavy hair glinted beneath the sunlight, and her spirit moaned and thrashed.
“Daisy!” He dashed after her, not giving a fuck that everyone poured out the door behind them to witness what was going down.
She increased her pace, basically jogging with her ridiculously huge backpack bouncing on her back.
“Daisy,” he rasped when he finally caught up. He took her by the elbow and whirled her back toward him.
She slammed her eyes closed. “Just go back inside, Cash. She’s right. You don’t need to be hanging out with someone like me.”
“Someone like you? Who? Someone who’s kind and giving and thoughtful? Someone who really gets me? Actually fucking listens to me? Someone I get in return? Someone who’ll pretty much do anything for me the same way as I’d do for her? My best fucking friend? Is that who you’re talking about?”
Tears poured down her face, and she itched on her feet. “She’s your girlfriend.”
“Not anymore.”
“Cash, I don’t think I can—”
He pushed forward, invading her space. “Don’t you get it, Daisy? I need you, and I think you need me, too.”
“But I’m not anything like them.” Daisy peeked at the crowd of people who were supposed to be his friends, where they loitered on the steps, half of them laughing and others whispering beneath their breaths.
“Good.” He reached out with his thumb and gathered a tear that streaked down her cheek. “Don’t listen to her, Daisy. Don’t listen to a fucking thing she says or anything any of them say. They’re completely wrong about you. The only thing you need to know is you’re amazing.”
Sniffling, she averted her gaze.
“Hey, I’m getting offended over here.” He injected as much lightness as he could into his voice. “Your clear response should be, ‘And you’re amazing, too.’”
She choked over a little laugh, wiping at her face as she mumbled, “Stop it.”
“I’m not stopping anything when it comes to you, my Little Wallflower. Now let’s go eat. I’m starving, and I need my energy for the game tonight.”
Bright lights rained from above and sweat poured down his back. His uniform was covered in grass and mud. His entire body was a dull throb from the number of hits he’d taken through the night.
But he fed on it. The aggression that churned on the field.
The timer ran down.
It was the fourth quarter, and thirty-two seconds were left in the game. They were down by one, and it was fourth and ten.
They’d played well, but the other team was crazy good. Whatever his team put down, they pushed right back.
They’d been neck in neck the entire night.
Now, they were trailing, and he had this one chance to turn things around.
His receiver bounced beside him as he gave the play, and he felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
His nerves scrambled. Pressure hitting him from all sides.
He set himself up behind the center, though he let his attention skate to the home stadium that was completely packed. No question, the scouts were peppered sporadically throughout.
His mom and dad were there. In the front row where they always sat. His mom’s fingers were anxiously threaded together, her love and belief pouring out. His dad gave him a thumbs-up. A silent ‘you can do this’. His encouragement unending.