Chapter 11
CAMERON
It was a good game. We played hard and came out on top.
Although I should be pumped up, I couldn’t move my thoughts from Hannah.
Throughout the entire game, she was in my mind.
Was she watching? Would I see her again?
At times, I caught myself staring at the coach, recalling the warning he had given in the locker room, 'off limits.
' Hannah was off limits. Not that I could blame the man for protecting his daughter, but at the same time, I resented the fact that he could be the very thing that stood in my way of seeing her again.
What was the worst that would happen? Benched. Suspended.
I needed to get her out of my mind, a task that at the time seemed more complicated than the game we just played.
Shifting in my seat, I scrolled through my social media, post after post, comment after comment about the big win.
We had taken down one of our biggest rivals on their field.
It was a time to be boastful, and yet it seemed small to me.
With a short pause, I clicked the search bar and typed in her name.
I had no clue if she had social media, but what harm would it do to look?
I waited for the screen to pop up the results when Easton sat next to me with a sigh.
“Hey, bro.”
Clicking off my screen, I lowered my phone and looked over at him, raising my brows. “Hey.” His eyes dropped to my cellphone, clinched tight in my palm, before he looked back at me, that typical Easton smirk.
“What ya looking at that’s so secret?” His question was spoken in a playful, teasing tone.
“Nothing, just checking socials.”
“Socials.” He repeated. “That's the new word for porn now?”
I shook my head at his assumption. “You’re the frequent visitor to those sites, not me,” I commented back.
Easton, with a chuckle and shrug, not a care in the world.
“You coming to the party tonight?” The typical win party.
I knew it was a tradition and never disappointed in entertainment, but it was the last thing I wanted to do.
With a shrug, my gaze fell on the coach as he passed us, giving a single nod.
“What’s on your mind?” My attention returned to Easton with his question.
“Just tired.” I lied.
Easton with a nod, though I could tell he didn’t take my answer as truth. “So, not about coach Marshall’s daughter then?”
“What? Why…”
Easton, with a grin, as he interrupted. “You don’t think I noticed the interaction between you both in the locker room?
Was she the girl you went home with after the party?
” He paused as though he waited for me to say something, and when I didn’t, I knew it only confirmed what he thought.
“Figured as much. Both of you looked like a deer in headlights.” He chuckled, both of us with a glance at the coach with his return to his seat.
“You can’t fucking say anything,” I whispered with a stern tone.
Easton scoffs at my insinuation. “You know better, bro.” The truth was, I did.
Easton and I have had each other’s backs since we were young, since dad and his mother brought him home.
It never mattered to us that we were half-brothers; there was a bond between us that was unbreakable.
I knew that if there was anyone I could talk to, share things with, help me break a rule and hide it, it was Easton. He had become a pro at breaking rules.
“I can’t get her out of my head,” I admitted, as we looked at one another.
“Why do you have to?” He asked. I motioned toward the coach with a nod, and Easton chuckled. “I ask again, why do you have to?”
“You heard what he said.”
“This is going to be a long conversation if I have to keep repeating my question, man.”
“You don’t get it,” I responded.
“What don’t I get?” Easton asked as he repositioned in his seat. “You met this chick at a party, hit it off, at least enough to go home together. You are caught up on her. I’ve never seen you ponder a woman before.”
“She’s the coach’s daughter, man.”
“She’s the coach’s daughter,” Easton repeated in a mocking tone.
“So, the fuck what. What’s he going to do, ground her?
What, bench you? Could you imagine the shit storm that will cause in the office?
” I knew Easton was right, but that didn’t change the facts.
Football had been my life for as long as I could remember.
Was I willing to risk it? Was I comfortable with the potential tension this could bring to the team, to Hannah, and her father?
“It would never work anyway,” I added.
“Seems to me it’s worked out fine so far.” Easton, with another shift in his seat, laid his head back. “Girl got my brother sitting here all sappy and shit. Gross.” My lips curled into a grin at him. “It’s a rule, boo hoo.” He continued with a teasing voice. “Pathetic.”
“You done?” I asked with a broader grin, Easton looking back at me.
“Depends.” He answered. “You know, I get shit all the time for being ‘that guy,’ but I don’t care.
I’m living my life for me, having fun and making the most of the opportunities I have.
So, when my time is up, I can say I have no regrets.
Does that involve breaking a few rules now and then?
” He paused with a mischievous smirk. “Sometimes rules need to be broken.”
I hated to admit it, but Easton was being the voice of reason, making sense.
Perhaps I just wanted to hear what he had to say.
Maybe I just wanted an excuse to break the rule and call Hannah.
If anyone could give me that push, it would have been Easton.
Looking at my phone, I licked my lips and gave myself a slight nod as though confirming the words in my head before I could even say them.
“What do you say to something different than the same party with the same people?” I asked, as my brother and I looked at one another.
“Like what?”
“A different spot. Interact with some fans.”
“Could be fun. “Easton, with a nod in agreement. “What did you have in mind?”
“A little rule breaking.”