Chapter 14 Lucas
Lucas
The drone of voices buzzed with excitement in the locker room about the midnight pep rally that was about to go down in an hour.
I should be as pumped up as they were. Since freshman year, I lived for the Wolf Howl—a tradition dating back many years that maintained that kissing a girl on the field would bring luck to the player and the team.
We certainly needed all the luck we could get considering our depressing record.
Tonight, though, I wasn’t into the pep rally as much as I would like to be. Frankly, I didn’t want to kiss any girl except Mazzie Meyers. She was driving me mad, like the way I got in the last ten seconds of a tie game—adrenaline, dread, and wild hope, all mashed together.
I’d never been so frustratingly devastated over a girl before like I was with Mazzie.
I wanted to shake some sense into her. Show her that I was also scared out of my mind.
I didn’t want a repeat of a Natalia situation, but I couldn’t stop my heart from feeling the way it did.
I also couldn’t keep hearing rejection after rejection from Mazzie.
But for fuck’s sake, her body was waving all the right flags at me even if her brain had a warrior’s shield around it.
I braced my arms on my knees while I sat on the bench in the locker room, reading the text exchange between Mazzie and me for the thousandth time. I’d read them since she texted me not long after I left her at the gazebo.
Mazzie
It looks like I’m going to be your tutor. Are you okay with that?
Not in the least. I didn’t want to be close to her, smell her fragrance, see that beautiful dick-squeezing look in her eyes. How the hell was I supposed to concentrate on my history assignment?
I need to pass Historiography. I can’t screw up my scholarship.
Mazzie
Given our situation, I’m not sure I’m the right person for the job.
Why? Didn’t you say something about being friends? Aren’t friends supposed to help each other? And Mr. Gantt says you’re perfect…
Mazzie
Lucas… you know what I mean.
Do I? Because I stand by what I said. You’re lying to yourself.
Mazzie
Lucas… can you be friends? Or will you insist on trying to change my mind about us?
My response to her last text had been: See you next week.
A sock landed on the floor in front of me.
I rounded my gaze on Ajax, one of our running backs, standing at his locker directly in front of me. “What the fuck? I don’t want your disgusting socks in my face.”
“Then pay attention,” Ajax said. “You’re a million miles away, staring at the phone for eons. Get motivated, man. This is the night we howl at the moon.”
The locker erupted in laughter.
“Lucas is in love,” Erik announced as though he were shouting it to the rooftops.
I bared my teeth at the six-foot meat lump of a tight end and threw Erik the finger. “Bite me.”
Ajax, dark hair shorn on the sides, whistled. “Since when? What happened to keeping relationships casual?”
Since I met the woman who somehow has my balls, heart, and soul in her grasp.
Now, I was flipping off Ajax.
Ajax huffed. “I would like to meet the gal who’s got you lovestruck.”
Vincent, aka Vin, our team kicker who had dark-red hair and blue eyes that drew a line of women to his door, strode from the shower area. “Did I hear that Lucas has a girl? Who is she?”
“Mazzie Meyers.” Of course Erik had to stoke the fire.
The locker room quieted down.
Ajax jaw dropped. “As in Maserati Meyers?”
“That’s a cool name,” Erik mumbled. “Bailey hadn’t told me that.”
I agreed with Erik about her name, but that wasn’t what had me breathing fire. I swore if he had dated her, I might have to give him a busted lip.
“You know her?” My brow lifted.
Ajax buttoned his red dress shirt embroidered with our red-and-gold team logo. “She’s in my biochemistry class. She’s on track to graduate next year Summa Cum Laude. Chick is smart as a fucking whip. Hot as fuck too. I asked her out many moons ago, and she shot me down. She’s a tough nut to crack.”
No doubt Maserati Meyers was as stubborn as a mule. “What do you mean?” I had to hear his two cents.
“She keeps to herself,” Ajax said. “Doesn’t answer personal questions. She’s cold as ice. Ask her about the weather, and she’ll tell you to look outside.”
Smirking at the cold as ice reference, I wouldn’t agree with him. She’d told me a couple of personal details about her mom.
The door creaked open, clearing my bad mojo.
Ryker came around a bank of lockers, dressed like the rest of us in jeans and a team shirt, carrying a box.
“Here are the jerseys to give to the girl you kiss tonight.” He dropped the box in the middle of the room, the thump sounding explosive.
“Before you grab a shirt, I need everyone to gather ’round. ”
“Is Haven allowing you to participate in the festivities?” Vin asked Ryker.
Our team captain stood on the bench with an expression that signaled that was none of anyone’s business.
“She’s all for the tradition. Now, listen up.
Tonight is one of the best nights for Lakemont football.
The Wolf Howl hasn’t failed us in the time I’ve been playing.
At midnight, lights go out, we get ninety seconds to kiss a girl and then disappear before the lights come back on. Straight and simple.”
“Why disappear?” a freshman backup kicker asked.
“My dad is an alumnus,” Cane, a wide receiver who would be starting next year after I graduated, piped up. “He said the disappearing part is about mystery and fun. But if a wolf is still kissing a girl when the lights come on, it could mean he’s found his mate. That’s how he found my mom.”
Ajax smirked. “Don’t forget to add the number draw to that scenario, Cane. If the random generator hits your jersey number after the howl, then fans believe that fate picked your mate, and that means we’re a lock to win homecoming.”
All of us had heard that superstition, but in my time at Lakemont, no one had found their mate.
Sure, the hype of the Wolf Howl and kissing a girl seemed to bring us luck because as Ryker had said, we hadn’t lost a homecoming game in our time at Lakemont.
Still, we were diving into the weeds too much.
“Look.” I raised my hands. “The main point about the tradition is kissing a girl for good luck. The rest of it is to motivate fans. Don’t rely on a superstition to win a game. All of us need to have our heads on straight tomorrow and play the best game we can. Nothing more.”
“Lucas is right,” Ryker said. “So after the pep rally, if you’re going to hang out, don't get drunk. Come in tomorrow morning smelling of alcohol, and Coach will bench you. Hill Country College is tough this year. We can’t afford another loss due to hangovers or anything else. Are we clear?”
“Yes, captain!” the players shouted in unison.
“Good. We have about thirty minutes. Grab a shirt from the box and finish getting dressed.” Then Ryker tipped his head at me. “Coach wants to see you and me in his office.”
Immediately, panic set in as I remembered our jaunt to the Silver Spur Casino.
That must be why Coach wanted to see us.
Maybe a student had been there that night, witnessed my run-in with Josh, took pictures, and put them on social media.
Coach hated bad press, but that was mild compared to breaking school policy about gambling, and even though I didn’t gamble, stepping foot in a casino could be construed that I had.
As we entered the hallway, nervous wouldn’t even begin to describe the tension-filled party going on in my stomach.
“Do you know what he wants?” I asked as our sneakers squeaked against the floor.
“Not a clue. But if it’s about the casino trip, he would’ve had us in his office already.”
“It’s not my performance.” I’d been playing well in practice, channeling my pent-up energy about Mazzie into running so hard it hurt. That pain was far better than the one in my heart.
The smell of worn cleats and dirty socks hit me when I walked into Coach’s office, my pulse racing, my brow lined with sweat.
Ryker sidled up behind the two metal chairs as we both stood at attention.
Coach didn’t even bother with the preamble as he leaned forward on his battered wooden desk. “Anything you two want to tell me?”
Ryker and I exchanged a knowing look.
“Sir,” I said, “we were only there to pick up a friend.”
Coach swiped a hand over his bald head. “By there, do you mean the casino?”
Ryker and I both nodded.
Coach pressed his forearms on his desk, which was flanked by laminated game charts and a mug that said Best Coach in Texas.
And he was. The man had a solid reputation where mostly everyone he came into contact with showed him respect. He had a slew of championships on his resume, and players vied for a position on his team.
“Are you trying to ruin your future in the NFL?”
My stomach fell to the floor. “No, sir.”
Coach’s glare pinned me to the wall like a goddamn tack. “If you were there to pick up a friend, then why were you arguing with a casino guest?”
Rage jerked my shoulders upward. “He got rough with my girl. Coach, we didn’t gamble.”
Coach’s face turned red as he slapped a hand on his desk. “It doesn’t matter if you gambled or not. The fact you were in a casino says you could’ve gambled. Need I remind you both about school policy? Or are you trying to ruin your potential NFL careers?”
I didn’t know about Ryker, but I was shaking where I stood.
Coach regarded Ryker. “I expect more out of my captain.”
That was a shot to the heart, but Ryker stayed quiet, taking his licks.
Coach sat back, resting his hands on his belly, and studied us intently.
Nothing terrified me more about Coach than the equal measure of disappointment and expectation he could pack in a single look.
He popped forward. “You’re lucky that I have contacts in security who will erase that part of the video of you, Lucas. But I have a good mind to punish both of you by telling the two NFL scouts attending the game tomorrow to overlook you both.”
Ryker and I whipped our heads at each other, our jaws hanging open.
“Please, Coach. I promise I won’t go anywhere near a casino,” I begged. Hell, I would plead until the cows came home.
“We still have many games to play,” Coach said. “I’ll give you this one chance. But if I find out either one of you is anywhere in the vicinity of a casino again, I will not recommend you to any scout interested in you. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryker and I said in unison.
“Good. Now that’s out of the way, we need this win tomorrow. That means the team needs to be in sync. Every player on that field needs to play like their lives depend on it. I’m not losing another damn game. You can go now.”
Ryker and I didn’t move. I knew my legs felt heavy and glued to the floor. I seriously had whiplash from getting my ass handed to me on a platter to hearing that scouts would be at the game tomorrow.
“What teams, Coach?” Ryker asked as though Coach hadn’t yelled at him.
“Portland Pioneers and San Antonio Stallions,” he said. “Now, get out of here, and enjoy the Wolf Howl.”
As soon as Ryker and I were halfway down the hall toward the locker room, we pumped our fists in the air then hugged each other, the casino incident all but forgotten.
“NFL scouts, man,” he said excitedly. “This is what you and I have been dreaming about since we were in elementary school. I don’t know about you, but my stomach is having a wild party.”
I blinked away tears of joy. Everything that had happened up until this very minute—the good, the bad, the ugly—was worth it. Sure, being scouted didn’t mean we had NFL contracts signed, sealed, and delivered, but it was a step in the right direction.
“I’m going to play the best damn game of my life.” I was feeling like I’d won the lottery. “I wouldn’t mind playing for either of those teams.”
He gripped me on the shoulder. “I would love to play for the Portland Pioneers.”
We’d always dreamed of playing on the same NFL team together. The odds weren’t great that we would, but they weren’t impossible either.
In the meantime, I had to play the best football game tomorrow that I could.
“We got this,” he said. “It’s time to kiss a random girl for good luck then win a football game.”
I wanted Mazzie as my good luck charm, but she wasn’t attending the Wolf Howl, according to Erik’s inside source, and even if she was, odds were I wouldn’t find her among the hordes of women on the field.
Still, the idea of kissing anyone else felt wrong.
But I had a game to win and maybe a future to earn.