Chapter 30 Nadine
NADINE
The roar of the crowd shakes the stadium as the clock ticks down the final seconds.
I’m in the stands, heart pounding in my ears as I scream.
Next to me, Paisley does too. Molly holds Kai tight to her in a carrier, making sure his earphones stay on while she hops up and down, cheering.
As soon as the final whistle blows, the noise amplifies even louder.
The Founders won the division on their home turf.
“They did it!” Molly shouts, eyes brimming with tears, and I nod, eyes fixed on the field where the team celebrates. My chest blooms with so much pride and joy, I can taste it.
It’s delicious revenge.
Down on the field, Camden throws his head back, arms out at his sides, hands fisted as he screams up at the sky like a feral animal. I feel it in my bones.
I know how bad he wants this. How hard he’s worked. How he’s climbed each and every step to get back to this place. It’s not finished, but he’s so close to the top. Nearly there.
When I realize that all the families are headed down to the field, led by a team attendant, I motion to Molly, and we gather our things to follow.
Paisley and I hold hands as we traipse down the stadium steps and run out onto the field, chaos among the cameras and reporters descending on the players.
I stay close to Molly as she spots Erik first. After our spat Christmas Day, he texted to apologize about jumping to conclusions, and I accepted.
Even though he jumped to the correct conclusion.
I just didn’t appreciate the way he acted as if Camden were below him or me, when my brother, of all people, knows Camden’s real character.
I won’t stand for him talking shit about his best friend.
I will happily be the last line of defense against any and all who want to come at Camden Long.
Molly hugs Erik, and he kisses her a few times then bends to kiss Kai. When he spots me, he holds his arm out for a hug.
“Good work,” I shout into his ear so he can hear me above the commotion. “You deserve it!”
“Thanks, Nan.” He releases me and offers a hug to Paisley as well. Then suddenly, Camden is there, hauling his sister into his arms. She shrieks and frowns, obviously hating how he’s drenched in sweat, his uniform covered with patches of green and brown.
He sets her down so they can have a short conversation in sign, during which she congratulates him before he turns to me. His dark eyes spark with excitement, his grin wide, and I don’t hesitate to hug him, though I am careful of how it looks, so I pat his back once. Completely platonic.
“Congratulations. You did it.”
“We did it,” he agrees with a smile and leans in as if to kiss me, but I immediately step back, slapping his shoulder pad.
“Way to go!”
He shakes his head with a laugh then holds his hand up for a high five, which I meet with a giggle at the situation.
Dorian Green, a wide receiver, jumps onto Camden’s back, yelling something indiscernible, and our small group becomes bigger as more and more players join Erik and Camden.
Molly, Paisley, and I take pictures and videos of them laughing and dancing then clear the field with everyone else twenty minutes later.
The Founders team heads toward the locker room, shouts and whistles echoing in their wake as they celebrate their road to conference play-offs, while some family members hang out in the tunnel, chatting while they wait for the players.
They have a bye week coming up while the wild card games take place, and I’m sure they’re going to enjoy a few days off to recharge.
I assumed Camden would take forever to shower and change, but I feel a tug on my parka while my attention is on my phone screen, double-checking Paisley’s upcoming therapy appointment on my calendar. “Riv. Don’t turn around. Just step back.”
Following his orders, I act like Homer Simpson in that meme, fading into the bushes, and find myself up against a concrete wall with Camden caging me in. “Just a quick…”
He bends down, capturing my mouth in a kiss. As he said, it’s quick, barely more than a brush of his lips against mine.
“You played so well.” I skim my hand down his shirt. “That catch in the second?” I blow out a breath like it makes me hot, and his hands find my waist.
“I love knowing you’re in the stands for me.”
“Coulda shown it with a touchdown.”
He cocks his head. “I had my highest average yards this game. That not good enough for you?”
I shrug like it’s not, and he huffs, lowering his head, speaking his words against my lips. “Let’s see if I can’t change your attitude tonight. I—”
“What the hell are you doing?”
Camden is shoved sideways, and I realize the huge body in front of me belongs to my brother. I touch his shoulder. “Erik.”
He whips his head to me. “No.
“What do you mean, no?”
“Just shut up!” he shouts, gaining the interest of the small crowd of WAGs and players in the tunnel, and Camden approaches my brother with his hands up, like he wants to push Erik. I step in front of him so he can’t.
“Don’t yell at her like that,” Camden seethes, gently setting me aside, all of his focus on my brother.
“Don’t yell? You both fucking lied to me! I have every right to yell after the bullshit you two fed to me.”
Erik pivots to face me, but I’m so shocked by the last few seconds that I can’t form words, even if I wanted to. “It’s not…”
“What?” he circles his hand for me to continue. “It’s not what? Not what it looks like? Not my sister and my best friend hooking up behind my back after I specifically asked both of you if anything was going on?”
“Okay, yes, that’s what it looks like,” Camden says with his usual arrogant amusement, but it’s not going to defuse the situation and only makes Erik more irate.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Erik grits his teeth, and Molly approaches, a timid but hopeful smile on her face, while another one of the wives holds Kai.
“Babe, I think we should talk about this at home. Everyone’s adrenaline is through the roof from the game, and it would—”
Ignoring her, Erik swings around to Camden. “I asked you point-blank if something was going on, and you said no, that you were focused on winning.”
“I am.” Camden holds his arms out at his sides, as if to encompass their win. “We are.”
“You lied. To my face.”
“Listen—”
“No.” Erik knocks Camden’s hand down. “You listen. Nadine is my sister, and you knew how I’d feel about this.”
“Exactly why we didn’t want to tell you until after the season.”
Erik’s nostrils flare as he shakes his head. “You fucking asshole. It never should have started in the first place.” He leans into Camden’s space, right in his face. “I never should have trusted you with her.”
I slip in between them, pushing against Erik’s chest so he’ll back up. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here, and especially don’t talk about me like I’m a child. I am a grown woman with my own mind. I make my own decisions, and nothing between Camden and me has anything to do with you.”
He glares down at me. “It has everything to do with me.”
I huff. “Now who’s the egotistical one?”
Erik lifts his finger to point at Camden but keeps his eyes on me. “Him. And if I thought you’d fall for his act, I never would have suggested you help him out.”
“Don’t talk about him like that!” I shove at my brother with all my might, moving him half an inch, garnering the attention of the entire surrounding crowd in the process. But I don’t care. He’s not going to speak down to or about Camden.
“He’s your best friend and teammate, and you’re the asshole for acting this way. Camden and I love each other.”
Erik lets out a single dubious laugh. “He’s incapable of loving anyone but himself.”
I assumed my brother would be upset when he found out about Camden and me, but this reaction? It’s so over the top I might laugh if I weren’t so full of rage. “Seriously? Where is this coming from?”
“You lied to me. You are my sister and best friend, and you lied to me. You went behind my back, hid this from me, and you think I’m going to be cool about it?
I’m his quarterback, and I already lost one ring because of him.
I’m not going to lose another. So don’t try to pass this off as some insignificant thing that I shouldn’t be upset over.
I have every right to be pissed the fuck off, okay? ”
“Erik,” Molly pleads, pulling on his hand, attempting to move him.
He doesn’t, merely curls his lip in disgust at me. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Hey! Whoa!” Camden all but leaps over me to get to my brother. “Watch your fucking mouth when you’re talking to her.”
Finally, Erik looks at Camden. Both of them breathing hard, nose to nose, a silent threat hanging in the air. Molly and I try our best to pry them apart, but it’s impossible when they’re like this.
“You two are ridiculous,” Molly hisses at her husband. “Acting like children.”
“Let’s go home, Cam.”
They both ignore us.
Camden puts his finger in my brother’s face. “You can say what you want about me, but you don’t say anything bad about your sister. Ever.”
Erik huffs. “I can say what I want to and about my sister. Because she’s my sister.” He bats at Camden’s shoulder. “And this is family business, so stay out of it.”
That’s when Camden swings.
Molly shrieks as the two fall to the floor, rolling back and forth, both of them grappling for the top to punch the other. I heave a sigh, stomping around them for Paisley’s hand. A few people—players and workers—rush to the idiots wrestling on the floor and finally pry them apart.
“What the fuck?” one of the other players says, eyes wide, head on a swivel as he takes it all in.
Some of the wives and girlfriends whisper behind me. I hear my name but can’t make out anything else as I comfort Paisley, who is confused and shocked.
I am too, but it hasn’t quite hit me yet. Like I’m in an out-of-body experience, watching it all from the sidelines.
But then again, from the video that hits the internet seconds later, I can watch it as many times as I want in my own body.
The snarl on Erik’s face. The way Camden’s fist meets his chin. The resounding shout of “We’re done!” as they’re carted away from each other.
That’s what it feels like.
Erik and Camden are done.
The team’s done.
And possibly the best thing to ever happen to me is done too.