Chapter 36
Holland
One thing that wasn’t on my life bucket list? Falling for Lainey Barkley. Try telling ten-year-old me that I’d eventually fall in love with the girl next door and I would have laughed in your face. There’s absolutely no way I could have ever seen this coming.
I mean, my mom used to tell us that we fought like an old married couple, but like, I never took it to heart. I don’t even know where to go from here, but I do know that now that I have her, I’m not letting her go anywhere.
I don’t care what anybody says, especially Ellie. If she has a problem with it, she can fuck off. I love my sister, but I love Lainey. I won’t let her, or anyone else stand in the way of us.
Honestly, I can’t believe I got her to say it. She finally said she’s mine. I never thought in a million years that she’d say those words out loud.
Hearing them almost knocked the wind out of me. It was like I was dreaming, except I wasn’t. She was there, with me. She was real, and she was saying she was mine. Lainey Barkley is mine.
A large hand lands on my back hard, making me jump. The thoughts of Lainey and everything that happened between us the other day disappear as Mason’s face pops into view.
“You ready, dumbass?” he asks, chuckling to himself as if he’s the funniest guy in the world.
It’s game day, and instead of getting my head in the game, I’ve been imagining Lainey’s naked body on top of mine, riding my dick until we’re both screaming out each other’s names.
I’m not excited about this game tonight. Concoran State’s guys are assholes who think their shit doesn’t stink, and I can’t stand them. Okay, I can’t stand one of them in particular. One of the guys, Caleb Walker, dated Ellie a while back. They were pretty serious, and then one day, he ended it.
Not that big a deal, right? Wrong. Turns out the asshole had been cheating on her for months, got the other girl pregnant, panicked, and left. We didn’t find out until a few months later when Ellie saw a picture someone shared on social media.
What a fucking tool. Everything about that guy pisses me off. All I want out of tonight is a win for us, and if I happen to get a hit or two in on Walker, I’m good with that too.
“You’re the dumbass,” I tell Mason, and his face falls into a pout.
“Hey, no need for hostility, bro,” he says as he holds his hands up in surrender. I roll my eyes and finish lacing up my cleats.
“Let’s just get out there and get this over with, okay?”
Standing from the bench, I walk toward the door to the field and Mason follows close behind. I don’t normally want to get games over with, but tonight I do. Maybe it’s because of who we’re playing, or maybe it’s because after the game I get to see my girl.
My girl. That sounds really nice. Lainey Barkley is my girl. Okay, Holland. Snap out of it and focus on the game.
When I open the door, the roar of the crowd fills my ears. It’s a full house tonight, due to the rivalry between the schools. Everybody’s hoping for a fight or two to break out, but if that happens, we get disqualified, and coach will have our asses.
My team follows behind as I walk onto the field. The stands are full of fans sporting Ellington green and white. On the other half of the stadium, blue and orange fills the stands as Concoran fans cheer for their team.
Across the field, Concoran State gets into position, their players slapping shoulders and shouting. I spot him right away. Caleb Walker. That cocky son of a bitch trying to look all tough and shit. No such luck, my guy.
Playing with my mouthguard between my teeth, my eyes lock on the enemy line. I take a deep breath, pushing everything else out of my mind and focusing in on what’s important right now. Winning this game.
The whistle screams and the ball soars upward, spinning against the gray-black sky, and the game has officially begun.
“Bind! Set!” the ref barks, circling like a hawk.
Our teams crash together, a tangle of legs and arms and raw power.
I send the ball flying down the pitch, and a few of my guys head for enemy territory. The crowd is insane as we run down the pitch, rain starting to fall from the sky, making it much muddier and a lot more slick.
I make the mistake of looking into the crowd, and I immediately spot her. The most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. My girl. She sits with my sister and Haley who are sharing a box of popcorn.
Damnit, I wish I hadn’t noticed her because now I’m going to be distracted as hell. I mean, I knew she would be here. She doesn’t ever miss a game. I just wish I didn’t see where she was sitting.
She’s sitting there, looking perfect, with her Ellington U hat on her head and her green and white scarf around her neck, her long, dark hair in a braid over her shoulder.
Our gazes meet, and everything else, the noise, the mud, the crush of bodies, it all just falls away. My heart pounds in my chest from the adrenaline of the game and seeing her.
And then I’m on the ground.
Fucking shit! What the hell just happened?
“Better watch what you’re doing, Monroe. It’s a dangerous game. You could get hurt out here if you’re not paying attention,” Caleb Walker taunts as he stands over me, looking down at my sprawled-out body. The rain continues to fall, soaking through my clothes.
This fucking tool. He’s really going to pick a fight this early in the game?
Standing, I rolled my neck, feeling the crackle of tension in my muscles. He caught me off guard, but that’s only going to happen once.
I take one last look at Lainey, who’s wearing a worried expression. I give her a small smile before turning back to Walker and refocusing on the game.
My fingers twitch at my sides, the callouses on my palms rough against my skin. It’s taking everything in me right now not to knock the guys front teeth out.
Mason appears next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“Fella’s, fella’s. Let’s just play the game, yeah?” he says casually. Walker gives Mason a cocky grin, then begins to back off.
“Yeah, let’s play the game, Monroe,” he says as he turns away and runs back to his team. He’s the one that hurt my sister. He’s the dick. He deserved the last time I punched him in his ugly face. Now he wants to act all tough?
“Dude, keep it together. Don’t let the guy bother you,” Mason tells me, his hair a wet mop on the top of his head, his face covered in dirt. I know he’s right. I shouldn’t let it affect me.
The referee’s whistle cuts through the all the noise, and I follow Mason back onto the pitch. The crowd cheers as we take our positions, and my adrenaline spikes. I love this feeling. This rush I feel when the crowd roars and the whistle blows.
Keeping my gaze straight ahead, I focus on the team in front of me.
I watch their body language and facial expressions to try and determine what their next play is going to be.
Walker leans over to his guy on the right of him and seems to say something.
The other dude shakes his head, and a devilish smirk appears on his face.
My stomach tightens. I know that look. That’s the look that says they have a plan, it’s not good.
Looking back into the stands, I watch Lainey as her hands grip the railing in front of her. She’s watching me intently, waiting for my next move. I want to know what she’s thinking. What’s going through her head?
Her brows are furrowed, and she looks like she’s studying me. Like she’s taking in everything she sees and trying to piece some sort of puzzle together. Lainey says something to Ellie, and my sister nods before looking back at the field.
“Holland, go!” a voice next to me yells. Fuck, I’d almost forgotten where I was. When I’m looking at her, all the noise, the pressure, the weight of the game… it all fades. There’s only her. That’s fucking terrifying.
One of Concoran’s guys is suddenly right in front of me, and I feel the impact shudder up his spine, the grind of muscle against muscle as the ball shoots back, clean and fast, and then we’re running.
My lungs burn, but I don’t slow down. I feint left, then burst right, my legs pumping as hard as they can. Walker lunges at me, but I’m already past him, the wind rushing in my ears as I charge toward the try line. I can hear him closing in, but I’m faster.
When I can feel his presence right on me, I sidestep, twisting and slamming the ball down over the line.
The stadium erupts in cheers and applause.
I watch as Caleb Walker stands in the middle of the pitch with his fists at his side.
He looks absolutely pissed, and I’m loving every second of it. Smug prick.
With five minutes left, we’re up by seven. The Concoran scrumhalf kicks deep, the ball arcing into the sky. My eyes never leave its spin as I call for the mark, my voice rough, and catch it with little effort. Bursting into a run, my teammates fan out around me.
Walker runs at me head-on, and I brace myself for the impact.
There’s no time to move out of the way before we collide into each other, each of us falling to the ground.
The wind is knocked out of me as I stare into the dark, starless sky.
A sharp pain radiates through my shoulder as I push myself back up.
I wince at the pain but grit my teeth to keep from showing any weakness.
The final whistle blows.
For a second, there’s silence. The crowd seems to have not caught up with the quick succession of events. Moments later, cheers, stomping, and the music from the band fill my ears.
We did it. We fucking did it. We beat Concoran, and even though it was a hell of a game, we pushed through and worked our asses off.
When I look up, I find Lainey in the crowd as she claps and jumps up and down with my sister, her smile bright and her cheeks reddened from the cold. I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful.
She’s wearing a genuine smile, and she seems to have forgotten about everything else in the world. She’s here, in the moment, and I think knowing that is better than the feeling of winning tonight’s game.
What Lainey doesn’t understand is that she may be my biggest fan, but I’m hers.
I will root for her, I will cheer her on, and I will make sure she knows she has someone in her corner every single day.
I used to live to annoy the shit out of her, to push her buttons and piss her off.
I never understood why I felt the need to do that, but now, I think I get it.
It's because whenever she’s fired up, when she’s pissed off or annoyed, she’s showing real emotion. That’s something she doesn’t do very often. Lainey’s a closed book, and she always has been. But I’d like to think I know her better than even Ellie knows her.
She may think that no one’s really paying attention, but I am. I always have, and I always will.