Page 144 of How to Score Off Field

He’ll find out? From who.

I highly doubt Tess is going to tell her brother. She’ll tell Miranda, no doubt about that. Don’t girls tell each other everything?

But her brother?

Nah.

Don’t think so.

Still, the idea plagues me all night. And as I’m climbing into bed it’s on my mind. Even when I open my book to read, it’s on my mind. I try to stay distracted, trying not to grab my phone and immediately message Tess.

We’ve been talking quite a bit the past few days, which is idiotic considering we’re hundreds of miles away, and when do long-distance relationships ever work out?

Especially with a guy like me, who’s busy all the time and has real-world commitments on top of going to class and maintaining the house we live in, basically busting my ass and not having fun.

Well, this weekend was fun.

I had more fun tagging along with Tess and spending time with her than I did with my best friend, whom I rarely saw, which turned out for the best. Grady got the credit for dragging me home, and I had a blast hanging with his little sister, plus I got laid.

But the only problem I’m having now?

I can’t stop thinking about her.

If we continue talking, wouldn’t it make sense that we develop feelings for each other?

I thumb through my phone—at the dating apps my brother Drake installed for me—poking open the one where I have the most matches and scroll through the faces of my matches, none of whom I’ve met in person since Drake announced he’d been pretending to be me online.

Just haven’t had the energy, though I’ve always had the intention.

Chatting isn’t hard. What’s stopping you?

Tess Donahue is stopping you…

But she’s halfway across the United States, and these girls are here, some of them less than one-hundred feet away.

Closer.

But Tess is from your hometown. She’ll be there when you finish with school.

You don’t know what you’re doing once you graduate, asshole—you might end up in New York. Or Washington.

Or Seattle.

Why is that thought so depressing?

Because your heart isn’t in it anymore. Now that Dad is gone, there’s no one pushing you to stay in the game.

But what the hell else are you qualified to do?

I shrug off the thought, blankly staring at the open pages of my book.

Tess: Quick, tell me one thing you just got done thinking about.

Drew: Shit. Um. What I’m doing after I graduate.

If I graduate and don’t enter the draft instead.

Tess: Dang, Colter, why so serious?