Page 202 of Lucky Mother Pucker

“I’m your brother. I’ll always look out for you.”

When we hang up, Lucy and I head downstairs to feed Wally and make breakfast. We’re in the kitchen when the front door opens. Nick, Blake, and Travis walk in.

I look over at them, confused. “What are you guys doing back? I thought you’d be gone for the rest of Christmas Break?”

They drop their bags on the floor.

“We couldn’t stay away while you’re going through all this,” Nick says.

“Yeah. You think we were really going to let you deal with this alone?” Blake says.

Travis shakes his head. “We’re in this with you, man.”

I look at my teammates—my best friends. It’s two days after Christmas, and they cut their time with their families short so they could support me.

“We saw what your sister posted on Instagram,” Nick says. “We all reposted it to our accounts.”

“We started a hashtag too,” Blake says. “#IStandWithLP”

He shows me his phone screen. I see his post and the hashtag. That overwhelmed feeling inside of me grows.

I notice Nick is on the phone. “Hey, Coach Sawyer. This is St. George. I’m gonna put you on speaker.”

I look at him, confused. What is he doing?

“Hey, Coach. Morrissey here.”

“And Maxton.”

“Okay…” Coach says, clearly confused. That makes two of us

“We just wanted to let you know that if you bench or kick Peretti off the team because of the fight he got into, we’ll refuse to play,” Nick says.

My eyes go wide as I look at them. “What the hell are you guys doing?” I say.

They don’t answer me. They just stand there, looking at Nick’s phone, the calmest, steadiest expressions on their faces.

“Excuse me?” Coach Sawyer says.

“Look, we know that you’re mad about Peretti getting into a fight and the video of it going viral, but do you know why he did it?” Nick says.

“He was defending his sister from her abusive ex,” Travis says.

“Seriously?” Coach says.

“Yeah. And he shouldn’t be punished for protecting her. That was the right thing to do,” Blake says. “Any of us would have done the same.”

I stand there, stunned at how my teammates are defending me. At how they’re willing to put themselves on the line for me.

After a moment, Coach Sawyer finally speaks.

“I didn’t realize that was the cause of the fight,” he says. “You there, Peretti?”

I clear my throat. “Yeah. Hey, Coach.”

“I take back everything I said. You don’t have to worry about your place on the team. I’ll explain the situation to the administration. They’ll back off once they know what really happened.”

I exhale quietly, relieved. “Thank you, Coach.”