Page 8 of Campus Heat

“I’m not all that,” I muttered. “I’m just another guy trying to give this team a fighting chance. But we won’t achieve anything by having never-ending discussions with chicks who think they mean something.”

“If you spent less time arguing the facts and more time answering the questions, we wouldn’t be taking so long.”

I wished I could argue, but she was right. The more time I spent trying to get away from her, the longer I stood there talking to her. She was like a dog with a bone. She wouldn’t let me go until she’d gotten what she wanted. And the worst part was that she had my shitty attitude on record. Something that could flush my name even further down the toilet. Not really a risk I could take.

“Fine,” I said, motioning to the hallway. “But we’re going to have to walk and talk because the rest of the team will be coming out soon.”

“I can live with that,” she said, trying to keep up with me. “How does it feel to be the star the entire school’s relying on?”

Horrible. Annoying. Confusing. The truth was that the more time I spent with this team, the more I was starting to wonder if coming here was really the right choice for me. Yes, I was benched in Stamford, but at least there I stood a chance. The team knew what they were doing, and they worked together like a well-oiled machine.

Talent scouts watched us play regularly. So all I needed was a chance to be on the field at the right time and I could’ve made a career for myself. But at Havenport I didn’t stand a chance at all. I’d have more game time, but nobody was going to pay attention to this team until we started winning, and that wasn’t happening any time soon.

It was very hard for me to not just blurt out the truth and make my real feelings known. But I knew that if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, it would be front-page news. That wasn’t something I could afford to do. And the team didn’t deserve it either. Even though they annoyed the shit out of me, they were trying, and I’d be damned if I was the reason for their failure.

So I stuck a smile on my face and said, “It feels really good to be here and help this team grow. It was an honor to be the one who was chosen to take the lead. And I’ll try my absolute best to help us succeed.”

“Do you have any strategies that you think will help us make a good first impression during our first actual match?”

“I have a few ideas, but the key to any good team is working together well. It’s also the pitfall when forming a team.”

Penny’s face clouded, her frown deepening. I took a breath and slowed things down for her.

“Think of our team as a clock,” I said. “Each part works individually, but in order for it to do what it’s meant to do, those parts need to work together in a very specific way. At this stage, we’re trying to get the mechanism to work so the team can start doing what it’s meant to do.”

I prayed that my analogy would make sense because if it didn’t, she could end up writing it in a way that would make us look like a bunch of total idiots.

“I get what you mean, but that’s a time-consuming process, right?” she said. “Our first game is scheduled, and the days are drawing closer. Do you think the team will be ready?”

That was the question of the century. We hadn’t even found a working strategy yet, so there’d been no practice in anything worth our while. And because of that, we were still just a heap of individual parts that couldn’t perform as a whole. So no, I didn’t think we’d be ready. I thought we were gonna get slaughtered, but the entire school didn’t need to know that.

“I believe the team will be ready,” I said. “But there’s a difference between practicing with guys you know, and actually going up against another team. So I don’t expect us to win.”

“You don’t?”

Shit. I probably shouldn’t have said that part out loud either.

“It’s not because I don’t have faith in the guys,” I backtracked quickly. “It’s just because it’s nerve-wracking, you know? Going up against an established team while you’re trying to build one from scratch.”

Penny didn’t look too convinced as she scribbled down some more notes.

“Okay, last question. Many of the students saw the photo montage Lucas did at the party. Was your practice really that bad in the beginning? I mean, it looked like you guys didn’t know what you were doing at all.”

I died a little inside, but I still managed to give her a killer smile. “Not many people are aware that Lucas is the Loki of the team. The jokester you can’t trust to save your life. What he did at the party was just a prank. We wouldn’t be here if we were really that bad.”

She laughed. “Fair enough. I didn’t think you could be that bad either. I won’t keep you much longer. All I need from you now is a picture.”

Before I could protest, she pulled out the camera. I had no idea what I should do, so I just stood there, helmet in hand like a chump. She snapped away happily, but luckily the team burst through the doors before she could get carried away. They pulled a few stupid poses before running off, and that seemed to placate her.

“Thank you for your time,” Penny said as she put her camera away. “I’m sure we’re going to have a lot more of these chance encounters.”

The thought alone made my skin crawl. Of all the things that came with being a football player, this was the one I hated most. I was forced to lie and make things up on the spot. I couldn’t just say what was on my mind without the risk of it coming back to bite me in the ass. And I couldn’t stand it.

I quickly turned around and headed to the field, glad that disaster was over and done with. But as I stepped out of the building, Elizabeth caught my eye. She was sitting on the bleachers with her long legs stretched out like she was on vacation. Her hair was waving in the wind, and her expressive eyes burned into me.

“I see you’re making headlines already,” she teased. “The new face of Havenport. Ethan Rose, star player and leader of the Highlanders, expected to bring the gold home!”

But I didn’t have time to stop. The team would already be teasing me because of the interview. I didn’t need them to add her to the mix as well.