Page 165 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

“If Coach keeps us late, we're screwed.”

“He knows we’re going.” Lucas looks at me, eyes narrowed.

“We'll make it,” I say.

Lucas nods. “Yeah, we will.”

We get to Dryden, showered, changed, and rid of the smell of football practice, and looking good for our Lady Saints. Ryan called me Country Club again, but now it’s with less venom.

I think he likes me, I think as I flip the visor up after a final inspection before opening the door and sliding out of Lucas’s car.

The first thing I hear when we walk through the gate is the crowd. The second is the whistle.

The first period is already over, and I glance at the scoreboard. Blue Valley is up one to nothing.

“Not bad,” Lucas says.

I look toward the field and brace for it. Helmet. Cage. Gloves. Leg guards. Padding everywhere. Her hair is pulled back, and the uniform is about as far from the sundresses and jeans I’ve seen her wearing as you can get. This should be the one time. The one time I can look at my girlfriend and not think, hot damn.

She turns her head. Fuck.

“She’s so fucking hot.”

Lucas looks at me and laughs. “Tommy boy...”

“What?”

“You’re hopeless.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”

Jade lifts her glove and calls something toward Tessa. Tessa turns, and then she sees us. Her whole face changes.

I grin.

Lucas nudges me with his shoulder. “There. Now you’ve ruined her concentration.”

“Look at them, they’re serious athletes.”

He looks back toward the field.

Then his expression shifts. “That’s Madison.” I follow his gaze and see her as she’s looking at Tessa, then to us, and back to Tessa.

I glance at him. “She still trying to get your dick?”

“Yeah.” He points to another. “There’s another.”

He whispers fuck, scrubbing his hand over his face.

Then I see Carla and ask, “How many girls on this team have you dicked?”

He shrugs. “Three.”

“Three?”

“Three that I know of.”