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Finally, Trevor points at me. We all know what this means. It’s time. “Do you think we’re ready?”

I grin. “We’re ready.” Eagerness is dripping off everyone as we itch to get out there. Energy is high, but the extreme craving to win is even more so.

Trevor looks at everyone. “I said, ‘do you think we’re ready!’”

The team begins to chant. “We’re ready! We’re ready! We’re ready! To win!”

We all circle around, placing our hands in the middle. Trevor lays his on top. “Then, let’s get this. Thunder!”

“Cats!” We yell in unison, then put our helmets on, and run out of the locker room and towards the sidelines.

The first thing I look for is JJ and her parents in their usual spot. I scan the crowd and smile when I see them. They are all wearing their orange and blue jerseys with my number on—twelve.

JJ’s mom turns her to show me the back of her jersey. It’s different this time. Instead of saying my last name, it says, ‘Cross’s Girl’ in big, bold white letters.

My grin gets wider.

I like how that looks. I look a little bit lower to get a full look at her ass in those shorts.

God, has she always been this perfect?

I’ll have her keep the jersey on later when I see her.

Just the jersey.

9

Josephine

“First game of the season. Our boy’s got it, though. He and Trevor are a killer team,” my dad rants on. Ignoring him, I stare at Caleb jumping up and down to warm his body up. It’s different looking at him now. Knowing what’s underneath his uniform.

This morning, he was gone before I woke up. He left a note saying, ‘Had to leave for game day prep. I got you breakfast. It’s in the fridge’.

None of my previous boyfriends would leave me a note or even bother to get me breakfast. If they had to leave, they would send me a text saying, ‘talk to you soon’ or some other bullshit.

This felt…nice.

And the sex? I felt like I was thrown in the middle of a spicy scene in a book. It was euphoric. Left me craving more. More of him.

The things he does with his mouth. Damn, he—

“You alright, sweetheart?” my mom gently asks, bringing me back to my senses.

I nod. “Yes. Just thinking about a book idea.”

She smiles. “I’m still so proud of your success as an author. You and Caleb are inspirational. Both of you chased your dreams and now chasing the love you both have shared for years.”

“We are not in love. We’re just dating, mom. Who knows? We might realize it isn’t for us and go back to being just friends.”

She chuckles softly. “Whatever you say, darling.” She doesn’t know about our deal so she wouldn’t understand.

The game begins, and we all eagerly watch. Time passes by quickly, and the second quarter is about to come to an end. The score is fourteen to seven, with our team being in the lead.

As the quarter is about to end, Caleb catches the ball from Trevor and runs as if his ass is on fire. Player after player just barely tackles him, but he dodges them all. The crowd stands and holds their breath in disbelief that he is going to make it.

Twenty yards.

Fifteen yards.