“Gladly,” Ryan agreed with an arrogant smirk. “All right, team, get in formation.”
“And I don’t like him already,” Derek mumbled low. Aaron and I moved out of the way to our end of the field and watched the others. Drake kept yelling at us to get to work, but I had to see how the fucker played with our guys. McCarthy made sure to talk to him a lot and that pissed me off more than anything. The last thing we needed was for those two to band together; it would be an all-out war.
“Come on, Reed!” Aaron shouted. He had a bucket of footballs on the ground, ready to go. I got into position and waited for him to snap the ball to me. Being a kicker, I never had to actually catch the ball, but it was second nature to me. I caught it effortlessly and punted the ball across the field to the end zone. In high school, I played two positions, kicker and wide receiver. I liked both, but the NFL felt I was more valuable as a kicker.
“That was good,” Aaron praised.
“Thanks.” I worked through the whole basket of footballs, and now it was my turn to help him with field goals. Aaron was pretty good at it, but his aim was unpredictable. Drake gave us another bucket of footballs and stood back. Usually, when I kicked the field goals, it was Aaron who held the ball in place. Now, it was my turn to do it for him. He’d once kicked my hand, resulting in a broken finger, but luckily, he hadn’t done that in months.
Grabbing a ball, I held it in place and nodded to Aaron. He focused on the field goal and then down at the ball, his chest rising and falling rapidly. It was an adrenaline rush being in the game and knowing the fate of the kick could land the win; it was scary, but exhilarating. Aaron rushed toward the ball and kicked. It went soaring through the air and hit the side of the pole, but in the end, it went through.
“That sucked ass!” he shouted.
I got to my feet. “You still made it, though. Just keep practicing.”
“Again!” Drake hollered, waving his hand impatiently in the air. Grabbing another ball, I started to kneel down, but then turned my focus to the other side of the field. I couldn’t help but be curious about how the others were faring with douchebag Delaney. The ball snapped to him and he was looking for someone to throw it to, but Evan couldn’t get open. Time stood still as I watched Derek charge toward Delaney and sack him.
Aaron and I chuckled under our breaths, but then something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Blaine McCarthy rushed toward Derek and tackled him from behind. “Motherfucker,” I growled. All hell broke loose.
It was team against team, the tension finally exploding. Aaron and I raced into the fray, but I headed straight for McCarthy. Tackling Derek from behind was a dirty move. Even I wouldn’t have stooped that low. There were fights everywhere and I could see Evan trying to get to Derek, but I was closer. Lunging in the air, I grabbed McCarthy around the waist and hurled him onto the ground. Derek jumped up and ripped off his helmet, but he was too late. McCarthy was mine and I wasn’t going to let him get away with what he did. Jerking McCarthy’s helmet off, I punched him right in the jaw, not just once but twice.
“What the fuck is going on?” Coach Joel shouted. He jerked me away from McCarthy and glared at me. “Why is it that every time there’s a fight you’re right in the middle of it?”
Everyone separated and focused their attention on us. And of course, I was getting the blame, like always. For the first time, it wasn’t for something I’d instigated. Snarling, I pointed a finger at McCarthy. “Maybe if dickface over there wouldn’t have attacked D from behind, I wouldn’t be in this shit.”
He didn’t look like he believed me until Evan spoke up with a venomous glare focused right on Blaine. “He’s right, Coach. When D sacked Delaney, McCarthy went after him and attacked him from behind. If Jax hadn’t separated them, it would’ve been me. And frankly, I wouldn’t have stopped at just two punches.” Evan was pissed. One thing I noticed about him was that he was protective of his friends. It was strange, because I’d never felt like that until just recently. I never gave a shit about anyone or anything but myself.
Joel huffed and glared at all of us. “Get your shit together, boys.” Then he pointed angrily at Blaine. “If you so much as cause one more problem, your ass will be on the sidelines.”
McCarthy’s jaw tensed and he winced; I couldn’t help but smile at his pain. He deserved it. Now that everything was over, I finally got a look at Ryan Delaney, his gaze narrowed and staring at me with contempt. I wasn’t going to let him tear our team apart.
—
After practice, Ryan and Blaine left without so much as another word to anyone on the team. The less I had to see them, the better. The room smelled like sweat and dirty socks, but it was expected after the long day we had in the heat. My shirt was stuck to my body and I couldn’t wait to take a shower and grab a nice, cold beer.
“Thanks for helping me out there,” Derek mentioned appreciatively. He held out his fist and I bumped it with mine.
“Anytime.”
He took off his shirt and hissed when he rolled his shoulders. “I swear, that cocksucker better be glad he caught me from behind. If I’d have seen him coming, he wouldn’t be able to walk.”
“You okay, D?” Evan asked, inspecting Derek’s shoulders.
Derek ran a hand through his auburn hair and growled. “I fucking better be. Once I get some food in my system, I’ll be fine.”
Evan laughed. “When you get to the tavern we’ll get you fixed up.”
Derek glanced at me, his eyebrows lifted. “Want to come? Hayden’s working late again, so it’s just me tonight.”
I looked at Evan and he nodded. “You can come too. Besides, you don’t need my permission.”
“I know, but it’s your place and I don’t want to cause problems.”