My eyes wandered absently to where she was just disappearing down the hall with her best friend. I didn’t linger though, sliding my gaze to Jason who shrugged with indifference. He liked to play with Hailee, but he wasn’t one to brag about it; not outside of our trio anyway.
“Well, I for one, enjoyed the show.”
Before I knew what was happening, my hand collided with Joel, slapping him upside the head. He yelped like a little bitch, his smile replaced with a grimace. “Show some damn respect, that’s your QB’s sister.”
“Step-sister,” Jason corrected me, shooting me a funny look.
“Sorry, Jase, I was only messing around,” Joel mumbled, rubbing away my hand print from his skin.
I hadn’t meant to hit him, but hearing him talk like that about Hailee didn’t sit right with me. Besides, the idea the little fucker had been looking at her at all… The only people allowed to mess with her… to look at her… to talk to her… were Jason, Asher, and me.
“Hey Jason, Cam.” Khloe Stemson, head cheerleader and total pain in the ass, approached us. “Looking good.” Her eyes grazed past Jason and landed on me, and she licked her lips like the viper she was. “I was thinking we should probably get together to talk about the pep rally—”
“Not now, Khloe. We have to get to class.” Jason pushed past her, flicking his head for us to follow. Her eyes fixed on me again, glittering lust and desperation, but if she thought I was going to save her, she was barking up the wrong tree. Khloe wasn’t the kind of girl you saved. She was the kind of girl you fucked and then moved on.
Swiftly on.
“Are we really going to class?” Asher asked as we made our way down the deserted hall.
“What do you think?” Jason grumbled. “I can’t believe we’re stuck with Khloe all year.”
“Like you haven’t already banged that.” Asher elbowed Jase who levelled him with a hard look.
“Exactly,” he ground out. “And I’m not looking for a repeat. Ever.” Contempt dripped from his words, as if the idea of being with a girl more than once was crazy. But then, when girls threw themselves at you the way they did Jason, I couldn’t blame him.
Being a Rixon Raider came with a certain set of privileges. We were treated like gods in the halls at school; and outside the school gates, around town, wasn’t much different. It was easy to get swept up in it all. The girls. The attention. The respect. But being the team’s star quarterback was a whole other deal. Jason Ford wasn’t just a Rixon Raider—he was the Rixon Raider. The guy legends were made of, and we all knew he had a one-way ticket straight to the NFL.
“So, what’s the plan?” Joel said and Jason’s head whipped around as if he’d totally forgotten he was with us.
“You should get to class.”
“But—”
“Later, Mackey.” I shoved him toward the stairs, and he walked away, shoulders slumped, dejection burning in his eyes.
“Little fucker’s got balls talking about Hailee like that,” Asher said, and my spine straightened.
“Hailee would eat him alive. But no one will touch her,” Jase grunted. “Everyone knows she’s off-limits.”
Thank fuck.
“Anyone would think you want her, the way you act all—”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Jason had Asher pinned up against the wall before he knew what had hit him.
“Easy, man.” Asher’s eyes were wide, his hands up by his sides in surrender, as I watched on.
Jason and Hailee’s games of push and pull were nothing more than sibling rivalry gone bad. Really fucking bad. Me and Asher had been around long enough to know how it was between them, so why Asher was pushing the issue now was an interesting development.
“I’m just yanking your chain,” he choked out. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“So don’t fucking be saying that shit.” He relaxed his hold and Asher slumped down the wall, rubbing his throat. “You know I can barely tolerate her ass and don’t even get me started on Denise. I swear I should have figured out a way to sabotage the wedding before they went through with it. I can’t believe my dad married that smug bitch.”
It was no secret Jason had issues. I would have liked to say his dad’s recent nuptials with Hailee’s mom was the reason for his anger, but he’d always been that way. Ever since we were kids, he’d had giant chip on his shoulder, angry at the world and everyone in it.
“I don’t know,” Asher said. “She’s always been nice when we come over. Offering us cookies and milk, batting her come-fuck-me-eyes in my direction. Hey, if you need me to help throw a wrench in their post-wedding bliss, I’m more than willing to take one for the team.” He grinned, quirking his brows, and Jase tackle hugged him, the two of them falling into the wall again but this time with smiles on their faces.
“Mr. Ford, Mr. Chase, and Mr. Bennet, what a surprise.” Principal Finnigan appeared, hands clasped behind his back, disapproval etched into his expression as he watched my two best friends untangle themselves.
“Good morning, Sir.” Jason swept a hand through his messy hair, laying it on thick. “How are you today?”
“All the better for seeing you.” He deadpanned. “I trust I can expect nothing but hard work and a mature approach to your school experience this semester?”
“Of course, Sir.”
“Glad to hear it. It would be a shame to find yourself on the bench in your senior year.” The principal gave us a scathing look before going about his business.
“Motherfucker...” Asher muttered under his breath. “Like he can actually do that.”
“He’s just pissed the school board overruled him last year.” There had been an incident with our rivals Rixon East High. Our names all got cleared in the end, but Principal Finnigan had made it his mission to see that the reputation of the football team be cleaned up, whatever the fuck that meant.
Finnigan didn’t get it. An out-of-town transfer last year, he didn’t understand what it was like to live in Rixon, to play football in Rixon. He didn’t understand people looked the other way if they saw you up to no good, even if they recognized you as a Raider. Because Rixon, Pennsylvania, was a football town. And it just so happened to have one of the longest standing rivalries in the history of high school football. A rivalry that spilled off the field and into people’s lives. A rivalry so embedded into the history of the town, people accepted it as readily as they accepted Fourth of July or Thanksgiving.
“Coach warned us he could be a problem this year, so we need to try to keep our noses clean.” Jason shouldered the door to the athletics field, and we cut across the grass to the gym.
“Screw that,” Asher said. “Thatcher will be looking to get payback after what you did to Aim…” He backtracked when Jase levelled him with a hard look. “My bad. I’m just saying, after what went down, he’ll be gunning for blood.”
“He can bring it.” Jase growled. “If they come onto our territory, then that’s on them. Finnigan can’t pin anything on us if it’s got their fingerprints all over it.”