He liked to make sure you were never alone.
He understood her sacrifices as a young boy and grew up with an open heart and a strong mind, both that came from the unyielding love and support of his mother. He didn’t have an army around him like me, but he had her, and he made sure she felt she was enough.
A tender, heaviness falls over my chest, but I try not to show it, propping my chin in my open palm. “Tell me about his first ever football practice.”
“He cried like a baby,” she says instantly, making me laugh. “Begged me not to make him go, but I said, son, listen to me,” Lori continues telling her story and slowly, I look to Noah.
He winks my way, but it’s soft and different, and when he looks to his mom, I realize something.
Noah isn’t all the things the boys are for me.
He’s somehow… more.
Chapter 27
Arianna
* * *
“Brady said this week’s game is a big one for them.”
I nod, flipping over my flashcard. My shoulders fall.
Wrong again. Damn it.
“Yeah.” I drop back in the plastic seat. “Noah said they lost to this team in overtime last season, and right now, they’re tied for first place.” Checking the time on my phone, I begin stuffing my materials into my backpack. “Come on, if I don’t get an energy drink or a coffee or something, I might die, and they still have forty-five minutes of practice left.”
Cameron jumps up, ready to roll. “I wish we could drive out with them. This is the third away game in a row.”
“I know and they’ll be gone for three days this time. It’s a fourteen-hour drive to New Mexico. How miserable is that?”
“Ooh, I almost forgot. Someone might go through quarterback cock withdraws.”
“Shut up before I push you down the walkway.”
Laughing, she leads us down the stadium stairs.
As we get near the final platform, Chase goes out for a route. It’s a quick pass, and Noah bullets it his way, but it slips through his fingers, bouncing off his knee pad and right into a defender’s hands.
The whistle blows the play dead, and Chase tears his gloves off. Rather than jogging back to the line like the others, he walks.
Noah holds a hand out for each guy as they come in, and each one slaps their palm against his in passing. Each guy except Chase.
Instead, Chase bumps him in the shoulder and gets back into position.
Cameron crosses her arms. “What was that?”
I shake my head, watching as, this time, the receivers run downfield, each guarded by a defender. Chase breaks left, but he’s double-teamed, two defenders on his ass, and Noah finds his open teammate on the right, so he fires it off, the ball falling right into his intended target’s hands.
The whistle is blown and they begin their walk back, so Noah turns to speak to the lineman, while waiting for the others to jog back for the next drive, and I pull in a breath when Chase bumps him again, but this time, Noah’s not even looking.
Noah has to jump up to avoid tripping over one of the guys bent down tying his cleat.
Noah whips around, and Chase pushes his chest into his captain’s. Into his quarterback’s chest.
People shout, and Noah puts his hand on Chase’s chest to keep him back, but Chase slaps it away.
Noah tears his helmet off then, jerking forward and pointing his hand down the field, but Chase screams back.
Not even a minute later, Chase shoves him, and then the entire team is on their feet, screaming at Chase as Noah tries to calm them down, but Chase won’t shut up.
Rule number one on the field is never touch the quarterback.
What the hell is he thinking?
“Let’s go.” I frown, turning into the tunnel that leads to the parking lot.
“Ari, really!” Cameron calls behind me, falling in line beside me a moment later. “You don’t want to wait and see what happens?”
“No.”
Without another word, Cameron and I leave the stadium, and it’s not until we’re stepping into the campus coffee shop that she turns to me.
“In case you’re refusing to acknowledge what just happened, I’ll do it for you.” She slips her thumbs through the loops of her backpack. “After last weekend, it would be pretty hard to pretend it wasn’t obvious you and Noah are hooking up.”
“So.”
“So… maybe you and Chase need to have a conversation.”
Shocked, I gape at her, snapping, “What?”
“Don’t what me. You guys never talked about what happened.”