by L A Cotton
“That’s... nice of you.” I forced out the words.
Asher’s gaze burned into the side of my face, but I couldn’t look at him. Not until I’d reined in the anger and jealousy coursing through my veins. Surprising me though, he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.
“I missed you,” he said as if Kellie wasn’t standing right there.
“Awww, you guys are the cutest. I was so surprised when my dad told me you were dating someone. I told him, ‘Asher doesn’t date, Daddy’, but then I saw you guys at the party and well, I was wrong. You’re a very lucky girl, Mya.”
I barely managed to choke out a garbled, “Yeah.”
“Thanks for the notes, Kellie. See you around,” Asher dismissed her, his eyes only for me.
“Oh yeah, sure. See you.” She trotted off.
“She’s wrong you know?” he said before I could even formulate words.
“Wrong?”
“You’re not the lucky one. I am.” Asher pressed me against the locker, hands either side of my head.
“You two look good together,” I said, the words spilling from my lips in a blast of jealousy.
“I’m not going to let you do this, Mya.”
I pressed my lips together in defiance, hating the way he saw right through me.
“It’s you I want, you I love.” He leaned in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You I’ll be buried deep inside of later. Kellie Ginly is no one to me. No. One. How could I even see her when all I see is you?”
He pulled back to look at me, his expression softening. “Better?”
“A little,” I said, feeling some of the anger ebb away. “But you should probably keep going. Just to be sure.”
I was joking but challenge flared in Asher’s eyes.
A challenge I’d gladly let him win.
Asher
“Look alive, ladies,” Coach Hasson boomed as he entered the locker room. “It’s a full house out there and the Eagles are looking for blood.” A wave of grumbles rose around me. “I want a clean game, got it?”
“Yes, Sir.” Our collective response echoed off the walls.
“This marks the start of a clean slate. We go out there and win the way we know how, through hard work, teamwork, and giving it our all. Jase, Son, do you want to say a few words?”
My best friend stalked into the center of the room, helmet hanging by his side, hunger glittering in his eyes. “Being a Raider, leading this team, has been a privilege and something I will never forget. But Coach is right. This game is a chance to put all the bullshit with Rixon East behind us. A chance to show them once and for all who the better team is on and off the field. Kinnicky, I’m looking to you tonight to step up to the plate and prove you’ve got what it takes to lead after I’m gone.”
My gaze snapped to Cam who looked as confused as I did.
“Coach, I’ll lead the team into the game,” he said, “but I think Kinnicky should take my place in the third quarter.”
“Are you sure that’s—”
“It’s the right call.” Jase nodded at Kinnicky across the huddle. The junior looked ready to piss his pants, but he managed to stand tall and return his quarterback’s nod.
“Well, all right then.” Coach looked to me. “Asher, how about it, Son? One final time.”
My chest tightened, Coach’s words like a vise around my throat.
This was it.
The last time I’d ever put on my jersey and play with my teammates. My best friends and brothers, for all intents and purposes.
“Asher...”
Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to leap into action and get them pumped up. But there was something so bittersweet about it, I could barely find the words.
Until Jase caught my eye and said, “Together, we’ll do it together.”
With a tight smile, I moved into the center with him. He slung his arm around my shoulder and shouted, “Who are we?”
“Raiders,” the team replied.
“I said who are we?” My voice rang out, strong and clear, spurred on by my best friend’s reassurance.
“RAIDERS.” The team echoed back at us, their collective roar sending a surge of energy coursing through me.
“And what are we?”
“Family.” Jase squeezed my shoulder, his eyes sliding to mine, saying a hundred things I knew I’d never hear. This time, on the field as a team, and off the team as brothers, it was everything.
“And what are we gonna do?” I grinned at him, falling into my role with such ease, despite the deep ache in my heart.
“Win.”
“I said what are we gonna do?”
“WIN!”
Adrenaline pumped through me, the kind of high that could only come from being surrounded by your teammates; the guys who had seen you at your best, your worst, even your butt nakedness. Four years of my life had been dedicated to them. To the team. Four years that had flown by too quickly.
And now, it was at an end and I would never have this again.
“One more time,” Jase said quietly, squeezing my shoulder, and I knew his words were for me and me alone. He might not have understood my decision to give up college football, but right now, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was going out there and playing the best game we could possibly play.
Kicking some Eagle ass in the process.
Adrenaline pumped through me as I pushed my legs harder, eating up the distance between me and my target. Head down, shoulders squared, I drove straight into the offensive player’s side, tackling him to the ground. He landed with a loud thud, fumbling the ball.
“Nice, Bennet,” someone yelled as the rest of our players closed in.
We were winning comfortably in the fourth quarter, the Eagles disorganized and sloppy with no Lewis Thatcher to lead them. It didn’t stop us from going hard. The hunger for the win tethered us, pushing us harder, faster.
I’d been prepared not to play with my team again, but now I was out here, the roar of the crowd fueled me. And knowing Mya was out there watching me only made me stand taller.
God, I was going to miss this. I’d been lying to myself; thinking I could go off to college and focus on school instead of football. But being out here, wearing a blue and white jersey, it meant something.
Something I couldn’t just forget.
“Nice tackle, Son,” Coach said, offering me a stiff nod, as I jogged off field to let the offense do their thing.
“This one’s for you,” Jase clapped me on the back as he jogged out to the huddle, ready to give the play.
“How does it feel being back out there?” Coach asked me, keeping his eyes ahead.
“It feels good, Sir.”
“The Panthers will be lucky to have you next season, Son.” The words hung between us, and I half-expected him to call me out on why I hadn’t yet committed to the team.
He didn’t though. Jason threw a perfect ball to Cameron who took off down field, every single Raiders fan making the run with him.
“Go, go,” Coach yelled, thrusting his clipboard in the air, as if it was the final play in the Championship game.
“Touchdoooooown!” the announcer yelled over the PA system, sending the stadium into a frenzy.
Jase caught my eye across the field, understanding passing between us. Football would always be a huge part of us, of our friendship. I didn’t doubt that. But he was only just beginning his journey. While mine… mine ended here.
And I had to be okay with that.
“You did it,” Felicity and Hailee rushed over to us. Jason caught his girl, pulling her in for a kiss.
“We never doubted you for a second.” Hailee smiled, nestling into Cam’s side.
“Where’s Mya?” I searched the crowd for her jersey but couldn’t find her among the friends and family who had flooded the field to help celebrate our win.
“She got a call,” Flick said, coming up for air. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“S
on,” my dad’s voice cut the air like a knife and my spine snapped straight.
“Mr. Bennet,” Jase said coolly. “Nice to see you.”
The air turned tense as my friends watched our interaction. They still didn’t know the whole story, but I figured they had begun to slowly piece things together.
“I wanted to be here to show my support for the team. I’ve donated a sizeable check to the charity.”
“That’s great, Sir,” Cam said, ever the peacekeeper.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked him.
“She’s talking to Cameron’s parents. You know how he gets whenever Xander is around.”
She loved that kid almost as much as she loved me.
“I should probably go and say hello.” Cameron gave me a nod. “I’ll catch you later at Bell’s?”
But just as he turned to head over to the bleachers, something caught my eye. “Is that—”
“Oh God,” Felicity breathed as she took off toward Mya and the tall black guy she was talking to.
“What the fuck?” Jason grumbled.
“I think that’s Mya’s ex.”
“Shit.”
I was already moving but Dad’s voice gave me pause. “I really don’t think now is the time for this, Son. Miss Hernandez and her friend obviously have some things to talk about.”
They were beyond the perimeter of the stadium, huddled by the fence. It was too far to read Mya’s expression, but my gut told me it wasn’t a friendly visit. And if my dad thought for one second I was about to leave Mya—the girl who owned my fucking heart and soul—alone with her ex, he was sorely mistaken.
“We should go and make sure she’s okay, Mr. Bennet,” Jase said, clapping me on the back. “Come on.”
We broke out into a steady jog. “I take it this is a surprise?” Jase side-eyed me as we slowed our approach.
“He isn’t supposed to know she’s in Rixon.” A whirlwind of emotions churned inside me. I didn’t know what to think, what to feel. I had so many questions, but nothing outweighed my need to get to Mya and make sure she was okay.
Felicity had already reached them, taking Mya’s side as she continued to talk to Jermaine. Although now we were closer, I could see that they weren’t talking at all—she was begging him to leave.
“Babe, everything okay?” Jason was as cool as a cucumber as he strode up to Flick.
“Yeah, we’re okay. Mya was just introducing me to her friend Jermaine.” Her eyes flicked to mine. But I was too busy watching my girlfriend watch her ex.
“I’m Jason,” he extended his hand to Jermaine. But the dude just stared at it. “And this is Asher.”
His eyes slid to mine, sharp and assessing, even if his posture was still relaxed and easy. “Asher.” He rolled my name around on his tongue. “You the guy tryin’ to make a move on my girl?”
“J,” Mya said. “I’m not your girl anymore.”
Her eyes finally met mine, swirling with too many things.
“Don’t be like that, baby girl. You know me and you got history. We’re always gonna have history.”
“Exactly. History. We have history, Jermaine, as in, it’s in the past.” She let out a strained sigh. “You should go.”
“We drove all the way out here to see you and you gonna dismiss me, just like that?”
“Jermaine, please.” Mya’s voice cracked.
“Maybe you should leave,” Jason said. I was still rooted to the spot, my thoughts running at a mile a minute trying to figure out why he was here.
How he was here.
“Really, you’re going to pick these white boys over me? I came for you, baby girl. Came to make things right between us.”
“You shouldn’t have,” Mya almost choked over the words, and I could see she was hanging on by a thread. “I’ll call you later, okay?” The words spilled from her lips in a hurried jumble. “Let me finish up here and then I’ll call you.”
“A’ight. We can stick around a while.”
What the fuck was happening?
Was she having second thoughts after seeing him again?
Jason glared at me, his heavy stare nudging me do something. To say something. But I was paralyzed by the situation. By the idea that Mya had anything to do with Jermaine being here, in Rixon.
“Come on,” Felicity urged Mya to start walking. “We should get back to everyone.”
But I couldn’t move. Mya caught my eye, silently begging me to go with them.
“Go on ahead,” I said tightly. “I’ll be right there.”
A sly smirk tugged at Jermaine’s mouth, as if knew exactly what I was thinking. Jason gave me an understanding nod, herding the girls away despite Mya’s protests. When they were out of earshot, I edged closer, locking eyes with him. He was taller than me by about an inch but where I was broad, the guy was lean.
“You the one my girl’s fucking around with?” He got straight to the point.
“She isn’t your girl and that’s none of your fucking business.”
“You think a chump like you is going to keep her?” He arched a thick, dark brow. “Mya doesn’t belong in your world. She belongs with me.”
“That must be why she’s here with me and not back in Philly with you then.”
We’d moved closer now, standing almost nose to nose. My own anger and possessiveness reflected back at me in his eyes.
“I was her first,” he drawled, and I was almost certain the guy was high. “Her first kiss, her first fuck, her first everything. You think she’s just going to forget that? Forget what we had? Why do you think she came home? Because she needed a little of what only I can give her.”
Don’t let him provoke you. I forced myself to take a step back, fists clenched tightly at my sides. “Mya ended things with you. If you care about her at all, you need to let her go.”
“Let her go?” He sneered, clucking his tongue. “I’ll never let her go, she’s in my blood. I need her.”
“Asher,” her voice reverberated inside me and I closed my eyes, inhaling a ragged breath. “Let’s go, please.”
Our eyes met and I couldn’t do anything but go to her.
“Well, would you look at that,” Jermaine mocked. “You running around after her like a little bitch boy.”
My body locked up as I glanced back, but Mya slid her hand in my mine and pulled me away. “Don’t,” she said. “He’s not worth it.”
He wasn’t.
But Mya was.
As we walked away, I couldn’t help but think that I’d made a mistake going too easy on the guy.
Mya
The mood was tense as we rode to Bell’s. Asher’s parents had insisted on taking us out for dinner.
All of us.
Jason and Felicity were riding together, and Cam and Hailee were riding with his parents. Which left me to ride with the Bennets. After witnessing me arguing with Jermaine, I was surprised my invitation hadn’t been revoked.
Asher was quiet, too quiet; but his dad... well, his dad was deadly silent.
Thankfully, we pulled into the parking lot within minutes, and Mr. Bennet cut the engine. “We’ll see the two of you inside,” he said, motioning for his wife to join him. They disappeared inside leaving me with Asher.
“Tell me there’s a reasonable explanation for him being here?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I ground out, not liking the accusation in his voice.
“You told me he didn’t know where you were. You looked me in the eye and told me—”
“I didn’t tell him.” My blood ran cold. “He convinced my friend, Shona, to tell him. She tried to call me, but it was too late.”
Asher ran a hand down his face, cussing under his breath.
“Ash...” I laid a hand on his arm, hating the distance between us. “Seeing him surprised me as much as it did you.”
“So that’s your ex?” A sad smile tipped the corner of his lips. “I thought he’d be... taller.”
I managed a small laugh
. “When I talk to him later, I’ll tell him he can’t be here. That it’s over. I’ll make him—”
The color drained from his face and I knew I’d messed up. “You’re not seriously going to meet him?”
Guilt slithered around my heart. “I have to. If I don’t...” I didn’t like to think about what Jermaine would do. No, the only logical plan was to meet and talk to him and hope I could make him see sense.
“I’ll come with you,” Asher said, defiance burning in his eyes.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Yanking his arm away, Asher folded into himself. “Do you still want him?” His eyes slid to mine, the vulnerability in his expression like a hammer to the chest, cracking my ribs wide open and leaving my heart bloody on the floor.
“No. No, Asher. I love you. I’m in love with you. But Jermaine is... complicated. I have to talk to him.” I shuffled across the seat and cupped his face, gently pressing my forehead to his. “I am so sorry he’s here. But he’s a part of my past, a part of who I am. I thought you accepted that.”
His hand drifted to my cheek. “I do. I just... shit, Mya. Seeing the two of you like that. I wanted to kill him with my bare hands.”
My eyes fluttered shut as I drew in a harsh breath. I didn’t want Asher anywhere near Jermaine. It had been hard enough watching the two of them square up to one another while Jason and Felicity all but dragged me away.
“We should go inside,” he said, breaking the heavy silence. “Everyone is waiting.”
I leaned in to kiss him, but Asher turned his head, my lips grazing his jaw. His rejection burned through me like acid. But I couldn’t blame him. Knowing about my past with Jermaine was one thing, having it shoved in his face was another.
We climbed out of his dad’s car and walked into Bell’s together, despite the growing distance between us. Felicity and Hailee came straight up to me while Asher disappeared into the sea of people gathered to celebrate the Raider’s win.
“Are you okay?” Flick asked, her eyes gleaming with concern.
“I can’t believe he’s here.” I swallowed hard. “He’s not supposed to be here.”