Resist Me

Chapter 5

West

Some bruised ribs were going to stop me.

The clock was moving slower than normal, I was sure of it. We had thirty seconds left in the third quarter and it felt like I’d been hit by a semi-truck. I hadn’t been knocked down as hard, but every little thing made pain flare in my side.

We were leading but not enough for me to be confident about a win. A lot could happen in the last quarter and, if I was being honest, I wasn’t in any shape to make sure we succeeded. If we lost, it would be because of me.

When the time ran out, I dropped to my knees and hung my head. Between my pain and frustration, I was overcome by the kind of exhaustion that felt like it could break me. It traveled straight through to my bones and wrapped around my mind, trying to snuff me out.

With a deep breath, I got to my feet and joined the others by the benches. Kai gave me a quizzical look. I dropped my gaze, working my jaw as I tried to muster the strength to admit defeat.

“You have to take me out,” I said.

Coach narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about? ”

I lifted my shirt. The bruise was just beginning to form, but it was clear that it was going to be bad pretty soon. Kai rushed forward and brushed his fingers over it. Even though it was a light touch, I recoiled.

“Shit,” coach growled. He tossed his clipboard to the ground and fisted his hands. “Adler, can you carry us through?”

Kai blinked a few times, then chewed on his lower lip. When his eyes flitted to me, I knew that he was hesitating for my sake.

“It’s fine,” I assured him. “Someone has to do it.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “Let’s finish this.”

I sniffed, nodding along as they went over the plays. As soon as they went back to the field, I dropped onto the bench. I’d rather leave altogether, but I wanted to see this through to the end.

Grabbing my phone from my duffel under the bench, I checked my messages. My eyes were watery, but I smiled when I saw a text from my sister.

Wombmate: Hey, bitch. Kai said you’re playing tonight. Are you killing it out there?

West: All I do is kill it. Miss you, dumbass.

She sent a middle finger emoji followed by heart hands. I chuckled and put the phone away so that I could focus on the game. It took Kai a minute to get into the swing of things but once he did, I felt pretty confident in our upcoming win. That was the thing about Kai. He was good at literally everything. I bet someone could hand him a trombone and he’d figure it out by the end of the day.

I wasn’t like that. I wasn’t dumb or anything, but I didn’t have a natural affinity for things the way he and his dad did. In every sense of the word, I was pretty average except when it came to football. Maybe it was just because I put so much of myself into it. If I applied that kind of effort somewhere else, I might find other skills, but this was what I wanted to do. It always had been. I was probably a cliché, but it didn’t matter.

Lincoln crouched as he watched the game unfold. He bounced on his toes a little when it got intense and I cocked my head. It seemed like a bad position for a sprained ankle. Now that I thought about it, he’d been pretty light on his feet yesterday when we practiced together.

Was he lying? And if so, why? Maybe he was tired of football after all this time. I assumed he’d be entering the NFL draft this year, so that didn’t really make sense.

Matt got us a touchdown, which drew my attention back to the game. I leaned forward, watching every move. By the time the clock ran down, my eyes felt strained from my efforts not to blink.

We won. Fuck, we won.

I got to my feet and winced but tried to ignore it. Once Kai was in range, I threw my arms around him. His grip on me was agonizing and after a second, he swore and pulled back.

“I’m okay,” I assured him. “You’re a fucking badass.”

“It was you, West. If I had to do that the whole game, I would’ve thrown in the towel at a certain point.”

“Oh, don’t be dramatic. You’re amazing.”

His gaze moved behind me. The way his eyes lit up told me who was here. I stepped back, watching him pick up Sen, who looked a little panicked by his exuberance.

Some of the guys were talking about going out to celebrate, but I wasn’t in the mood. Yeah, I carried us through three quarters of the game but right now, they were all trying to talk to Kai. I’d gotten us this far and in the end, I wouldn’t get the glory for it. They liked him better anyway. They always had.

I didn’t want to be negative today, but it was hard not to. While they were all busy talking about the last play, I headed to the locker room. As soon as I was behind the door, I stripped out of my jersey. My ribs felt like shit and I was under no delusion that I’d sleep well for a while. Even though I should, I didn’t think I’d go get checked out.

In just a pair of jeans, I sat on one of the benches. I was breathless from the exertion, made worse by the injury. I bet the bruise was gonna be cool, though. A few pictures were in order to commemorate this moment- the day I almost earned my team a win for the first time.

A few people filtered into the room. When I spotted Lincoln, I waved him over. He looked uncertain as he stopped in front of me. His eyes went to my side and his lips pursed.

“That favor,” I began .

“I knew that was a mistake to offer.”

I breathed a laugh. “Probably.” Glancing around, I made sure Kai wasn’t here to bitch about it. “I need a bottle of vodka.”

The request seemed to surprise him. “Uh, okay. Having a party?”

“Pity party of one.”

His brow furrowed. If he said no, I’d just have to turn in early and hope that I could force myself to sleep. Thankfully, it was the start of my weekend, so I could relax. We were moving on Saturday, but it wasn’t like we had a lot of shit, and the things I ordered would be carried in by the delivery people. It was pretty perfect.

“You shouldn’t drink when you’re injured,” he said finally.

“You gonna treat me like a child or let me cash in my favor? Either way, I’d like to get back to my dorm. I have to move shit on Saturday, so I’d like to sleep all the way through tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t sound sure about it, but he’d agreed, which was good enough for me.

“You can drop it off at my dorm. Thanks.”

It’d be nice if I had some prescription strength painkillers, but alcohol would have to suffice. If he didn’t end up following through, I wouldn’t be surprised.

I slung my duffel over my shoulder with a pained grunt. Nodding at Lincoln, I headed for the side door. I heard Kai’s voice somewhere and I didn’t want him to fuss over me right now, so I picked up the pace.

I was barely out of the locker room when soft laughter reached my ears. Turning the corner, I found a few of the cheerleaders smoking. From the smell, I was one hundred percent sure it was weed. Their eyes widened when they saw me.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a narc.” With a sly smile, I stepped closer. “Actually, that might be just what I need. I got messed up on the field tonight.”

“We saw,” a blonde said. I was pretty sure her name was Jessi. Her lip jutted out slightly and my gaze snagged on her mouth. “You need something to make you feel better?”

Cheerleaders weren’t exactly my style, but this was supposed to be a celebratory night, right? I held out my hand and Jessi threw a look toward her friends before she took it. After plucking the joint from her fingers, I pulled her toward the path that would take us to Marshall Hall.

“You’re the starting quarterback when Lincoln leaves, right?”

I flashed her a grin. “Hell yes, I am.”

“That’s so exciting. We’ve all seen you out there. You’re gonna be a legend.”

She may have been trying to feed my ego, but I didn’t mind. It was what I needed tonight. There were far too many months before I’d get to play another game, so I’d soak this up now. Besides, when a beautiful woman threw compliments at you, it’d be dumb to brush them off, especially when you were in need of something to lift your mood.

We’d barely made it to my room before I turned and kissed her. My roommate wasn’t here again. He spent most nights sneaking into his girlfriend’s dorm and since we didn’t really get along, I wouldn’t complain about it. I could almost imagine I lived in this place alone.

Jessi gripped the back of my neck, rising on her toes to get closer. Thrusting her against the wall, I pressed my body up against hers. In her short skirt, it was easy to move my hands underneath to grab her ass.

Agonizing pain or not, this was a good idea.