Riley yawned and covered it with her hand while she nodded.

  “Got it.”

  Her mother smiled. “You need coffee.”

  Riley nodded some more. “Yes, I do.”

  “I’ll get the coffee going. You get Brady some milk.”

  Riley walked over to the cabinet and went to work getting me a glass and pouring me some milk. I decided these women were like my mother and set on serving me. So I let it go.

  “Thanks,” I told her as she handed it to me.

  “You’re welcome. Have a seat at the bar. I’ll join you in a moment. Soon as I have caffeine.”

  She made herself busy, and I watched her, forgetting her mother was even in the room. Today she wouldn’t get dressed and go to school. No senior-year memories for her. She’d take care of her grandmother and daughter, then do all her schoolwork on a computer. I wanted her to have more than that.

  Yet she seemed happy with this.

  “Hey, Mommy.” Bryony’s voice broke into my thoughts and Riley spun around to see her daughter standing there with blond curls sticking up all over the place and a pair of purple pajamas with what looked like a pink pig in a red dress and yellow rain boots all over them.

  “Good morning, sunshine. Biscuits are in the oven,” she said, bending down to scoop her daughter up and hug her tightly.

  She didn’t seem sad or like she was missing out on anything. She seemed complete. Happy. No hate or bitterness. She’d been through hell and she’d come out okay. Settled and balanced. That gave me hope. Not only for me but my mom and Maggie.

  Riley had been strong. I wanted her strength.

  “I want uney,” she said, slapping her small hands on each side of Riley’s face.

  Riley laughed. “I know you want honey.”

  “Give me kisses, little princess. I have to go to work. Your biscuits will be ready soon,” Riley’s mother said to Bryony.

  Bryony kissed her cheek and patted the other.

  “Have a good day, girls. You too, Brady,” she called out, then left the kitchen.

  Riley put Bryony in her high chair and placed some raisins on the tray. “I need some coffee. You eat these while we wait on the biscuits,” she told her.

  Bryony smiled over at me and handed me a raisin in her little hand.

  “Thank you,” I replied, taking it from her. “I like your pajamas.”

  She looked down at her clothes. “Peppa,” she informed me.

  I wasn’t sure if Peppa was how she said pig or something else, so I just nodded like I understood.

  “I wuv muddy pubbles,” she added and grinned at me before smashing some raisins in her mouth.

  “The translation to that is Peppa Pig is who is on her pajamas and Peppa says I love muddy puddles often.”

  “Geowge,” Bryony blurted out.

  “She also says ‘George’ a lot. George is Peppa’s little brother.”

  I wasn’t up to date on kids’ television. “I guess Dora the Explorer and Bear in the Big Blue House have retired, then.” Those were the shows I remembered being popular when I was a kid.

  “Oh no, Dora is still going strong. Bear has left us, though.”

  The oven dinged and Riley went over and took the biscuits out. “Breakfast is ready.”

  I enjoyed watching her and Bryony together. Even when Riley’s grandmother came in the room asking about Thomas, the welcoming, happy feeling of this place was one I didn’t want to leave. Or was it that I just didn’t want to leave Riley? Could it be that wherever she was would feel like home?

  Go, Lions!

  CHAPTER 41

  RILEY

  A Lawton Lions football game. Not something I ever planned on attending when I moved back here. All day I had been nervous. It wasn’t like I could back out, either. This was for Brady, not me.

  If it were for me, I’d be staying here with Bryony watching it on television. Both my parents were so happy I was going, though, it was almost embarrassing. Mom actually offered to take me shopping for something to wear. I assumed jeans and a sweatshirt were just fine. I declined her offer. You would think I was going to prom.

  Last night Brady had gone home to sleep. He’d texted me after dinner at his house and said his dad hadn’t come home for it. Which made him even angrier, although it had been a meal he could enjoy with his mom and Maggie.

  Maggie had also asked him questions after dinner about what was wrong with him. He’d avoided them and locked himself upstairs after helping his mother clean the kitchen. Tonight wasn’t going to be easy on him.

  Bryony was sitting in my mother’s lap watching the six-o’clock news when I walked into the living room.

  “You look pretty,” Mom said with a pleased smile.

  I had changed shirts three times and decided on a thermal dark blue shirt with my brown leather jacket. I wasn’t sure what to expect tonight, but my leather jacket gave me some sort of odd comfort. Like a shield or something.

  “Mommy cuwls,” Bryony said, pointing at my hair.

  I had rolled my hair a little with the curling iron. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard, but I liked it when my hair had some curls in it. I touched them, wrapping a strand around my finger.

  “Yes, Mommy has curls tonight. Just like Bryony,” I told her, then walked over to kiss her sweet head.

  “Thanks for watching her again tonight,” I told my mom.

  “We are happy to. She’s not a problem. Besides, seeing you get out like this does me good.”

  I had great parents. When life turned on me, they were there holding me up. They were my support system, and without them I wasn’t sure where I’d be.

  “I love you,” I told her.

  “And I love you. No matter how old you get, you’re always going to be my little girl. You’ll see that one day when this one is a teenager.”

  I didn’t want to think about my baby being all grown-up. I loved having her small hand tucked in mine and her body curled up against me at night. I hadn’t thought about how my mother must feel. I did now, though.

  “I just hope I’m half as good a mother as you are.”

  My mom chuckled. “Oh honey, you are already more than that. I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

  Bryony held her little arms up to me. “I wuv you,” she said, wanting to join the affection.

  I took her from Mom and held her against me. “I love you too.”

  She squeezed me tightly with her little arms, then I gave her back to my mother. “You two have fun. I’ll see you later.”

  “Go, Lions,” Mom cheered.

  I just hoped the Lions could pull this off. Brady was carrying the weight of a secret none of them understood. They were all counting on him to pull them through. The fear that he might fail them wasn’t even in their thoughts. They all trusted he’d be their star quarterback.

  I wasn’t worried about the game. I wasn’t worried about the championship. I was worried about Brady. This could be asking too much of him.

  * * *

  Parking and walking into the game alone wasn’t as intimidating as I had feared it would be. I’d gotten over a lot since the last time I’d walked on this ground. Brady had changed me, helped me. And I hoped I had done the same for him.

  I saw people I recognized, and they saw me. Many took a double take like they couldn’t believe I had the nerve to be here. I saw more than one jaw drop as I paid my ticket and walked inside the gates.

  I wasn’t sure how I would find Willa, but I figured I would look for her and then just take a seat if I couldn’t see her. I didn’t have to sit by her to make it through this game. I just needed to be where Brady could see me. And away from his parents.

  “I’m surprised you’re here, but then I had faith you’d show.” To my left, Willa was walking up to me. She was wearing a Lawton Lions sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. Her blond hair was in a ponytail, and it swayed side to side with each step.

  She had been looking for me. That was nice of her.

  “I’m definitely here,” I agreed, taking a quick glance around and realizing we were drawing attention.

  Willa seemed to notice too. “Ignore them. They have nothing better to do. I have us some seats saved.”

  I fell in step beside her. “Are the seats close to Brady’s parents?” I asked.

  She frowned and looked toward the stands. “No. . . . Do they need to be?”

  “Not at all. Actually it’s better that they’re not.”

  Willa glanced at me. “Issues with his parents?”

  I wasn’t going to explain that to her. “No, but I don’t think Brady needs the distraction of me sitting near them. They don’t know about us, uh, being friends.”

  Willa nodded. “Friends. That’s what you’re calling it?”

  I wasn’t sure what else to call it, really. “I think.”

  She shrugged. “Friends is good. Gunner and I were friends too. Once.”

  “Hey, Willa,” Kimmie said as we passed her, then looked at me like I had three heads. “I don’t think Gunner will want you with her.”

  Willa stopped walking and turned to Kimmie. This wasn’t going to be the first confrontation we experienced tonight. I hoped Willa knew this. I didn’t want to ruin her night.

  “What I do and who I do it with isn’t your concern, Kimmie,” Willa responded in an icy tone.

  Then she started back up walking again without waiting on a response. Willa seemed all sweet and nice, but man, could she be intense.

  “Sorry about her.”

  “I’ve known Kimmie since preschool. I expected it from her.”

  Willa looked at me. “She know about you and Brady being . . . friends?”

  I shrugged. “I doubt it.”

  Willa grinned then. “I’d love to see her face when she hears it.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. We walked up the steps to the seats she had reserved, and I was happy to see we weren’t too high up. Brady could easily see me. It was just finding me in this crowd that would take some time.

  My stomach was in a nervous knot as the players warmed up on the field. Tonight would be the hardest one yet for Brady.

  Get Off My Field

  CHAPTER 42

  BRADY

  Seeing Riley in the stands wasn’t enough to keep my father’s presence on the sidelines from screwing with me. He had moved to stand with the coaches as if he had the right to. Did he think this would make me play better? That seeing him there was the support I needed?

  The pass was incomplete again, and we were out of chances. Defense would step in now and try to recover some momentum for us. I jerked my helmet off and walked over to the water. I was avoiding my father at all costs.

  “Brady!” Coach called my name. That was the one voice I couldn’t ignore.

  I turned to him.

  He was stalking toward me. “What the hell is wrong, son? You were off the first part of last week, but that was nothing like this week. You can’t complete shit.”

  I saw my father following him and realized he was going to say something too. I couldn’t do this. Not here. He needed to leave.

  “At this rate, we won’t be able to come back after halftime with a miracle. Where is your head?”

  I pointed toward the man coming toward us. “Why is he on the damn field?”

  Coach turned to see my father, then back at me with a frown. “Your dad?”

  “He doesn’t play football; he’s not a coach. Do you see anyone else’s dad down here? He needs to get the fuck up in the stands, where he belongs.”

  “Brady!” my father’s voice boomed with warning that I rarely heard from him.

  “Don’t you dare correct me, you cheating sack of shit. I don’t want you here! I don’t need you here. I can’t stand the fucking sight of you!” I was screaming now, and some of my teammates could hear me. I just didn’t care.

  He stilled at my tirade and stared at me in disbelief. Was it because I was yelling at him or because I’d called him a cheater? I wasn’t sure.

  “You need to leave the field, Boone. There are obviously family issues here, and y’all can get that shit settled off the field. But tonight I need the boy’s head in the game. You’re affecting it.”

  “We need to talk about this. You don’t know everything,” Dad said, his voice lowered.

  I took a step toward him and glared at him eye to eye. “I fucking saw you. I. Saw. You. With. Her. Get out of my face. Get off my field. And leave.”

  I waited until he blinked and looked away from me. He understood. Without a word he walked past me and toward the exit. I wanted to vomit. Again. Talking to my father like that was hard. Hating him so much was painful. We’d been close my entire life.

  This was like ripping off a part of my body and tossing it away. I turned to the stands to see Riley standing up. Her gaze was locked on me, and I could see the concern from here. She looked like she was about to bolt down here. The idea of that actually made me smile. Not a big one, but enough to remind me I wasn’t alone. She was there.

  “Can you do this?” Coach asked me, bringing me back to the problem at hand.

  “I don’t know,” I told him honestly.

  He sighed and ran his hand over his almost-bald head. “I can’t play Hunter yet. He’s not ready for this.”

  They all needed me. This was on my shoulders. It wasn’t my dad’s dream. It was mine. No one could take my dream or claim it as their own. Riley had taught me that. She was right. I took a deep breath and looked back up at her one more time. I gave her a small nod to let her know I was okay. Then I looked for my mom. My father hadn’t gone back to sit by her. She was watching me too. I gave her the same nod, then turned back to my coach.

  “I’m ready.”

  He studied me a moment. “Thank God.”

  West was waiting for me. He hadn’t come over to us, but I knew he’d been watching carefully.

  “Something is seriously fucked-up. You gonna be okay?” he said as I stood beside him.

  I shrugged. “I can play now. But no, I doubt I’ll be okay for a long time.”

  “This has to do with your dad?”

  I just nodded.

  “Fuck,” he muttered.

  “Yeah, fuck,” I agreed.

  Our defense stopped them from scoring and Gunner’s eyes made contact with me. “You good?”

  “Enough to win this game,” I told him. Then the three of us jogged out to the field with the others on the offensive line. It was time to score. I had to even the scoreboard before halftime, and I had four minutes and thirty-six seconds to do it in.

  “We’re running this play,” I told West, and he nodded. That meant he was up.

  With a quick handoff, I gave West the ball, and he took it and made the first down. Just what I needed. One more of those and I’d pass to Gunner. He could run it in.

  And that’s exactly what happened.

  The crowd cheered just as the last ten seconds ticked away the first half of the game. We had managed to tie it up before halftime.

  I glanced up to see Riley’s eyes on me. Just looking at her helped. Knowing she was there. I wanted to look at my mom and check on her, but if my father had taken the seat beside her, it would rattle me. I didn’t want to see him. I had to get my head clear and ready for the last half.

  “What the hell did your dad do to piss you off?” Gunner asked as we walked into the field house.

  “Shut up. Jesus, Gunner,” West barked at him in disgust.

  I wasn’t telling them now. My mother didn’t even know yet, but she would. My father would come clean. Then my family would explode. Nothing was ever going to be the same.

  “Let’s focus on winning this game first,” I told him, then walked ahead of both of them and into the field house, with the familiar smell of sweat, deodorant, and the desire to win.

  Back Off, Serena

  CHAPTER 43

  RILEY

  One point. The difference between kicking a field goal or going for two. West had taken the ball and gone for two. In that five seconds, I didn’t breathe. I was pretty sure Willa didn’t either. The entire Lawton side was on their feet in silence. Not sure what to expect. It was a gamble. Had they just kicked a field goal, it would have tied the game and gone into overtime. But the moment Brady handed West the ball, an audible gasp went through the stands and everyone was on their feet.

  Because if West failed, they lost the game. By one point.

  West made it through the other team’s defensive line and the crowd erupted. I actually sank down and let my heart rate slow. That had been a massive gamble that I couldn’t believe they took. But Brady had returned to the field after halftime playing differently. Less methodical and more aggressive. He took several chances. A few didn’t work, but this one did.

  The team all piled on top of one another as fireworks went off behind us. They were prepared to win this game. They’d even had fireworks set up. I wondered what they would have done had we lost.

  “That was insane,” Willa said, sitting down beside me.

  I just nodded.

  She shook her head in disbelief. “They’ve never been that risky before.”

  She meant Brady had never been that risky before, but she wasn’t going to say it. I understood. She didn’t know what was going on tonight. No one did. But they’d all seen Brady pointing and yelling at his father. Then his dad had walked off the field. I’d heard people whispering about it most of the game.

  Willa never asked me or mentioned it, though. I was thankful for that. She seemed to know something was wrong but it was a secret.

  “The boys will be a bit in the field house. We can wait until the crowd clears some before we walk down there.”

  I wasn’t completely sure I was supposed to wait on Brady. He had his family to deal with now. I knew his mom would have questions.

  “The field party will be crazy tonight. Your first one back should be one to remember, at least.”