Technically, my doctor probably wouldn’t approve of me playing football. But Coach doesn’t say anything about it as long as I show up to practice and eat the pain. Pain in my bones. Pain in my chest. Pain whenever I look at Jared fucking Price. The problem with pain is it has a bad habit of morphing into rage. Every day this week, I’ve watched him scoop Kailani into his arms after practice like a victory trophy. He touches her. Kisses her. Whispers shit into her ear that makes her smile. The testosterone overloading my system feels like a circuit breaker about to explode.
Coach rambles off more shit I don’t catch, and then he tells us to do the walkthrough. Tomorrow’s our first game against Glen Ridge. It’s important. Well, it’s important to these guys at least. I should probably give a shit about it too, but right now, I’m not thinking about the game.
The quarterback fakes a pass to Marcos and tosses the ball to Jared. He’s on the outside, and I’m lateral, closing in as he cuts back inside. For the purposes of the walkthrough, we aren’t wearing pads or helmets. It’s a no-contact practice. That doesn’t stop me from plowing into him anyway. The sound of the breath heaving from his lungs as he tumbles onto the turf makes me feel better, for all of two seconds.
“What the fuck, Blackwood?” he snarls up at me.
“Blackwood,” Coach snaps. “What the hell are you doing?”
My eyes don’t leave Jared’s. “Tonight. Devil’s Bluff. Eight o'clock.”
A smirk plays across Jared’s lips. “Hope you’ve got good insurance, bro.”
“Blackwood!” Coach yells again.
I brush off my uniform and shrug. “Sorry, Coach.”
He looks back and forth between the two of us. “You good, Price?”
“I’m good.” Jared snaps back to his feet, wearing a smug expression on his face.
“Save the pissing contest for the urinals,” Coach barks. “Now, let’s get back to it.”
Devil’s Bluffis a one size fits all stomping ground. When the rich pricks at school can’t host parties at their mansions, they resort to coming out here. The scholarship kids have been known to hang out here more frequently, along with the stoners and the misfits from other district schools. But if a guy wants to get his dick wet and not be seen, you’re likely to find a few parked cars here during the week too.
The bluff overlooking the lake is halfway between Black Mountain and a few other nearby towns, so it’s anyone’s guess who’s going to be there on any random night. Tonight, though, I can safely say I recognize most of the cars from BMA. It looks like half the football team showed up when they caught wind of it. Someone has already set up a keg, and the cheer squad is waiting along the sidelines, ready to sink their teeth into whoever wins.
Carson shifts in the passenger seat beside me, peering out the window with a locked jaw. “What the fuck are you trying to prove with this caveman bullshit?”
“Who said I’m trying to prove anything? Maybe I just want to blow off some steam.”
My arm is fucking throbbing, so I pop a couple of painkillers even though they barely touch the ache anymore.
“You don’t have a claim on her,” Carson reminds me bitterly. “Do you think swinging your dick around with Price will fix anything?”
“It will make me feel better.” I turn off the ignition and glare at him. “And this isn’t about her.”
“No?” His muscles coil with tension, and I don’t understand why it bothers him so much. This is what we do. We punish ourselves and everyone else who gets in our way. It’s the only thing we’re good at.
“So, your beef with him has nothing to do with the fact that she came back a week ago, and he’s been all over her every chance he gets?”
My jaw ticks. I’m not in the mood to listen to his shit. I don’t know what the fuck crawled up his ass, but he’s been more of a dick than usual this week, and I’m running out of patience as far as Carson is concerned.
“You can go or stay.” I open the door and climb out of the car. “Your prerogative.”
Just as I knew it would, Carson’s door opens behind me. For reasons I can’t fathom, he’s still trying to act like we have some type of loyalty after he crossed me two years ago. His efforts are futile because we both know I’ll never forgive him. Yet here he is, day after day, putting up with my shit. We’re just two miserable assholes.
His footsteps echo behind mine as I head for the clearing where Price is leaning up against his black Mercedes G-Wagon. He’s a rich prick who’s never had to work for anything in his life, and it shows. He has a reputation for doing whatever he wants, and it’s never bothered me as much as it does now. He gives zero fucks about any of the girls at school, and that’s why he and Kail will never make sense. Their relationship reeks of bullshit, and I want him to know I know it.
“Well, if it isn’t America’s favorite bloodsucker.” He jerks his chin in my direction as I approach. “Shouldn’t you be wearing a helmet? I wouldn’t want to damage that pretty face.”
The crowd falls quiet, slowly creeping closer to watch the show. Already, I can hear people recording. This shit’s going to be all over the internet if I don’t squash it now. The first person who sells me out to the media will make a killing. I can already see the headlines.Child actor turned bad boy. Hollywood golden boy on a path of destruction. Where did Landon Blackwood go so wrong?
I should give a fuck about that, probably, but I can’t find it in me to care right now.
“I got ten G’s on Price,” someone calls out behind me.
“Twenty on Blackwood.”