Freight Train

by Sapphire Knight

  Stupid bitches.

  “And stop talking to Kash about me!” I yell moments later, thinking over everything she said, as I put my earbuds in. Classic Aerosmith blares through the mini speakers, and I hunker down to get some much needed studying out of the way since I’ll be out at the ranch all weekend surrounded by not only one Owens, but by three of them. No way in hell can a woman expect to be able to think around all of those muscles and testosterone.

  Game day...

  Defense stops another play from happening and Coach shouts for the offense to get ready to go back onto the field. Chandler leans over to find out what’s going on as JJ comes over, appearing pissed about something.

  “What’s the issue?” My gaze automatically shoots toward the seats I reserved for Kadence and Brianne, but they’re fine, laughing and talking to each other.

  “Fucking Briggs, bro. Have you guys heard him yet today?”

  Chandler shakes his head, watching Coach carefully for instructions, so we don’t get our asses chewed for not paying attention.

  “No, why?”

  “He’s talking about spiking multiple bottles of liquor, so all the chicks at the after party take their clothes off. He wants to get them all recorded.”

  “What a sick piece of shit,” Chandler murmurs.

  “No way am I letting that happen to anyone at the ranch.”

  He blows out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, but how do we stop him?”

  Coach catches our gaze, screaming, “Offense! Now! You’re on!”

  We take off in a jog, each getting into our positions. I have to focus on the game, but it’s difficult not to be distracted when all I can picture in my mind is Kadence getting drugged, recorded, and possibly raped by asshole Briggs.

  Center snaps the ball to Kash, and like a rocket, I’m gone. Pumping my legs, I run the play that’s been drilled into my memory. Left twelve steps, back two, and cut for a quick right.

  Kash lets the ball fly free, and she falls into my hands effortlessly, just like we’ve done hundreds of times before at practice. Juking the guy next to me, I take off for the end zone.

  There’s nothing like holding that piece of pigskin and letting your legs become lightning, tearing down the vast green field. The guys chasing me are grunting and grumbling, trying to catch me, but there’s a reason why I’m ‘The Freight Train.’ I get going, and I’m gone; I’ll plow through people like a powerful force then give them hell trying to keep up with me.

  Each stripe I cross, it’s like a miniature boost, encouraging me on, to run faster. My mind chants to go harder and the closer I get to the sunny yellow field goal pole, the more focused I become on it.

  It’s mine. Just like Kadence.

  The end zone nears as I’m going full speed and moments later my feet cross over the touchdown line. No matter how many times it happens, the feeling never gets old. It’s exhilarating! The safety that was running after me slows down, eventually stopping and resting his hands on his hips as he pants. No way was he ever going to catch me.

  There’s only one person I’m thinking of sharing my victory with at this moment.

  Pointing the ball toward Kadence in the stands, the entire section of fans scream and wave all around her, but the only person I really see is her.

  For you, Pretty.

  Tyler’s ridiculously fast as he charges down the field for a touchdown. It reminds me of watching my father run the ball when he played. Excitement fills me to the brim, causing me to jump up and scream the closer he gets.

  Within seconds he’s made the touchdown, the entire stadium erupting in excited chaos, celebrating the six points added to the board in our favor. In the midst of Brianne and me jumping around like a bunch of dorks, Ty does something he’s never done before. The football is pointed in our direction as he mouths something. I have no idea what he says, but it’s enough to make me swoon, just knowing that he was clearly thinking of me at that moment.

  My heart fades from my chest a little more as he steadily consumes more and more of it.

  About ten different hands pat my back and arms, jostling me around as they excitedly celebrate. They must’ve seen Ty pointing toward us. I wonder if someone recorded it. I’d love to know what it was that he’d said when he pointed the ball our way.

  “I told you he’s crazy about you!” My best friend declares happily.

  It’s hard to hear her over everyone else’s cheering and talking. All I can do is laugh and shake my head at her. I have no idea what on earth to say to that or to what he just did. I’m not even his real girlfriend, and he points me out after a touchdown. I haven’t seen anyone else do that with their girlfriends, so I’m spazzing out a bit inside with flutters filling me to the brim and my heart beating so quickly it feels as if it may burst.

  “Girl you’re on the jumbotron again. Smile and wave. Hurry!”

  Glancing toward the screen, sure enough, I’m there, appearing shell-shocked. F.M.L. Really?

  “Smile, Kay!”

  Grinning a brief, flirty smile toward the field and where the cameras are coming from, I throw in a little finger wave, thinking of Tyler’s touchdown he just made and a bunch of guys start hooting and hollering.

  Great. I was supposed to wear a hat to avoid this. Next time I won’t forget.

  My painted cheek is pretty cute on the big screen. Surprisingly, I look like a normal college chick rooting for her guy, and it’s also fairly clear who I am. That’s not exactly what I was going for though. I was hoping to look a little bit sexy for Tyler while covering my face with some paint since he loved it so much the last time.

  Hopefully, he knows that my smile and wave were for him and most of the college guys have drunk too much to remember who I am in class. I just want a quiet college life, nothing crazy with people knowing me as the football star’s girlfriend. That sounds pretty shitty, but it’s true. I like blending into the background at school.

  “Perfect! You have them going crazy. You’re exactly what Ty needs in a girlfriend to represent him,” Brianna says animatedly, her hands moving with excitement as she gabbers on.

  Meeting her gaze, my smile falls away. “But I’m not his girlfriend.” The truth slams into me like a tackle, effectively hitting me in my heart, where Ty’s been slowly rooting himself.

  “Do you want to be?” Her eyebrow goes up as the crowd quiets down some and we all sit in our seats again.

  “I think I do,” I honestly reply, tired of not being official with him, especially after seeing him take time out of his favorite thing in the world to acknowledge me. I must really mean something to him, and that’s special to me.

  “Then you are,” she says simply, shrugging her shoulders.

  “What? No, I’m not. He hasn’t actually asked me to be his girlfriend. Even if he does tell people that I am, he’s never spoken to me about it directly.” She’s lost her mind. You don’t just decide to be someone’s girlfriend and then suddenly you are. It doesn’t work that way unless you’re a little cray-cray in the head.

  “He’s already told everyone that you’re his girlfriend, Kadence, so you agreeing with it all just means that it’s true. It doesn’t actually bother you knowing he says that about you, does it?”

  I shake my head. It doesn’t. I actually like it, when I admit my real feelings about it all.

  She nods knowingly and faces towards the group of excited fans behind us. “Hey guys, you all know who this is, right?” She points her thumb toward me, and they all answer her with variations of ‘yes.’

  “Who is she then?” she asks, her smile beaming widely as they each respond that I’m Ty’s girlfriend and that they appreciate me keeping him happy, so he continues to play well.

  No pressure there. Geez.

  I can’t help but laugh at them thinking I have anything at all to do with the way Tyler plays. Hopefully, he keeps playing the way he is, or they could end up being assholes to me if that’s how they think. Thanks to the jumbotron, everyone knows what I lo
ok like now too.

  Tyler doesn’t even know about my father playing football; I prefer to keep that to myself. I hate being bombarded with a ton of questions and fake friends because of who my dad is. Ty might realize just how much I know about football if I admitted the truth to him. I hope I don’t get berated with crap from people now, knowing that I obviously mean something to Tyler.

  “See, told you.” Brianne leans in shrugging, and I roll my eyes in response.

  “Okay, you have a point, but I’m not saying it’s official or anything until I talk to him about it—really talk to him—in person first.”

  “Like this weekend?”

  “Yeah, I’ll bring it up after he’s had a chance to relax. I don’t want him to think I’m nagging him about it or anything.”

  “Oh please,” she responds, and I shoot her a glare. “All right fine, but I think you’re wasting your time. I already know he’s crazy about you and thinks of you as his girlfriend, as does the entire school. I’m glad you’ll finally be making it official, though.”

  Cringing a little, I mutter, “I hope your right about him and not right about the school.”

  “I am.” She grins. “Just wait and see for yourself!”

  And if she’s wrong, I’ll look like a pathetic, fangirl loser. But no one’s paying attention anyhow. Well, besides everyone in the entire school according to her, that is.

  Just freaking great. Why’d I have to fall for the Freight Train of all guys?

  Playing football with your feet is one thing,

  but playing football with your heart

  is another.

  - baby-g-swag Tumblr

  The game’s over in no time it seems, and before I know it, we’ve arrived at my parents’ beloved ranch. This’ll be the first time I’ve brought home a woman that I really like to meet my brothers. I was fine with it before, but now I’m a little nervous. Not with anything to do with her, but with my brothers. What if they decide to be assholes or they don’t like her? I’ve never cared in the past about what they’ve thought when they’ve met any chicks I was dating, but I wasn’t serious then, either.

  With Kadence, it’s all different and weird. I want them to like her, and I want her to like them, but not too much. Not more than she likes me anyhow. Am I really jealous of my brothers? We haven’t been the type to compare ourselves outside of our athletic abilities. My brothers and I all sort of resemble each other, along with my mom and dad, so I guess they’re considered good-looking.

  Shit, I hope she doesn’t think they’re hotter than me. Didn’t think that’d ever be something I’d say to myself, that’s for sure.

  Both of my brothers haven’t had trouble with being lonely in the past. Should I be worried about them liking Kadence too much? No, I think I can relax about it. Nate might feed me some shit just to try and get me going, but Clyde won’t go there. He’ll most likely lecture me about staying focused and the importance of not getting in too deep with a woman, especially this close to the draft. He doesn’t have to worry about that, though. I’m staying focused. If anything, even more so, because she seems to keep me on my toes.

  I hope she’s not bored. Shit, it didn’t even cross my mind when I invited Kadence out to the ranch. I sound like an idiot, all this second-guessing. I’m supposed to be the confident one in everything. If it’s meant to be, then she’ll be happy out here, and everyone will be just fine. And if they don’t care for her, then it’s their loss, because I do.

  Simple.

  God, I wish my mom was here to meet her. Do I like her that much to seek my parents’ approval of her? Yes, in fact, I do. I would want them to love her, just like I’m beginning to. I think she’d be the type of woman that they’d want me to end up with in my life.

  Kadence isn’t superficial like most of the other women around. She’s kind and caring. And one of my favorite things about her is that she loves football, maybe even as much as I do.

  Fuck, I can’t believe I’m beginning to actually fall in love with her. I’m way too young to be experiencing this. It’s supposed to be all about having some harmless fun right now. Who knew my good time would run right smack into me—literally?

  “Who’s this?” Nate perks up from his faded red folding chair on the front porch. I swear he must live in that seat when I’m not here.

  “This is my girlfriend, Kadence.” Did I just say that out loud, in front of her, no less? I mean, I always tell people at school that she’s my girl, but this is different, and she’s right beside me.

  Surprisingly, she just smiles and waves hello to my brother instead of arguing that she’s not my girlfriend. I hope she doesn’t say anything like that in front of my brothers this weekend; I’d never live it down from them and I know they’d tell my cousin so he’d give me grief over it too. I should talk to her about it.

  “Girlfriend, huh?” Nate stares at me for a few beats, almost like he’s trying to figure out if I’m messing with him or telling him the truth. Eventually, he stands to his full height, which happens to be one inch shorter than me and holds his hand out to her. “Hi, I’m Nate.”

  She steps forward a pace, placing her palm in his, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah, you too.”

  I know he has a million questions running through his mind right now, the main one being when in the hell did I get a girlfriend, but he keeps them to himself. I’ll be getting a phone call from him and Clyde asking me to explain the minute I hit campus.

  He releases Kadence’s hand, and I wrap hers in my own. “Where’s Clyde?”

  “He’s inside. Did he, uh, know you were bringing company?” His eyes flick to Kadence briefly then back to mine.

  “No, why?”

  “Just curious.” He shrugs. “But I’m going in the house with you so I can see his reaction,” he mutters, and I chuckle. He’s always a shit stirrer when it doesn’t involve him directly.

  “Cool, you can carry my stuff then.” Grinning, I toss my duffle bag at him, per our weekly routine. Which he catches and launches it off the porch into the yard. “Dick,” I mutter and pull Kadence into the house to meet my other brother.

  We find Clyde in the kitchen marinating some meat. “Nice game, glad you refrained from punching people this time,” he rumbles, with his back toward us. I swear he has eyes in the back of his head but most likely he heard us pull up.

  “Thanks.”

  “But what in the hell were you pointing at with the football? I thought you had some dumb, slow walk or something for your touchdown celebration?” he asks, still facing the counter. My brothers love to give me shit over my football walk too—well just about anything they can find. My mom used to tell me that it’s what brothers do. They tease each other, but they’re always there for one another.

  “Yeah, I do, but I was pointing at her,” I reply, and he spins around quickly, his gaze glancing over my surprise guest.

  “Hi.” Kadence smiles and waves the same as she did with Nate.

  “Who’s she?” Clyde asks, nodding toward Kadence and ignoring her greeting like a jerk.

  “This is his girlfriend,” Nate butts in with eyes full of mischief. Clearly, he’s all too amused with this introduction.

  “Girlfriend, hmmm?” Clyde mutters, washing his hands before he approaches us. “This is the first time I’m hearing about you.”

  Nice and subtle. Dickface. I keep the thought to myself, but can’t help it from crossing my mind.

  “Well that makes me feel special, thanks,” Kadence mumbles sarcastically conveying my thoughts as well, making Clyde’s mouth tip up in an easy grin.

  “I didn’t mean it like that.” His smile grows. “I’m Clyde.”

  “And I’m Kadence, nice to meet you.”

  “And you,” he replies, eyeing me suspiciously. Probably wondering why he’s never heard of her and yet I’m bringing her home for them to meet. “How long have you two been seeing each other?”

  “For a while,” I answer, shrugging and tur
n to her, still holding her hand. “How about I show you my room, and we can put your bag in there.”

  “Her bag?” both my brothers ask at the same time.

  “Yep, she’s here to spend the weekend with us.”

  They stay quiet, shocked at the unexpected guest. It’s not like me to just show up with someone. I learned a long time ago to call and ask permission first. I get it that Clyde’s anal about his side business and I’ll be careful to help keep it a secret, but I’m done acting like I’m twelve. I want to bring my woman home, and I will. I want to have friends over to celebrate kicking ass at the game, and I will.

  This ranch was split equally into three when my parents passed away. Clyde needs a reminder that it’s as much mine and Nate’s as it is his.

  “And, I’m also having a party to celebrate the win.”

  That gets Clyde going. “The fuck you are.” I knew it was coming, so I’m not surprised to see his cheeks tint a darker shade as he gets aggravated. The color always stands out more on him since his hair’s lighter than mine and Nate’s.

  “Yep, I am. I’ll have everyone out at the burn pit.”

  He’s quiet for a minute, hoping I’ll back off and change my plans. Eventually, he huffs out a breath and grumbles, “You better make sure everyone stays accounted for. None of those college assholes better go wandering off, or you’ll have shit to deal with. Got it?”

  I’m very aware that everyone needs to stay close by. I’ve been working this ranch my entire life. “It’ll be fine. They’ll drink too much, pass out in their vehicles, and drive home in the morning.”

  “It better go that way. You need to stay sober and keep watch. Anything goes awry, and I’ll chase them off with my shotgun if needed.” I hope he never has daughters with the way he wields his shotgun, not the least bit worried about threatening people.

  “It’s not just me anyhow. JJ and Chandler will be here to help keep everyone in line. You’re getting all wound up over nothing. It’s only the team and their dates.”