Adam Watson

I woke up to an alarm on my phone.

I let out a loud groan, reaching over to shut the damn thing off.

And that's when I noticed that I wasn't alone in bed. Or in a bed at all.

Air mattress. Campbell's place. Right.

But that still doesn't explain who's in bed with me.

I very carefully peered over the person's shoulder, trying not to stir them awake.

It was Sarah.

What the fuck was... Shit.

I drank last night. I basically cried in front of her.

Dammit, Adam.

And she kissed me. She fucking kissed me.

I heard two knocks on the door. "Adam, you up?" Terrence's voice asked.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Give me a minute!" I whispered back.

I eased off of the air mattress, grabbing my phone and charger.

As always, Terrence had come prepared, meaning that I was wearing his clothes. I quickly grabbed mine from the floor, tip-toeing to the door.

"Good morning, sunshine," Terrence said, with a crooked smile. "Do something naughty last night?"

What?

"I'm kidding, Adam," he said, with a laugh. "You should've seen your face; you went ghost white."

"Fuck off," I muttered. "We need to get moving."

Terrence saluted me. "Aye, aye, Captain."

~*~

Coach was pissed.

Apparently the guys had crashed at his place last night due to the snow storm, so they'd all been in the locker room, ready to go on-time.

Due to the icy roads, Terrence and I had to take the long way back to campus, and then sprint down to the football fields.

We'd easily been twenty minutes late, if not more.

"Where were you two boys last night?" he bellowed, his voice echoing off the office walls.

"We went to a friend's house," I said. "We didn't think we'd be snowed in."

That only pissed him off more.

Terrence and I had to sit through a ten-minute lecture on the value of teammates and the burden of selfish behavior.

I don't know what had Coach so riled up, but clearly we were his targets for today.

"Get out of my office," he said, pointing to the door. "We'll continue this conversation on the field next week."

Great.

"Don't sweat it," Taylor said. "Coach gets riled up when things don't go his way. He'll cool down."

"He can't control the weather," Vlad added. "But he can control you."

I was not looking forward to practice Monday.

"So," Vlad said, leaning up against the lockers as I changed out, "was I right?"

"About what?" I asked.

He laughed. "About the girl, QB. Did you bang her?"

That brought me back to last night, all of the stupid shit I did.

And the goddamn kiss.

"QB?" Vlad asked. "You reminiscing on that sweet-"

"No," I said, shooting him a glare. "Nothing happened."

"Bull. Shit."

"You stayed at her house," Reggie pointed out, from across the locker room. "No way there wasn't some action happening."

"She has six older brothers," I said. "Four of which were there."

"Ouch," Vlad said, with a shake of his head. "That's gonna be rough when they found out that you sealed the deal."

This was clearly a dead-end conversation.

"I've got an arm to warm-up," I said, with a shake of my head. "If some receivers want to join me, I'm headed out."

"Just like you pulled out last night!" Taylor called out, causing the locker room to howl with laughter.

"I'm going to kill each and every one of you," I said, before taking my leave.

"Come on, QB," Taylor said, jogging out after me. "You're a fun one to fuck with."

I flipped him off, causing him to laugh.

A couple more receivers joined me out on the icy field, fresh snow still falling.

I was going to freeze my ass off this game.

More players started trickling onto the field as I warming up, Coach wanting everyone to get accustomed to the cold weather.

There was no getting used to this.

Coach beckoned me over to the sidelines. I left my warm up crew, jogging over toward him.

He handed me a styrofoam cup. "Drink this. Keep warm."

I didn't need to be told twice. I took the hot chocolate with both hands, hoping that the heat would penetrate my gloves.

I sipped it as I watched team warm-ups. The backup QB, other Adam, had taken over warming up the receivers.

"Take note, rookie," Reggie said, as he placed a hand warmer inside his helmet. "You're going to want these everywhere you can stuff them."

"I put them on my feet before I lace up," Sal said, from the bench. "They work miracles."

I finished off my hot chocolate before joining Reggie, stuffing the hand warmers wherever they'd fit.

Coach called the team back to the locker rooms.

"It's going to be a cold one today, boys," he said, once we were all seated. "We're bringing out the sideline heaters for the game, make sure you all have your team assigned jacket for the sidelines. If you don't have fleece on, get some on now. I don't care about how bulky it is, I can't risk my team getting sick this late in the season. We have a bowl game to make."

I grabbed my team assigned jacket, throwing it over my shoulders as I was still chilled from being outside.

"If you want cold weather gloves, they're here!" Coach Ludwig said, holding up a box. "Not for receivers or QBs."

The cold weather gloves tended to be more bulky, which wasn't good for people trying to throw and catch a football.

I wasn't used to wearing gloves at all for games. I liked to feel the ball in my hand, the threads between my fingers.

I played better that way.

"Vaseline," Coach Mason said, handing me a tub. "It's sticky and slimy, but it'll keep your cheeks warm."

I rubbed some on my cheeks. I didn't care how it felt, so long as it would keep me warm.

Between the bowl game coming up and Finals next week, I didn't have time to get sick. Not now.

Coach Ludwig gave us a rundown of how to keep warm on the sidelines. The sideline heater, obviously, but they'd also have chicken broth and hot chocolate for in-between sets.

"You chug it, you'll vomit," he said. "It's just to give you a quick warm-up before getting back on the field again."

"Keep hydrated!" Coach added. "Just because you're cold that doesn't mean your body doesn't still need hydration."

A few more tips and tricks were thrown into the mix before it was time to head out to the field.

My mind went back to Sarah as we made our way toward the tunnel. Would she come to the game today? Would she want to talk about last night?

Was there anything to talk about? I asked for a distraction. She kissed me. End of story.

But why did we end up sleeping in the same bed? Why do I remember the warm feeling of my arm around her, her lips on mine-

My thoughts were interrupted by a slap on the back. "You ready, QB?" Terrence asked.

I nodded as we lined up in the tunnel. "Throw passes. Keep warm. Win. Pretty simple game plan."

And with that I lead the team out of the tunnel, the cold wind whipping our faces as the crowd screamed.

Nothing else mattered out on that field. And I intended to keep it that way.

What did you guys think about the chapter? I know it was a bit shorter than my usual uploads, but you guys will see why soon. Did anything surprise you? What was your favorite part?

Someone stole my usual booth at Panera and I've tried two different booths but none of them feel the same.

Teaser: Sarah gets the phone call that no one wants to receive. And with Aubrey still out-of-town with her family, she turns to the only person she can think of.

This book will update again next week, between Monday-Wednesday.