Blaine had mocked us once when we rattled off one team after another as being our rivals. Joseph laughed in agreement with her, while Shane and her brother looked hurt. I was on the fence. She was right, but wrong at the same time. When you were at the top of the conference anyone gunning for you was a threat.

Rockstern High was second, right behind Westerly. Their linemen were clones of Joseph and Lucas. Each of them packing two hundred pounds of solid muscle with the agility of pumas. Their running backs and wide receivers were quick and light on their toes. The only thing that was new to see was their quarterback. Well, technically their back up quarterback. Conner Lincoln had gotten laid out last week and this poor sophomore was struggling to fill his cleats.

Each of his passes were either too powerful that he kept over shooting his man, or way off course from their intended target. With that being their biggest weakness, it still got under my skin with the visitor's bleachers roared with the touch downs. Letting the score had been a mistake. Lucas was out for blood and the fans were supporting his attempts.

Shane and Blaine were attached at the hip when the defense was in. They were huddled together and every so often the offensive coach would be over in the mix. The marker whizzed over the dry-erase board on the back side of his clipboard. They were nodding as they formulated a new strategy. Noah and I were waved over as they all came up for a breath of air. The refs whistle screeched as they marked the second down. Rockstern was creeping closer to yet another six points.

Noah took up Shane's left side, craning his neck to eye the board. I sidled up to Blaine's side, our pads clicking as they met. Being this close to her, even while she looked like the rest of the guys on the field, always made my head spin. The black smudges under her eyes were running from the sweat she'd worked up from the last few times on the field.

The coaches had been putting a lot of faith in Blaine since she joined the team. An overwhelming amount. The last five games she'd been leading the charge of wins that had been added to our outstanding season. Shane took her to the side at practices and helped to perfect her already amazing skills. It proved to be well worth it.

"Lester. Greene. James." Our heads snapped to Coach. The scowl as he jabbed a finger at the field. Defense was rushing toward the sidelines and we were being ordered to take up our roles. Lucas and his line held off Rockstern from scoring, but only barely.

The ball was placed at the eighteen yard line in our territory. The time was ticking down on the scoreboard. Our fans were egging us on to drive the ball home. Eighty two yards was going to be a challenge with the ruthless defensive linemen chomping at the bit to get a piece of our girl. My girl.

The feminane voice called out the play and it was a miracle that it hadn't taken over all my senses. The second the ball was in her fingers Noah and I were surging forward. Ducking past blockers. Weaving past our Rockstern shadows. I could see Noah fading and his shadow sprinted in my direction.

It was clear that although he had been given the go ahead to get back on the field Noah was not who he was before. The damage to his leg will cost him an athletic scholarship. All night Rockstern had been watching him. They saw the lack of speed and self loathing for it. Tag teaming me had become their new strategy.

As they wore themselves out chasing me, Noah waited for the pass. Shane and Blaine had planned this all out perfectly. The two of them could take us all the way to state single handedly. The silence from our stands had me glancing over my shoulder to locate the ball. My shadows mirrored my motion and the look of disbelief as the ball spiraled toward the now wide open Noah.

By the time each of them switched gears Noah had already pushed his way to the fifty yard line. He was at the sixty when one wrapped him up. The second one threw himself at both players to take them down. The ref's whistle chirped as the markers moved and our fans screamed in praise. The Rockstern players jumped to their feet, smacking each other's helmets for a job well done.

The cheering grew muffled as a wave of silence fell on both sides. Noah was slow getting to his feet. Lucas stepped off the sidelines with Keegan when he failed to put pressure on his bad leg. He hobbled two steps before our teammates could save him from falling to his knees. There was a gut wrenching feeling twisting my insides. That could have been any one of us. A bad hit taking away our future careers. We all would have done the same as Noah. Giving it all up just for one more play. One more yard.

Weak applause and a few sharp whistles from the people standing in the bleachers. Lucas and Keegan helped Noah over to the physical therapist's table. There was a flicker of concern in those hazel eyes as the rest of the team huddled around her.

"Only forty more yards," Joseph grumbled in a poor attempt to pull Blain's attention back to the game. Noah would survive by some standard. It may not be what he had been expecting, or the rest of us. My pads bumped hers, jostling her back to the leader of the field. Her eyes narrowed on me and I knew she was back.

"I'm taking this one," she announced soft enough that only our men could hear. The linemen looked worried as she looked to me and Noah's back up.

"I can do it," I challenged. The gold ring grew to consume the green as her eyes shifted to me.

"They have you pegged. And after that last play they're going to have one man on you and another prepared for the same attack. The D won't be ready for me to sneak through."

"Laine," I whispered. She shrugged me off and turned back to the team.

"We won't get a gap with those monsters. We're going to do Q-32." There was an unease rolling through me as the men all nodded. The ref called us to the line and I walked beside Blaine. She had a lethal look in her eye that I'd only seen in her brother's eyes.

"If you get pinned down, get rid of it. It's not worth getting banged up for a few yards."

"Are you telling me this as a teammate or a boyfriend?"

"Both." There was a roll of her eyes as she got into place. I stalked over to my own position to her far right. The faces beyond the masks were bloodthirsty and they only seemed focused on one person. The man mirroring me across the line wore a smug smile as he popped in his mouth guard.

The play was called out and I forced my body forward. I shoulder checked the guy across from me and fought to not look back, only brief glances to see if she took my advice. My momentum slowed as I reached the twenty yard line. Noah's backup had slowed at the thirty. The line shifted as grunts and groaned rippled into the cheers of the crowd. There was a sudden burst of pads knocking into one another and I broke.

My eyes studied the battle behind me. Blaine was coming up behind me when one of the linemen broke free from the wall they had built. For being a big guy, he moved as swiftly as I did. Ten steps and he'd be able to touch her. There was a war building in me as my mind split in two. She needed someone back there, ready to take the hit that was keeping pace with her. At the same time, I needed to stay on task. My job wasn't to be a blocker.

Blaine was even with Noah's back up at the twenty five yard line and still trucking. A wave of pride washed over me as she spun out of the shadow's reach. That pride crawled up my throat as another man broke from the line and was hauling ass after her. His finger curled around her jersey when he'd gotten close enough. I waited for the flag and growled when neither of the refs caught the illegal move.

Her arms wrapped around the ball, trapping it against her body. I knew that move. She was prepared to go down. Accepting her fate was disappointing to all of us, including her. It wasn't until the first linemen came back into my peripheral. He was making his way back from going wide. My voice caught in my throat as I watched the unthinkable unfold before my eyes.

The second lineman's fist yanked on her jersey, dragging toward the ground. Just as she started to go down, the first lineman cut across the field and went for her legs. He missed what I was praying was his true target. The sound of his helmet meeting her pads was painful, but the sight of her own helmet colliding with his own tore something in me. The moment became slow motioned as her helmet clipped his shoulder pads then landed on the ground with another heart stopping smack.

It was only then the refs stepped in. Multiple whistles chirping as a frenzy of concerned voices started shouting from the stands. Noah's backup searched for some sign that we'd all just witnessed the nasty hit of the season. Coach and the physical therapist were at her side. She hadn't moved since the Rockstern players got to their feet, jostling her without a care. My feet were moving before I could process that washonesly wasn't moving. Not because she was hurt, but because she wasn't conscious.

Shane had a hand on Lucas' chest, keeping him from charging onto the field. He'd be looking for retribution after the shit they'd pulled. Joe was at my side, giving the other half of our group a nod. We huddled near Coach and the physical therapist as they debated if they should move her. Joe put a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't to hold me back from intervening, or to stop me from taking over Lucas' mission. It was out of understanding. A silent reminder that he was there.

When the paramedics shuffled their way onto the field I had finally snapped. My head was on a swivel, searching for the two players who had targeted Blaine. That's what it was. Since they found out she was a girl it had become a different game. They weren't holding back as they tried to break our line. Gunning for her, whether to put her in her place or take her out, had been their sole mission

The clicking of gurney as the paramedics lifted it brought me back to my senses. She was strapped to a backboard. Her helmet still secured to her head as they pushed her toward the gate they'd come through. One of them was translating the information coming from the machine. She was breathing, heart beating with no visible signs of broken bones. All things considered, it was good news that didn't ease my fear.

Shane was pulling on his helmet while he had a one sided conversation with Lucas. Preparing to take up the now vacant position, he passed me and Joe with a look in his eyes that screamed payback. It would be for the Lesters. The one being driven to the nearest hospital, and the one on the sidelines who would probably kill anyone in orange. There was venom wrapped around Shane's words that matched the anger blazing in his eyes as he brought up Coach's choice for the next play. He shared that he had no desire to go just for points on this down. He was going to get even.