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Jude

Sixteen Years Old

Coach is going to kill me when he finds out I skipped out the rest of the school day just so I could avoid practice. Will that get me benched for Friday night’s game? Nope. Coach wants me to go pro after high school—to skip right over college. With all the scouts that have been sniffing around to watch me play, he’s confident I’ll get drafted into the NFL just as soon as they can snag me. Benching me would impact his dreams.

What aboutmydreams?

He never asked me if I wanted to play for the NFL. Maybe Idowant to go to college, fuck my way through all the sororities, drink like a fish with my buddy Baker, get a degree in computer science, and enjoy the whole experience rather than being thrust into a position that requires so much attention and is weighed down by outlandish expectations.

I should just quit football.

He’d have a coronary.

As much as I used to love the game, I find it harder and harder to focus on that now that Mom and Dad are separated. All she does is sit in the house, pissed at Dad. Literally, she never stops complaining about him. While Dad continues to go to the games each week, Mom holes up in our house all alone. It feels like a betrayal to her. Like we’ve all moved on with our lives and left her behind.

I can’t do that to her.

I refuse to.

If I go to PMU here in town instead of following Coach’s dreams, though, I could continue to live at home and look after her. I may be the baby of our family,until Jamie gives birth, but with Dad out of the house, Hugo already gone off to college, and Callum severely fucked in the head over losing his girlfriend to our father, it’s my responsibility to protect Mom and ensure her happiness.

Dad’s a major dick for what he did. I don’t know how it happened, but one day Jamie was Callum’s long-time girlfriend whom he planned to marry after high school and then the next day our family blew up over the news of Dad leaving Mom because he’d professed his love for Jamie. They’d been sleeping together behind Mom’s and Callum’s backs. Shit really hit the fan not long after when Jamie learned she was pregnant, too.

Definitely a dick move. Mom and Callum will never forgive Dad. It fucking sucks because Mom was still raw over losing their “oops” baby not even a year ago. The baby might’ve fixed their marriage had she carried it to term.

She unfortunately didn’t, though, and their fighting not only continued but got worse with each passing day.

“Dude, are you gonna hit it or not?”

I blink away my daze to glance over at my friend Chip. He’s dressed in his Park Mountain Lodge uniform, gesturing for me to pass him the blunt. Chip—your typical stoner—is the total opposite of my best friends Baker and Dennison and Langley, who are also football players.

Nodding, I bring it to my lips and pull in a drag. The pungent air fills my lungs, causing me to cough. Chip sniggers as I hand the blunt back to him. With my eyes now watering and the weed hitting my system, I relax against the rooftop door.

At one time, I’d have been worried about not just getting benched, but kicked off the school team for failing a drug test. Now, I actually hope it happens.

“Sandy said your dad’s not getting in trouble for what he did,” Chip says casually as he studies the blunt.

His words cause me to stiffen. “So?”

“Jamie’s not eighteen yet,” he says slowly as though I’m dense as fuck. “Jailbait.”

Irritation chases away my high and I step away from the door, crossing my muscular arms over my chest. “Who’s going to turn him in? You?”

Chip scoffs. “Your mom?”

Before I can stop myself, I swing a fist, clobbering Chip in the jaw and sending him sprawling to the rooftop gravel. “Don’t talk about my family,” I spit out. “Stay out of our business.”

He scrambles to his knees and scowls at me. “Fuck off, bro. You don’t have to be a dick. It was just a question.”

“Tell Sandy to stop gossiping,” I snap. “We have enough problems without getting the police involved too. My dad’s not going to jail over this.”

As he stands, he holds his hands up. “Whatever, man. I was just making fucking conversation. Next time you want to get fucked up, don’t call me.”

I wait for the guilt to swarm over me, but it remains at bay. My family isn’t perfect, but they’re mine. We Parks sort our shit out together. As a family. The last thing we need are strangers poking their noses in our business. Even Mom, as hurt as she is, wouldn’t do that to our family.

Chip’s angry expression morphs into one of confusion as he squints past me. “Is that smoke? That’s down by where you live, right?”

I whirl around unsteadily and fixate on where Chip’s pointing. Sure enough, black smoke billows up past the trees at the base of Park Mountain. Is Grandpa burning trash?