Page 85 of Hate the Game (Playing Dirty #1)

***Cass***

Iwatched Cole run off the field after another win and knew he was heading straight to Savannah.

There had been a time when he ran to me to celebrate.

That thought was crushing. Everything was crushing.

Seeing Cole with her around campus, watching him stare at her with adoration when he only gave me perfunctory smiles those days was gutting.

It was all too much. I loved him. I’d loved him for as long as I could remember.

I’d even opened myself up to loving Jax and Ryder when it was clear that they were a package deal.

I turned away, and dropped my pompoms in a pile at my feet. I couldn’t keep doing it. I couldn’t keep acting like I was okay, cheering like I was over the moon that we were winning when I felt like I was slowly dying inside.

Barbie was there in a beat, her hand on my arm and a hard look in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.

She’d experienced her own heartbreak that semester.

We’d all watched her crushing on Coach Carrington for years and just when he finally gave her the time of day his old fling had shown up and snatched him away.

“I know you’re hurting, Cass, but you’re this team’s leader. These girls need you.”

That was too much, too. Everything was too much. Cheering, football, guys, school. I needed a break or I was going to shatter. I didn’t want to struggle through the pain anymore. I just wanted to run away.

The game announcer was still shouting about the win but his sudden change of tone had me listening without even meaning to. “Aww! Look at that celebration! Young love is alive and well, isn’t it?”

I didn’t need to listen more to hear that he was talking about Savannah and The Apex Three. After an initial awkwardness on campus, everyone was obsessed with the unusual relationship. Everyone just loved Savannah.

“Fuck this.”

Barbie grabbed my arm, worry flickering in her eyes. “Cass, don’t cause a scene.”

“Oh no, I’m going to do much more than that, I quit.” I ripped the ribbon out of my hair and tossed it on top of my pompoms. “I can’t keep clapping while Savannah Lane waltzes off the field with her three champions like she’s living in a damn fairytale.”

Barbie’s grip tightened. “You’re the captain. The girls need you.”

For a second, I almost cracked. Almost. But then I laughed, because the truth was already burning its way out. “I can’t be captain of a team when my hearts bleeding out on the field. I need more than this. I need out.”

Her face fell. “Where would you even go?”

I bent down, scooped up my bag, and forced my smile into something dangerous. “Somewhere no one’s expecting me. Somewhere I can stop being the cheerleader and finally play my own game.”

“Cass—”

I gave her a quick hug before she could talk me out of it. Then I turned toward the tunnel, the stadium lights blinding behind me, the crowd still roaring for them.