Page 25 of Necessary Roughness

Knox

I hated road games.

When we played at home, I was able to relax into my routine. Wake up at a normal time, eat my breakfast without feeling rushed. Hell, we could walk to the stadium from our place—although we had too much gear to carry for that to be feasible, so we drove instead.

But road games threw everything into chaos.

Waking up at four in the morning. Wolfing down a meal before boarding the team bus.

Driving to whichever school we were playing, which could be as much as five hours away.

We had a four-hour drive today, which meant four hours stressing about the game to come.

Sometimes, I enjoyed the time it gave me to mentally prepare, to do some last-minute studying of the opposing team’s defensive strategy.

Today, all it did was heighten my anxiety.

We were playing Orange Coast State University, the school that had won the Central Florida Conference three years in a row. The last time we’d beaten them, I was a green freshman delegated to backup quarterback. They were a yearly thorn in our side, a juggernaut we could never seem to defeat.

The pressure on my shoulders was enormous. Our team this season was the best in over a decade. If we were ever going to topple OCSU, this was the year.

After studying our team playbook for an hour, I gazed out the bus window and allowed my mind to drift.

Almost immediately, Sloane entered my thoughts.

She was this new presence in my life, helping make all pressure and stress manageable. Even now, just picturing her warm smile, I felt myself relaxing.

The threesome the other night was hotter than I could have ever imagined. Even more fun than the first time at the party, since we had more privacy—and more time. The way she took charge at the beginning, giving Logan and me dual-blowjobs on the edge of the bed, was incredible.

Then when it was our turn to be in control, she let us use her however we wanted. And we could tell she loved every sweaty, filthy moment of it.

“Maddox?” my coach barked. “Did you hear what I said?”

I blinked and turned away from the window. “Sorry, Coach. What’s up?”

“We just got word Elkins isn’t playing. His hamstring is still bothering him.” Coach smiled viciously.

I smiled with him. “Their left side will be weak. Should we try more rushing plays?”

“Nah. Let’s stick with our strategy. Pound them with the passing game, but look to your left more often.”

“You got it, Coach.”

We reached OCSU three hours before the game.

Enough time to get situated in the visiting locker room, do some warm-ups on the field, then change out of our practice gear and into the game jerseys.

The opposing crowd was hostile as we jogged out onto the field as a team, a chorus of boos and curses raining down on us from all sides.

We won the coin toss and had the ball first. I took a deep breath, then strode onto the field with my ten teammates.

“You hear Elkins is out?” Logan asked me.

I nodded. “I’m moving you to the left side for most of our plays, along with Andy. Whoever they have filling in for Elkins, I want to split their attention. Double-team them.”

Behind his faceguard, Logan grinned. “We’ve gotten good at that lately.”

I laughed with him, then turned my attention to the play sheet strapped to my arm. It was time to do what we did best.

The first three plays were all completed passes.

Sure enough, the poor freshman who was replacing Elkins couldn’t handle Logan and Andy’s routes.

We marched down the field, sprinkling in a few rushing plays, before I threw a long pass to Logan.

It soared higher than I intended, but Logan leaped into the air and caught it with both hands before bringing his feet down in the end zone.

That shut up the OCSU crowd. The silence that filled the stadium sounded as sweet as any cheer. After celebrating with Logan, I found myself scanning the Westview College section. I had to remind myself that Sloane hadn’t made the trip here.

But I could feel her watching at home.

“Let’s do it again on the next possession,” I told my team as we returned to the sideline. “Foot on the gas, don’t let up!”

It was an exciting back-and-forth game. OCSU scored on their possession, then we kicked a field goal on our next one. Our defense struggled for the first half, but found their groove after halftime.

When the clock hit zero, the score was 45 - 38. We had won!

There was no quiet anxiety on the bus ride home; we were all smiles as we celebrated. After joining in the reverie for a little while, I pulled out my phone and checked my messages. I had dozens of them from friends and family, but there was one name I searched for first.

Sloane: Good luck out there! I now realize you’re already on the field and don’t have your phone, but I still wanted to say so before the game started.

Sloane: YES! TOUCHDOWN! LET’S GOOOOO

Sloane: I’m watching the game with the twins. We’re already pretty drunk.

Sloane: Great game. I didn’t realize OCSU has beaten us three years in a row. You looked great out there today.

Me: Hey, I’m just catching up on texts on the ride home. It feels pretty great to finally beat those assholes.

Me: Got any plans tonight? There’s a party at the Sigma house, I think we’re going to go.

Sloane: Hi sexy quarterback man. Maybe. I’m kinda, sorta, drink right now.

Sloane: Dronk right now.

Sloane: DAMNIT.

Me: You’re drunk, you mean?

Sloane: Yes. Thank you. I think I’m going to stay in tonight. Is that okay?

Me: Why wouldn’t it be?

Sloane: Because I’m your sex toy who is only good for sex and now I’m turning down sex, which goes against our sex agreement

Me: You can always turn down sex. No worries.

Sloane: I’ll make it up to you. But now I’m going to take several naps.

Me: Have fun, see you later Sloane

Sloane: [kissy emoji]

I smiled at the exchange, then glanced over at Logan across the aisle. He was grinning at his phone. Sloane must have texted him during the game, too.

When our team buses arrived on campus, students along the roads waved and cheered and shouted encouragement at us.

There was a crowd waiting at the stadium, throngs of students who had been tailgating all afternoon while waiting for us to return.

As we stepped off the bus, they showered us with praise like we were war heroes coming back from overseas.

God, it felt good to win.

The party that night was celebratory, and I let myself get drunker than normal.

I was bombarded with women who were not shy about touching and whispering promises in my ear, but I politely declined all of them.

I’d done plenty of that the previous few years at school, but this year I was totally focused on eliminating distractions.

Focusing on football before next year’s draft.

It was much easier to turn down sex knowing I had Sloane to fuck whenever I wanted. And based on the way Logan was shaking his head at a pair of Sigma women, it was the same for him.

We spent the next day relaxing and recovering. Roman’s ass was glued to the recliner in the living room, staring intently at his textbook.

“You didn’t come celebrate last night,” I said while getting a soda from the fridge.

He shrugged without looking up at me. “Not much for me to celebrate.”

I sat on the edge of the couch. “You had a bad game. So what? We still won, so it didn’t affect anything.”

Roman’s grunt might have been agreement, or dismissal.

“You all right?” I asked. “You seem off. And not just because of the game performance.”

He sighed, closed the textbook, and rose from the chair. “I’ve got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

As he disappeared into his room, I wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling me.

Going to class on Monday was like walking through a gauntlet of attention. My palm actually hurt from all the high-fives I was giving my fellow students on the way. Such was life when you were the big man on campus.

But none of them mattered to me until I got to Art History.

I was early, but Sloane was already seated. The sight of her stopped me in my tracks; head bent over a textbook, furiously taking notes, her blonde hair obscuring her face. It was like a spotlight from heaven was aimed down at her, making everyone else appear dim by comparison.

She glanced up, smiling when she saw me.

The rush of joy that filled my body was better than any drug.

Yeah. This was the only woman on campus I cared about. I hadn’t realized it until this exact moment, but I’d been looking forward to seeing her in class.

And I could already tell it had nothing to do with sex.