Page 5 of The Harder You Fall (Rixon Raiders 3)

“What?” Her hands went up. “I’m just saying, I’ve been sensing some more-than-friends vibes from the two of you.”

I frowned at that. Sure, me and Asher had hung out a couple of times with Felicity and Hailee and the guys, but that was inevitable. Our best friends were all in relationships with each other.

Our lives were entwined whether we wanted them to be or not.

“I didn’t come here to meet someone. I came here to avoid guys. Period.”

“Yeah, but come on, Mya, it’s senior year.” Felicity gave me her puppy dog eyes, the ones that had gotten us into trouble more than once since I’d arrived here.

“Exactly.”

They both rolled their eyes, chuckling at my reasoning. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t know that while I’d escaped to Rixon, part of me was still back in Fallowfield Heights with Jermaine. They couldn’t understand how it felt to know you’d left the one person you promised you’d always be there for, alone. They couldn’t appreciate what it was like to be scared for someone’s life. For your own life.

They couldn’t know.

Because although I was sitting at their table, sharing and laughing and joking about our lives and friends and what we were going to do over the weekend, the fact of the matter was they belonged here.

And I didn’t.

Regardless of how much I pretended.

Asher

“What do you think he wants?” I asked my best friend, Jase, as we made our way to the locker room. Coach had sent a text out at the ass crack of dawn, insisting the team be there at eight thirty sharp. It was weird. Especially since the season was over and we were State Champs.

Only by association. “Thanks for the reminder,” I grumbled to myself.

I hadn’t played in the championship game, or any of the play-off games for that matter. Instead, I’d sat on the sidelines, cheering my team, my brothers, to victory, all so my best friend and captain, Jason Ford, could play.

“Fuck if I know,” he said, shouldering the door. The second we stepped inside, the rest of the team cheered, chanting Jason’s name like he was the motherfucking King.

I guess to them, he was.

He’d taken them all the way to State. In a place like Rixon that meant something.

It meant every-fucking-thing.

A couple of guys caught my eye, sending me a nod of appreciation. Some of them knew the truth—knew that the only reason Jason had got to play in the play-offs was because I’d taken the fall for him a few weeks back.

Rixon High had a long-standing rivalry with the next school over, Rixon East, and things had turned ugly between Jason and their captain, Lewis Thatcher. It had all come to a head a few weeks ago, when Lewis lured Jason into a fight. Coach and Principal Finnigan had caught wind of it and threatened to kick him off the team. But it never came to that.

I stepped in and turned the heat from Jase to me. People knew I was always down for a rumble and they knew I was stupid enough to do something like try to protect Jason. And even though, deep down, I was pretty sure Coach knew the truth, he let me take the fall. Because Jason was the best. Jason was the player the team needed to go all the way.

And me?

Well, I guess I was expendable.

It had sucked watching my team fight their way through the play-offs for victory. Cut me to the bone when Jase had called me out onto the field during the championship game, going against Coach’s and Principal Finnigan’s orders for me to remain on the bench at all times. But I took it like the man I was. Football meant everything to Jason. But it was never the end goal for me. And I couldn’t see his dreams of going pro go up in smoke all because of some stupid fucking rivalry gone bad.

“Ladies, look alive,” Coach Hasson boomed, strolling into the locker room looking far too alert for a Tuesday morning. “Now, I know you didn’t expect to be here today. The season’s done, it’s almost the holidays, and God only knows you all deserve some downtime after the play-offs.” Another chorus of cheers rumbled around the room. “Okay, okay, quiet down.”

“Guys, come on,” Jason yelled when they showed no signs of calming down.

Silence ushered over us and Coach gave Jase an appreciative nod. “I’ll miss that, Son,” he mused, stroking his jaw. Not saying the words we all knew he was thinking.

There would never be another Jason.

Someone to lead the team the way he had.