"I don't know what happened to your head, LT..." Coach Williams stood over me in the locker room at halftime, then knocked his knuckles on the top of my helmet. "But if you feel like pulling it out of your ass, then we could really use you out there."

Coach spoke in a low voice, to where only I heard him as I sat on the bench at my locker, my head hung low and my shoulders drooped. Like the entire fucking day, I'd been off in my timing, judgments about play calls, and unfocused all game long. I hadn't thrown an interception, just tossed away a lot of wasted opportunities out of bounds, but I'd been sacked twice by an Arkansas State defense that I should've ran circles around with minimal effort.

"Sorry Coach," I mumbled and tipped my chin into my chest protector.

"Don't be sorry." His hand gently clamped onto my shoulder. "Just be you. Whatever's bothering you son, grab ahold of it, channel it, and use it. Not how you start, it's how you finish."

He's right.

"Yes, Sir." I took a deep breath and excused myself into the toilet area, where I splashed cold water onto my face, then glanced at my reflection. Beneath a ruddy pink flush from the game, my skin was tinted gray and my eyes looked dull and lifeless.

My pride took a hit when I admitted Coach Williams was right, Dad's news about how he upgraded his new family affected my mind and game today. Like a small virus, his news leached into my brain and festered there until my focus wasn't on the game.

The longer I stared at my reflection, the more my features blurred into random shapes and lines, the more a heated anger burned in my gut. My jaw clenched tight, my hands gripped the cold porcelain edge of the sink, and a sense of clarity cut through the mental fog I'd limped through for the entire first half of the game.

I'll show him.

After another one of Emmitt's rousing halftime amp-up speeches, Wes' hand patted my shoulder while we walked down the tunnel towards the field. The clicks of our cleats on the concrete were the only sound between us until he replied, "You okay, bro?"

"I will be," I gritted out and strapped on my helmet and chin guard. "Let's fix this."

Down two scores at the start of the second half wasn't a position I'd found myself in regularly. With silent determination, the Husky offense took the field readied that we rectified that deficit and our defense came out from halftime renewed and made their stances when it counted.

From my first snap, my feet responded, my eyes read the field clearer, and play by play I connected on passes and planned better running routes. We slowly picked up momentum, like a delayed start off the gates, but churned up the field yard by yard against the Red Wolves until the next time I was tackled was when my feet crossed over the endzone, the football tucked tight against me.

"That's one," I growled out at Seth when he slapped his hand on my helmet, then patted Darius on his back for the block that let me through.

The Husky fans woke up in the second half, until they roared with renewed life. Push by push, catch by catch, we clawed our way back down the field with every chance we had until the scoreboard read 21-21. The redemption road was long, hard, and we sacrificed blood, sweat, and possibly a few tears on Arkansas State's side. I saw the same fatigue swirled with grit and determination in every pair of eyes in each offensive huddle, until a smile finally spread across my lips.

"Double." I pointed one finger at Jamal, my runningback who slumped over and gasped for breath after the thirty-yard run he just burst into for on the previous play, then pointed at Kade, my fullback. "Reverse, then flick to Wes."

"Fuck yes." Wes gaped at me. We'd run this play, more jokingly than seriously, a few times in practice but we'd reached the point of the game where a statement was needed and this one was bold and ballsy.

"Fuck," Kade cursed before he nodded tightly under my hardened gaze.

"Just throw the damn ball back Foster," I teased him then pointed to the line of scrimmage.

I lined up behind Zander my center like normal, with Seth and Wes stretched out wide on the ends, Jamal on my left hip and Kade halfway between me and the sidelines. His muttered curses spread a grin on my face and I stuck my hands right under Zander's ass.

"R-two, R-two! Hut hut hike!" Once the textured leather was pushed into my hands, I slipped the ball to Jamal, who faked his run while I ran in the opposite direction.

Just like we'd planned, Jamal flipped the ball to Kade, who probably prayed every prayer the poor guy knew. His toss flipped back to me was shaky at best but I clutched the ball while red jerseys stumbled around us, a step behind.

Exactly where I need them.

At the quick scan down field, I set my stance wide, clenched my legs as I wound back, grunted with effort, and threw the ball hard and long. It sailed clean, crisp, and long down the field right on point just like in practice. Once my hands were empty, my breath stalled while I watched as Wes' number eleven battled out his single-man coverage. A pair of red-sleeved hands raked over him step for step but he reached up, snatched my throw into his grasp, planted both feet into the turf, then rolled a few times over in the endzone.

After the sideline 'two' signal from Coach Donovan, with zero celebration, my right hand lifted and I sprinted down the field with my right hand's index and middle fingers raised. The crowd's roars filled our ears as we quickly lined up on the Red Wolves' three yard line. The stadium exploded at near-concert level volume at our two-point conversion attempt that I intended we broke decibel records with.

With only a quick hand signal for a naked bootleg play, we lined up shoulder to shoulder and tight before I fanned out the receivers for a faked passing place. Arkansas State's defenders shifted as expected, then off the snap I faked the handoff to Jamal while my feet did all the work. With a twist in my torso, I surged forwards with all the strength and power my legs expended, until body after body slammed hard into me. Helmets clashed, swear words were hurled at me, arms grabbed, and fingers groped me over.

Still upright with at least two pairs of arms around my hips, I pushed and drove my momentum until a hard weight crushed into my back and surged me forwards. A loud grunt escaped my mouth as I landed on a red-shirted defender, then rolled forwards until my right shoulder hit the turf. On instinct, I curled around the ball to the sound of a fired off cannon, enveloped only by the stadium's pure jubilation.

Punches into my gut, chest, even my groin, and feet kicked into my shins weren't enough and I kept my latched hold on the ball. Slowly, body after body was lifted off me until I gasped a hard break of late afternoon air to a wide grin on Darrius' face between a few bits of turf stuck in my helmet cage.

"Nice booty," he joked, then before I laughed his large hand slammed right into my right ass cheek.

That'll leave a mark.

"Thanks for the shove." I leaned forwards and smacked my helmet against his, then finally dropped the ball. Equal parts relief and adrenaline surged through me while I trotted back to the bench and round after round of fist bumps, high-fives, and slaps all over me. Once I got my bearings near the bench, I grabbed a bottle of water and lifted my eyes to my number one fan.

Ellie stood completely still, her eyes shone like she held stars in them, and her hand palmed into the center of her chest, right between the one and ten on her jersey. My hand already clamped over the same spot on me by the time she pointed her finger at me.

Only when I finished the hand sign had I noticed that Dad stood next to her, where he cheered wildly and flashed me a thumbs up. While I wasn't sure he saw me, I nodded tightly and turned my gaze back to the field to make sure we finished what we'd slowly started.

"You're kidding." My mouth dropped open wide at Ellie's post-game suggestion, which rained on my come from behind win post-game high like an ice storm. 

"Nope." Her quiet voice vibrated across my cheek before she softly pressed a kiss there. "So proud of you, Logan."

I cupped my arms around my tiny girlfriend, then buried my face in her long, dark hair while I swept my nose up the soft skin of her neck. She trembled slightly as my lips moved freely and goosebumps raised along the trail I ran from her shoulder up behind her ear, where I murmured, "I owe you a celebration."

Her soft gasp preceded her slight pullback. Her enlarged pupils assured me she felt the same way as the urges that swelled movement in my groin and her voice sounded slightly raspy, "And you'll get it. You need to do this first, that's all."

"Dinner with just me and Dad," I stated in a flat, uninterested voice, but caved under the smile she gave me.

"Yes." Since I probably looked like I needed a bit more incentive, she stood up on her tiptoes, reached up, and cupped her hands around my right ear. Warmth from her breath flowed over me but her words and the way her body felt pressed against mine surged all the blood in my body between my thighs. "I'll make it worth your wait."

I dropped the suggestive tone for a moment, pulled back, and studied her beautiful dark brown eyes. "You alright getting back?"

"Already arranged a ride home with Wes and Charlie, once she's done working over Kade's wrist." Ellie's dark eyes glimmered and her lips pulled into a soft smile. "U-Dub's cocky ass quarterback made him throw the ball today before an attempted a naked bootleg play."

My gut clenched tighter at her words and I grinned so widely that my cheeks felt pinched.

Fuck, even when she talks football turns me on.

A low groan vibrated in my throat and my cock pulsed with interest at the mental suggestion I buried it inside Ellie, but I relented and tugged one hand on the front edge of her jersey.

"This..." I stared right into her eyes before I kissed her gently. "Better be the only thing on when I get home and rip it off you."

Ellie's only response was the pale pink tint that crept up the side of her neck and spread across her cheeks. The way she gathered her lower lip between her teeth drew my attention right there and my hand moved on its own. I suppressed another groan when my thumb tugged on her lower lip until she released it and dragged my thumb over the soft, damp skin.

"Go," she mouthed and pressed a soft kiss on the pad of my thumb. Without a blink up at me, her eyes held all the weight of future promises that I fully intended she upheld.

"Right..." I grumbled and stepped over to where Dad stood alone. He'd folded the crisp-white, brand-new Huskies' jersey Ellie had picked up over one of his arms, which showed he wore a purple polo shirt and black jeans. His normal stiff posture was slightly relaxed and the wind lifted his brown hair, edged with a few grays around his ears.

With his angular jaw, higher cheekbones, and random brown freckles, Brody resembled Dad much more than I did, especially as he'd gotten older. Only our large, tall frames were similar, although at 6ft5 I dwarfed Dad by three inches and looked straight into his brown eyes when I stood inches apart from him.

"Ellie said we're having dinner," I blurted out although inwardly I wasn't a fan of this proposal. While my unusually emotional reaction last night had simmered down into a dull irritation on my nerves, certain parts of me, which included more than my brain, preferred that I celebrated tangled up in the bedsheets with Ellie.

Who am I kidding, I'd rather have dinner with Ellie's family again.

"She did." Dad chuckled quietly while we walked side by side to the player's exit out the stadium.

"She's quietly stubborn," I admitted after a few steps.

Dad's steps stopped and his head turned in my direction. "Not that quiet if you ask her directly."

Before I realized my mouth opened, a chuckle escaped and lightly bounced my chest. "I guess that's right. But just so you know, this time it's serious. I'm not letting that girl go, no matter what you or anyone else says. I love her."

Dad frowned at the hardness in my voice but I held his gaze until a smile relaxed his frown lines. An uncomfortable silence encroached between us until he swallowed. "I know, Logan."

My eyebrows couldn't have shot up any higher. "You do?"

"Your mom was right," one of his hands absently rubbed over his other arm's bicep. "She said it's written all over you both. I... didn't see that before."

In response, I barked out bitterly, "Hard to see what you aren't looking at."

"I'm... sorry." While a feather could've knocked me over from the simplest apology from the man who was only ever sorry for anything that negatively affected his life, Dad's hand moved from his arm onto mine and clutched my bicep.

"Logan, I am truly sorry." His voice sounded unfamiliar, strained with tension and... guilt? I'd heard and felt the emotion so much from Ellie that I recognized it but on Dad, guilt sounded, looked, and felt unfamiliar.

"For..." I dragged out the word since this was the last conversation I'd expected and we still stood in the now nearly empty players' side parking lot. Even the Arkansas State bus had already pulled out.

"A lot of things." Dark shadows tipped over his eyes as his chin dipped down but his hand squeezed my arm tighter. "I have a lot of apologizing to do to you and owe you some explanations..."

By the time Dad lifted his eyes, my chest tightened slightly in the war of opposition that raged inside me. Part of me wanted the distance and its uncomfortable tension wiped away while the other part of me, the sad twelve year old boy whose Dad told him he was leaving the family, begged for self-preservation.

My mind fought back and forth at what felt like a pivotal moment in my life. Dad stood silently, patiently even, for my reaction. I wasn't ready for a completely clean slate but deep down, my ears still capably listened.

With a tight smile on my mouth, the hand on the arm under his grasp reached up and returned the embrace. "Good thing we're going out to dinner then."

________________________

Q: Can you make aesthetics for the non-main characters?

A: Yep.