Roc was in front of his cornerback, and I thought he could step around his defender and dive for the pylon at the front corner of the end zone. Roc nodded to me, and I didn’t hesitate. I tossed the ball up as he released the corner and stepped behind him. Roc gathered it in for the score.
“Yes!” I yelled and pumped my fist.
Our team rushed the field to celebrate. I looked up at the scoreboard, and the clock showed zero. We’d officially won.
The St. Joe players and fans were in shock. I would be too. We finally calmed down enough to shake hands. If I were St. Joe, I might have just left the field. It was classy of them to wait for us. The St. Joe head coach stopped me in line.
“I want to wish you luck in the playoffs. You are the best high school player I’ve ever had the pleasure to coach against. I can hardly wait for you to graduate.”
I just thanked him and moved on.
◊◊◊
On the bus ride home, we were in high spirits. Everyone was either talking at once or singing songs. When we were only a few minutes out, Coach Hope stood up and got us settled down.
“I know that you’re going to celebrate tonight. No alcohol,” he said, and we all moaned. “Look out for each other and be ready come Monday. Otherwise, have fun.”
That we could do.
When we pulled into the school parking lot, we found our fans had beaten us home. Word got around that Destiny had decided to throw a party. It was too late to go to Monical’s, so most everyone decided to go to Destiny’s bash. I looked over at Don, her brother, and he didn’t look happy. It seemed she was still trying to take Brook’s place and imagined this would make her popular. I was afraid of what would happen to their house.
Brook found me, and I picked her up and kissed her.
“You must be feeling better.”
“I think we need to take advantage of this,” I told her and waggled my eyebrows.
We decided to skip the party and go to Brook’s cottage. Let’s just say I took full advantage of my Vitamin T shot.
◊◊◊
Chapter 36 – Date with Destiny Saturday October 29
My eyes blinked open, and I moaned. And not the good type of moan like I made last night, but the moan an old man must utter when every part of him aches. My Vitamin T had worn off, and I hadn’t taken a pain pill before going to bed last night. I decided to get up and cringed when my whole right side decided it might cramp up.
Duke lay at the side of the bed, where he’d slept last night. He gave me a look that said it was too early.
“Hey, Buddy. Go get me a pain pill, and I’ll buy you a bag of tennis balls.”
Duke only sighed as he flopped his head back onto the floor. Perhaps Brook and I shouldn’t have been quite so energetic last night. A tiny smile crept onto my face as I remembered her cries of passion. I’d been on my game last night, and Brook hadn’t been too bad herself.
This morning was an unhappy reminder of what Zander had done to me. Would I ever frickin’ get better?
I managed to get upright and tottered towards the bathroom, using the wall to steady myself. Duke decided he’d better move in case I fell on him. I found my pills on the bathroom vanity and struggled to get the top off. Whoever invented childproof caps should be shot. The sad part was that if I gave the pill bottle to Coby, he would probably have it chewed open by now. I finally got the bottle opened and swallowed a pill.
After my pill, I staggered into my shower and turned the water on as hot as I could stand. The hot water worked its magic on my aching side.
I was surprised at how much I
Doc Grog had assured me that Toradol wasn’t addictive. It came from the same family of drugs as over-the-counter Advil, but was more powerful. I’d asked Doc about its addictiveness because I tended to overdo things. Part of why I ran was because I got a ‘runner’s high.’ That refers to the rush of endorphins that running can trigger in the brain, giving the person a sense of euphoria. While I expected the benefits of running far outweighed my addiction to it, I suspected that might not be true of Vitamin T. I realized that if I’d had access to it this morning, I wouldn’t have hesitated to use it.
◊◊◊
I told my security I wouldn’t leave the house until tonight’s date with Destiny. That allowed me to slip out in my Demon. I planned to pick up Dare and test out my new drone with him. When I arrived at Dare’s, his mom answered the door and gave me an unreadable look.
“You’d better come in. He’s in his room,” she said and pointed to where I needed to go.
The door hung partially open, so I poked my head in.
“Hey …” I said and then froze.
On the floor, in a million pieces, was my drone. Dare’s head snapped up, and his ears flushed.
“I … uhm … I …”
