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Back Cross My Heart Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. Prologue
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Epilogue
  51. Author’s Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Publisher

My body doesn’t have time to question what my brain wants to overthink. I dart left all at once, practically screaming to Maddie, ‘LEFT, MADS! LEFT, LEFT!’

Maddie recovers quickly, and when I chuck the ball over to her, she cradles it immediately, and on foot, sprints behind the goal. She shoots around the back – and she scores.

We all screech in unison as Maddie throws her stick down, pumping her fists. We surround her in celebration. Three–seven. This story isn’t over yet.

My eyes immediately move to Colt when I run back to my position. He nods encouragingly, pacing the sideline the same way Coach does. Initially, I wonder just how dehydrated and stressed I must be for hallucinations to have come into play, but then I hear his voice again.

‘Don’t back down, May! Don’t fuckin’ back down!’

I don’t know if he’s here for an hour, for a day, for a week, or if he’ll disappear from my life again after this game. I don’t know if he’s feeding me lies coated in sugar to hide the truth. But I do know that I’ve always trusted his match judgement, sometimes more than my own. I’m not ready to stop now.

The fourth approaches faster than I can keep track. The crowd is fired up, every single person on their feet. The stadium is deafening as the clock ticks down. We are 13–13 after an action-packed second half. Tied. AT’s seen everything from us. Just one thing we haven’t pulled out yet.

Cornered, Jordan yelps, and I call out ball so she can pass back out to me to regroup. Shit. They’re covering all my attackers. I sure as hell don’t think I could suffer through overtime. So what the hell can I do now to take this game?

‘TWIZZLER!’ Colt shouts from the sideline.

No way. No way I’ll make it up to the crease in time for that.

Twenty seconds. Nineteen. Eighteen.

With no other option, no other ideas, I raise a hand so Jordan can see, swirling it in a loop. Twizzler.

If the defence is going to cover all my attackers, I’ll have to use the defence to launch my goal.

I break straight through the midline, running as fast as my legs will carry me. Defenders charge my way, but I careen left and right. A pass to Maddie, and a pass back to me. I send it to Jordan. I can practically feel the Oklahoma crowd biting their nails as the seconds pass. Five. Four.

‘HIT ME!’