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Back Cross My Heart
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

Man. I look back and think that things would be so different if I’d put my fear aside and done exactly what we should’ve about it. But I was a dumb teenage boy. So I did the only thing I knew, instead.

I reached around May blind, my eyes still on her, flicked my stick towards the goal, and sent one of the two balls she’d launched at me flying straight into the net. The sound echoed in the night, the kind you could hear even over the party raging on in the barn.

‘I’ll have you play that best of five, probably.’ I cleared my throat, holding the second ball out to her.

Something in her face flickered for a moment. It could’ve been the terrible floodlights going out for a millisecond, or May trying to blink a hair out of her face. But I swear, I saw something.

‘Let’s do it.’

Chapter One

Heard Round the World

Colt

Major League Lacrosse Playoffs, October 2024

‘WE GET IT DONE, YOU HEAR ME? WE GET THIS DONE, IT’S FINALS, BABY!’

Arms linked to form a huddle, my teammates reply by way of whoops and shouts. I feel a hand clutch my stick and give it a good shake, and another tap the back of my helmet. The energy is electric, and we’re all at the point of the night where we’re just itching to hit the turf. Heavy bass pours through the speakers mounted all around Mill River Stadium, but I hear nothing but the guys’ roars.

‘WE GET THIS DONE, WE INVADE NATE’S!’ adds Drew, earning excited yelps at the mention of the New Haven Woodchucks’ unofficial team bar.

‘WE GET THIS DONE, I MOVE OUT OF MOM’S!’

I’d groan and grumble at that one from Connor, but we’re too hyped up on adrenaline to make a joke about Connor’s home in his mother’s basement. We’re also too broke to make a joke about it, for the record. No one ever warns you that all pro athletes are made very, very unequal.

‘GOOD FOR YOUR MOM!’ JJ beats me to the punch.

Chaotic laughter and jersey-tugging ensue, at least till I get the boys back on track.

‘Listen, guys.’

Their voices fall, the huddle tightening when they hear the dead serious undertone. We’ve never been a serious team. In fact, we’re the most unserious in the league. We’re also the youngest, on average. But when it comes to it, as captain, I refuse to drop the ball if our season depends on it. We’ll switch up when we need to.