He backed off, not sure what to make of that. “You know what? I’m done with you,” he said. “And so is Katie. Get it through your thick skull that we love each other, and I will not let you get in the way of that.”

“Love? You wouldn’t know love if it bit you in the ass.”

And to that, he gave a nasty, lascivious smile. The kind that leaves a bad taste in your mouth just looking at it.

“Maybe you’re just jealous,” he said. “Maybe you just want what she gets.”

I think I would have torn him apart if Norris hadn’t shown up at that exact moment.

“Hey, we’re all waiting for you out there. Coach is getting impatient—he wants to give his pep talk.”

I was so volcanic, I could feel myself shaking, and the angrier I got, the calmer Layton did. “That’s good energy, Bowman,” Layton said. “Save it for the game.” Then he sauntered off, like he was so golden, nothing could touch him.

I punched a locker so hard, it popped a hinge.

“So was that about Katie?” Norris asked, once Layton was gone. The fact that even Norris had eyes on the situation meant that Layton’s treatment of her was obvious, even to him.

“What else would it be about?” I snapped, but then took it down a notch. “Someone had to say something.” This was the first time Norris had spoken to me in a week. That didn’t earn him a reward, but at least I could try to be civil. And then Norris went and ruined it.

“If you ask me, Katie knew what she was getting into,” Norris said. “You date a guy like Layton, you get all that comes with it, good and bad. If she’s okay with that, maybe you should be, too.”

And you know what the most horrible thing about that was? He wasn’t just speaking off the cuff. I could tell he had given it plenty of thought before reaching that fucked-up conclusion.

“Norris, when are you gonna realize that the guy you idolize is not who you think he is?”

Norris took a moment before he responded to that.

“You’re the one I idolized, Ash,” he said. “And you’re right. He’s not.”

We ran out onto the field a few minutes later to the expected roars from the crowd, and the familiar pump of adrenaline. But today my adrenaline was flowing at cross-purposes to the game. It had been a long time since I was there to play football. My game had much higher stakes.