Jake’s heart clenched at the somberness in Justin’s tone, and his anger at Dominique was rekindled. As far as he was concerned, anyone who knew Justin knew that he should have been on that trip, including his mother. No, especially her. A vision from the other night when Dominique sat in his living room flashed in his mind. A vision of vulnerable yet determined loveliness. Are we cool. Am I forgiven? Jake had yet to answer Dominique’s question, but he intended to, and soon.

“The guys were cool,” Jake heard Travis continue. “And they are huge, like Coach. We got to take pictures with them and everything.”

“Man, I’m so jealous.”

Jake rounded the corner to where Travis and Justin stood just as several other teammates entered the locker room. “You boys are a bit early for practice, don’t you think?”

“We finished our quiz early, Coach,” Travis explained. “Miss Banks excused us.”

“Oh, really? Well, I’m going to speak with Miss Banks. Your story better check out or I might be looking at a couple of Saturday morning bench warmers.”

Justin’s eyes widened at the thought of not seeing action on game day. “She said we could leave, Coach, promise!”

Jake nodded, thankful for the change in Justin’s demeanor, even though his disappointment had been replaced by fear. “All right, then. Let’s get moving. Oh, and Travis?”

“Yes, Coach?”

“Make sure you see me once practice is over.”

Travis’s head dropped. Jake noticed the action and understood why: Travis knew that Jake had heard him talking about the trip to the Raiders’ game and knew he was in trouble.

Ninety sweaty minutes later, the boys trudged off the field. Jake talked to Travis, and much to the boy’s surprise, told him that while it was never okay to disobey rules, he understood why Travis had felt the need to confide in Justin, one of his best friends. As a relieved Travis raced away, Jake noticed Justin ambling toward him with a troubled look once again marring his handsome countenance.

“Hey buddy,” Jake said as Justin approached. “You all right?”

Justin shrugged, continuing into the locker room. Jake followed him there.

“I heard you and Travis discussing yesterday’s game.”

Justin looked up, but said nothing.

“The defense didn’t hold the line,” Jake continued, pointedly referring to the game and not the trip. That’s why Oakland lost.”

“I didn’t see the game. We were at Knott’s Berry Farm.”

“Did you have fun?”

“It was all right.”

“Justin, you know that I wanted you to be there, right? In Oakland, at the game?”

“Yeah, and my stupid mother messed it up for me so I couldn’t go!”

Jake came around the bench that separated them and clinched a towel in his fist. “Don’t you ever refer to your mother as stupid, or use any other demeaning description, understood?”