“Nice work out there. You tired yet?” I ask him, sitting down next to him on the bench and pulling off my sweaty helmet.

“Heck, no,” he says. “I can do this all day long.”

“Let’s hear it for our Iron Man,” Coach Marcus calls, standing in the middle of the locker room and pointing at Elijah. The team yells so loud I know the Spartans can hear it in their locker room.

“Let’s keep our heads in the game. We all know how quickly things can go south in the second half,” Coach Marcus tells us.

He pulls Elijah aside as the rest of us run back out onto the field. I hesitate, wanting to wait for him, but in the end, I don’t. I take a deep breath and pull my helmet back on, ready to get back out on the field and score some more points. I pat the tape on my ribs to make sure it’s secure and take a deep breath. As long as I don’t get hit on my left side, I’m good. My ribs are only sore when I touch them, and the adrenaline is pumping so hard I can barely feel them when I’m on the field.

And as long as I’ve got Elijah in front of me when I’m making plays, I know I’m not going to go down.

· twenty ·

ELIJAH

Iron Man. That’s what Coach Marcus called me at halftime. I feel like Iron Man, too, digging into the grass before every play and watching the eyeballs of every defensive player that’s in front of me. I know their moves before they do. I can feel my muscles tighten and pulse before every snap, and my body knows exactly where it needs to go before my brain does. I never figured protecting the quarterback would have come to me so easily, although I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that it’s Julian I’m taking care of back there.

The game ends with a score of 59–27 in favor of the Crenshaw County Guardsmen. We dump a full bucket of ice water on Coach Marcus before running back to the field house.

Bucky hooks his phone up to a speaker and plays our hype song as soon as we get into the locker room and keeps it going at full volume until the coaches get there. The atmosphere is electric, and guys keep coming up to me to congratulate me. They’re all calling me Iron Man.

I am soaking it up.

“Beach night, boys! Bring your tents and meet us at marker forty-eight!” Bucky yells to the full locker room while we’re all getting dressed.

I throw on my clothes as quickly as I can and meet Julian outside the locker room. I can’t wipe the smile off of my face.

“Feels good, right?” Julian smiles when he sees me.