“You’ve been one of my most reliable players since you started. Tight ends like you don’t come along too often. With your specialized skills and talent…” He tsked and shook his head. “Keep up the work outs and practices. It’s no contact, but you can showcase everything you can do. I’ll do everything I can to get you your ticket to a full ride. Make sure you’re doing the same.” He leveled his firm gaze at me.

“Which school is interested?” I leaned forward in the chair with my hands braced on the arm rests. Playing college football had been a dream I’d thought I’d been fooling myself with, but now it was a possibility.

“Let’s not buy any plane tickets yet. I’ll let you know once this solidifies a bit more.” He flipped through a few papers on his desk. “Every team needs a sixth man on the line of scrimmage and you can be that guy for any team out there that wants to win. Did you want to talk it over with your dad?”

“I’m eighteen.” There was a bite to my voice that I couldn’t hold back.

“Of course you are, but these things can be important family decisions.”

I shot up from my chair. “It’s my decision. Tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”

“Keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble. Until you sign the forms, I don’t want to hear a peep from anyone about you other than in practice and at your scrimmage.”

I nodded and left his office.

My grades were fine. Mediocre and enough to pass all my classes, but nothing spectacular. Scholarships at Division II schools were only partials. Division III schools couldn’t give me any money. Most Division I schools offering full scholarships had their pick of guys from all over the country, each with their own winning seasons, yardage and passing records, so being labeled difficult had cut my legs out from under me.

There was still a chance.

Hope wasn’t something I’d ever been big on believing in, but damn if I didn’t have some when I got to the locker room. Bay’s song played again in my head. I’d only heard it once, but it was almost like it had conjured the possibility from thin air, breathing life into a dream I’d thought was dead.

I left the athletics building and went straight for my locker. The rumble of the metal in the vacant hallway echoed off the painted cinderblock walls.

Voices got louder at the far end of the hall. The empty space worked like a megaphone, amplifying every sound ten times.

“She’s working tonight, which means I’m out the door at midnight.”

That voice was one I paid attention to.

“I could never keep my cool in front of my parents. You’re not afraid of getting caught?”

“It’s been almost two years. I’m safe. It’s not like I’m dealing drugs.” It was Bay.

She rounded the corner with her friend. Both of them in glasses, carrying books in their arms. Throw in some poodle skirts and they were wholesome teens in any era, except for the death daggers Bay shot me. And her penchant for sneaking out and her non-drug-dealing evening activities, which apparently her friend wasn’t in on.