77

Kassie

Stop The Bastard

We had an entire room dedicated to the football girlfriends watching the football game in the training center. I stretched back on the couch, watching the couch, laser focused.

"Remember, the yellow bowls are for you, " Cleo pointed out the snack bowls on the table to me, "and June, the purple ones are for you. They're the only ones you're allowed to touch from. Understood?"

Drawbacks of sponsorships. When the cameras were rolling, I could only touch the pretzels and chips that paid Ryan.

"Understood," June assured me and picked up the purple bowl of salt and vinegar chips, dropping a few on the table in front of me. "Whoops."

I grinned, hurrying to grab them before Cleo smacked my hand. "Well, if they're just going in the trash…"

"And I need you two interacting more," Cleo reminded us. "People enjoy it, you get more positive feedback when you two interact with each other than any other girls on the list."

I turned to June. "Interacting."

"Interacting, interacting," she replied.

"Inter—inter—interacting."

"It does better for the numbers," Cleo said, exasperated before she dug into every snack bowl on the table, throwing back some of the sunflower seeds I couldn't touch and the gummy candies that June couldn't go near while a camera flashed. "Mmm, tastes so good not having to worry about it!"

June sighed. "That's just rude, Cleo."

"Why do we have to worry about this but you don't?" I demanded. "Who decided you get free reign?"

"Me. I handle the sponsorships." Cleo shrugged, beaming.

I smacked her with a pillow from the couch and June laughed next to me before cheers started up from the TV and everyone locked in immediately. We all leaned forward on the couch, watching with rapt attention.

"Going live now!" Cleo reminded us before the cameras flashed red below the TV.

No cursing, no shit-talking the other team, just presentable, presentable, presentable.

And god damn was that hard with a football game.

The game was packed on the TV screen and I watched on the edge of my seat while the guys started up together. And there was number four.

"Okay, baby, you got this," I whispered. "Come on, baby."

The first touchdown wasn't even from Marrs and we were shoved up in our seats, yelling at the TV until we remembered who we were representing. I hunkered down with the pillow in my lap.

"How did he fumble that?!" June demanded.

"June, June—" I shook my head, eyes glued to the TV screen. One of the new sophomore players took a dive at the thirty-yard line and everybody sucked in a breath, all of us together. I squeezed the pillow and let go of it entirely when Ryan caught the ball.

"Oh my god!" one of the girlfriends shouted and I leaped to my feet.

I couldn't sit for the rest of the game. I had to pace behind the couch, watching as plays after plays followed through.

"They have to get past Carey," June lobbed at me.

"They'll get past him." My pace quickened on the floor. "God, how they—" I pressed the pillow up to my face to curse. " Motherfucker, go! " I made a hard right along the couch. "They'll get past him, they'll get past him—"

Two minutes left on the clock and half of us were screaming at the TV while the other half sat, close to praying. We were up but that depended on Louisiana not getting ahead with still two minutes on the clock.

"Stop him!" I shouted. I yanked up the pillow again to muffle my words. " Stop the bastard! "

The boys raced across the screen and the adrenaline in the room was undeniable. My heart pounded in my chest. Thirty seconds on the clock, they just had to stop—

Defense slammed against the ULNP player and the girls went crazy.

"That's right!" I belted out, slamming my fist into the back of the couch. "Let's motherfucking go! That's right! "