Jaxon POV
By the time practice ended the next afternoon, I’d replayed Coach’s advice so many times I could hear his voice in my head. Don’t make the speech. That part was going to be a problem. I was already building one. Every time I imagined Riley standing in front of us, looking guarded and exhausted, another sentence formed. The room was empty anyway. She had earned her place here. She wouldn’t owe us anything. She didn’t have to say yes. Individually, the words sounded reasonable. Together, they sounded exactly like the speech Coach had warned me not to make.
I pulled my jersey over my head and tossed it into the laundry bin. Across the locker room, Gray was trying to convince Tyler that shower shoes were a government conspiracy. “They create dependence.” Gray said seriously as Tyle
