Third and Goal by Erin Hayes & Margo Bond Collins

Author:Erin Hayes & Margo Bond Collins [Hayes, Erin & Collins, Margo Bond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: football team, reverse harem
Publisher: Bathory Gate Press
Published: 2019-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“Clancy didn’t write a notecard for me about the playoffs,” I whispered to Ashley on the phone as I sat down in the owner’s box just before the first game of the playoffs, squaring off against a team from Pennsylvania. We were in Pittsburgh for this game, something that I knew put us at a disadvantage. “How does this work, do they just win more than they lose again?”

There was a stunned moment of silence on the other end before Ashley burst out laughing. “How the hell do you not know that?”

I rolled my eyes. As an athletic trainer, she was on the field with my team, leaving me alone to rub elbows with my sponsors and stakeholders for the team, and I was pretty sure that something along those lines would come up. Between Andre’s injury and planning for the dinner date from hell, I hadn’t really had time to look into what exactly happened during a playoff, and Ashley was my usual go-to for football-related questions.

Well, the ones that weren’t on notecards and written by a handsome linebacker.

“There are brackets,” Ashley said, “are you at least familiar with those?”

I frowned. “Similar to what they do for video game tournaments?” I had gone to a few of them, and even played in some tournaments.

“What?” She barely concealed her snicker. “Only you, Madison. Yes, similar to video game tournaments.”

Put in those terms, I knew more of what to expect. It basically narrowed down the teams in the pool until there were the finals, and then there would be a winner.

But that meant...

I paled at the thought. “So it’s single elimination?”

“Yep.”

“But the Hammers haven’t had any sort of winning streak. They’re just lucky.” We had barely made it to the playoffs as it was. How were we supposed to survive a single-elimination tournament like that?

“You understand now why it would be considered a miracle if the Hammers won?” Ash asked me.

“Yeah. Shit.” I placed a lock of hair behind my ear and gulped audibly. “Shit.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” she assured me. “It was considered a miracle that they made it this far in the first place.”

“But—”

“Listen.” She cut me off. “This is only your first season as team owner with the Yellowhammers. You came in just before their preseason started, and based on this conversation, you still don’t know anything about football. If anyone can create a miracle, it’s you, Madison. But also, don’t forget how far we’ve come, okay?”

Reasons why Ashley was my best friend, Exhibit A. I nodded, and a tear started to fall down my cheek.

“Don’t go crying on me,” she told me, even though she couldn’t see what I was doing and I had given no indication of it, either. “Just hang in there. I’m down here with the guys, and we’ll all be sure to make you proud.”

“I should be down there.”

“You should be schmoozing with those sponsors up there,” she pointed out. “Let the guys play their own game while you play yours. And come down during the last quarter so that we can either celebrate or have a sob session.

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