Dustin went home that night and put ice on his rib. She must’ve bruised it, it hurt so bad. How in the world would he explain this to the team doctor? He’d have to say he was hit hard in practice and hadn’t realized it was hurt so bad during the end of day checkup. Something. He couldn’t tell them he’d been beaten up by a girl. Just the thought of it boiled his blood.

What would he do about this Brooklyn chick? She thought she was hot stuff. Okay, so she was the hottest girl on the squad, but that didn’t give her license to just act like a bitch. He’d tried hard to win her over and she wouldn’t budge. He thought sneaking up behind her would be playful. He’d get a little scream, she’d see it was him and relax, and they’d laugh. It would all be in good fun. That’s how it’d gone every time he’d tried something like that before. But no, Brooklyn had a bug up her ass, and she had to turn on him.

He thought about what happened, and it pissed him off that she’d laughed at him like that. But still. She was tough, and it turned him on. If she could hit and kick like that, what would she be like in bed? Fierce, no doubt. Made him hard just imagining it.

But they probably needed some time to cool down. If he tried to talk to her now, it’d all go wrong and he’d get nowhere. He could wait for her, go after another cheerleader for now, give Brooklyn time to cool off. Then he’d circle around to her, and when she was ready, he’d check her off the list.

The next day, when he got to practice, he planned to up his game in every way—on the field and off. At least day two of practice hadn’t been as bad as day one, but day three would have to be even better. He was realizing that maybe the guys on this team weren’t as bad as he thought they were. They played tough, and he was having to pull out all his best moves and give it everything just to keep up with them.

This morning, he was scheduled for the weight room first. He made sure he was beside Alex. That guy had strong legs, and he needed to make sure he squatted as much as him, if not more. When Alex loaded up his bar, Dustin was right beside him choosing the same weights. He set his barbell next to Alex’s, and they began their set.

At first, he did okay. It was a heavy weight, and he was decent at front squats, but as the set went on, his legs got tired. He had to set the bar down to breathe. Alex kept going. When Dustin saw he wasn’t stopping to rest, he picked up his own bar again and did several more squats. But his legs just didn’t want to bend and straighten anymore. He had to set the bar down and move on. Alex was still squatting and then moved on to back squats.

Maybe today just wasn’t a good day to be leg day. Maybe it was more like arm day. He found Hayden doing biceps curls with a hand weight. Dustin picked up the same size weight and sat down on the bench. He did one rep and his side burst into pain. He had to set the weight down immediately and stand, trying to alleviate the stabbing sensation in his rib. Clearly, this wasn’t going to be arm day either. And obviously, doing heavy core was out.

“You okay, man?” Hayden asked.

Dustin nodded, but he knew he had to be going pale. He’d broken into a cold sweat from the pain.

“You don’t look good.”

“I’ll be okay.”

“Doc is in the back. Better get to it.”

Dustin sat down and rested his elbows on his knees. “Nah, I just need to rest for a minute.”

“Don’t mess around like that. Just go see him. No shame in it. We all get hurt. I had him tape up my toe yesterday. I think these new sneakers are too tight.” Hayden flexed his foot and grimaced.

Dustin’s bruised rib was hardly a toe blister. And he couldn’t even admit to how he’d gotten it. Not without being ridiculed.

“Hey.” Hayden did a single head nod and gave him a half smile. “How you doing on the bet? Cross any off yet?”

“Getting close. You?”

“I think it’ll happen Friday. I got a date with one of them.”

“Which one?” If he said Brooklyn, Dustin would punch him in the face right there.

“Holly.”

He hadn’t met her yet. He couldn’t picture her either. “Which one is she?”

Hayden’s face stretched into a slow smile. “The black beauty.”

Now he remembered. She wasn’t the hottest, but she had the best stomach. The most visible six-pack of any of them. And she had very long, jet black hair that hung in a sleek ponytail to her waist. He’d pictured grabbing that ponytail when he banged her from behind.

“Nice catch,” Dustin said. “I have a few I’m working on.”

“Oh, yeah? Which ones?” Hayden grunted as he set the weight down and switched arms.

“Brooklyn, Maddie, Kitty.”

“Maddie?” Hayden laughed. “You sure you’re thinking of the right one?”

“The pale one with dark hair.”

“She’s going to be a tough one, I think.” He leaned closer and dropped his voice. “Rumor is, she’s actually gay but hasn’t come out yet and is afraid to because some cheerleader that came out last year got dropped. But she doesn’t seem to be too friendly with men.”

Dustin chuckled. “She about bit my head off, but I think it’s just a cover. We’ll see. I might chat up a few others. Just have to see who bites first.”

“Get on it. I think Alex is close, too.”

Dustin glanced across the room at Alex. Could he be beating him in this contest, too? Both of them were showing him up on the field, in the weight room, and with the ladies. What was wrong with him?

New strategy. Forget going after the hardest or hottest. He just needed one. Any one. The easiest one. He just needed to get started and cross off one name so he wouldn’t be behind. He might still be able to beat them. None of them slept with one yet, so it was still anyone’s game. If he moved fast.

After the morning workout, they sat through a bunch of meetings. They discussed plays and went over them then talked about what they did well and what they did wrong the day before. Some areas of improvement were listed. Then, a second meeting for just the offense, which was basically the same thing but in more detailed information. Sitting on the hard bench, leaning forward on his knees like that was hurting his rib. How in the world would he play with it like that?

By the time the meetings were done and they hit the field, he was feeling worn out. And there was still a lot of day ahead.

They got into formation for a scrimmage. Right in the first play, he was tackled. It was bad enough that he’d gone down, and he’d landed right on his rib. He sat up and his head spun. He had to yank off his helmet and breathe slowly to avoid puking. He got to his feet and had to run off the field to the doctor.

“What’s going on?” the doctor said, running to meet him.

“My rib. I landed on it, and I think it’s bruised.” At least it seemed like a hard enough hit to be feasible.

The doctor ran his fingers along Dustin’s side and back, finding the places that made him cry out in pain.

“Not broken, so that’s good. I’d ice it really good and try not to aggravate it. You better hit the bench for this practice.”

Dustin laughed. “You know I can’t do that.”

The doctor gave him a stern look. “Sit down.” He pointed to the bench. “If you don’t rest it now, you’ll make it worse. Don’t make me have to flag you as an injury. Sit for this practice and ice it, and see how it feels for the afternoon.”

“Fine.” Dustin dropped his helmet and skulked into the locker room kitchen to get an ice bag.

In the freezer, there were several ready to go. As he walked back to the bench with his ice, he passed several other guys icing knees or shins, but most of them were low-ranking players. Dustin had to get back out there as soon as he could to prove he belonged at the top of the list.

He sat down and let his eyes drift over to the cheerleaders. Might as well enjoy his time sitting there, right?

He saw Holly and Brooklyn at the front of the pack. Holly kept looking over at Hayden and checking him out. Hayden didn’t seem to notice. Apparently, that move was working on her. Brooklyn never looked over at the guys’ side of the field.

He picked out Kitty and Maddie. He might have a chance with Kitty, but everything he’d said about Maddie to Hayden had been a complete lie. No way was that chick going to go for him without a ton of work. And she didn’t even seem worth it. He didn’t really like that angry, waifish type. Kitty, he could handle. Blondes were always nice, and she seemed just elusive enough.

There was one girl, though, who was clearly the runt of the litter. She was still hot. Not one on the squad was anything less than a nine or ten, but she was the lowest ranking one. Not plain by any means, just not as exceptional as the others. Her body was okay, but she had a slight thickness the others didn’t. More than that, though, she seemed like the most reserved, the quietest. She was the one who hesitated, who held back when the others charged forward.

She looked his way once, and when she saw him watching her, her face turned a little pink and she looked away. But then she kept sneaking glances back. Every time she did, he was watching her. He didn’t take his eyes off her. And when she walked away from the squad for a moment to get water and she checked again, she smiled when she saw him still looking her way. Maybe that had been a test? Making sure he wasn’t really looking at someone else?

Well, it was decided. If he couldn’t get the alpha, he’d go after the runt. She would be easy prey. He’d pull out his most romantic moves and win her over.

He almost missed it when the squad left the field at the end of practice. He’d gotten such a kick out of watching that girl and making plans. He wouldn’t mind sitting out again to watch her, if it came to that.

After lunch, Dustin decided he had to at least try to practice. He’d rested the rib for several hours now, and he couldn’t afford to sit out any longer. He went out with the team and tried to make sure it didn’t get hit as they ran drills. The scrimmaging was done, so that worked in his favor. It was easier to control his own moves and not have to worry about someone crashing into him. But the drills were hard enough. Running and turning and throwing all hurt. He’d have to go home and really ice it good tonight.

When practice had finally ended and they were free for the evening, he’d been in so much pain, he almost forgot about going to meet that cheerleader he’d been watching all morning. But as luck would have it, when he walked out to the huge parking lot, he looked over and saw her. He scolded himself for a moment for forgetting all about her, then cut across the next row of cars to go talk to her.