I did, just as Vance started to charge toward Banner.
Before he could make contact with Banner, Titus was there, blocking his way. Protecting his quarterback.
“Go home,” Titus ordered.
Vance spit out a string of curses that ended with, “Fuck you!”
Trance, Viddy, and Oakley were there seconds later.
Trance blocked a path so that Oakley and Viddy could get through, then pointed his finger in Vance’s direction.
“It’s time to clean up the act, kid,” he said. “One day, you’re not going to have being a kid as an excuse. You have, what, three more weeks until you’re eighteen? The law doesn’t play once you hit that age anymore.”
With that, he put his arm around Oakley and led her away, holding his hand out for Viddy.
Banner wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his big body as he led me away.
Titus waited until we were well out the door before he let Vance go.
When Titus finally caught up to us, I was shaking my head.
“Something needs to give,” Titus said as he came up. “He needs to fucking go.”
“Someone needs to kick him out of school,” Trance muttered darkly. “Kid, you need to get back to the locker room.”
I knew he was talking to Banner when I felt him stiffen.
I patted Banner’s shoulder. “He’s right. Your game starts in what, half an hour? You really should go.”
Banner sighed and pulled me in close, stopping when he was close to the boys’ locker room entrance.
“I got about a dozen texts all saying a fight was about to break out. I don’t even know any of the numbers,” he grumbled, his eyes coming to rest on mine. “Stay with my dad. Ford will be here soon, too. And don’t go to the bathroom by yourself. I don’t like the way he cornered you today, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be at the game.”
With that, he kissed me on the cheek and sprinted away as if he hadn’t been there in the first place.
Or as if he was going to get in trouble with the football coach for leaving.
“Y’all are just too cute,” Oakley teased.
I rolled my eyes and looked at her baby.
Would Banner’s kids look like that? Would they be a mix of me and him?
Whoa there, Perry.
You’re seventeen, chick. You’re so not ready for kids.
Except, I knew that I wanted some.
A lot of them.
Maybe five.
But… just not right now.
“Ready when you are, girl,” Trance said, breaking me out of my daydream.
I nodded and started forward, being sure to walk slow so that they could keep up.
Not that they were slow by any means, but I was used to sprint-walking my way everywhere. Mostly because I didn’t want to chance seeing the cheerleaders or other people that might want to talk to me.
When we finally arrived at the game, I had my wallet out to pay for my ticket when Trance’s big hand came over my shoulder with two twenty-dollar bills.
I hid my grin and shoved my backpack back into place.
“Where do y’all normally sit?” I asked curiously. “We don’t have any assigned seating, and since we’re here so early, we should have our pick of seats.”
Trance shrugged. “I’ll probably stand at the fence. Where do the ladies want to sit?”
Viddy and Oakley only shrugged, so I took them to the fifty-yard line and parked them about halfway up the bleachers.
“I’m going to leave this here and run to the bathroom,” I said as I dropped my bag. “Y’all can watch it? I don’t want it stolen. It has my last clean pair of underwear in it.”
Viddy snorted. “Yes, we can watch it.”
I grinned and took off down the bleachers, only remembering Banner’s order not to go to the bathroom by myself once I was already in there.
Thinking that it wouldn’t matter at this point, I went ahead and did my business, coming out five minutes later to it significantly darker, as well as more people milling about.
I was about halfway to the bleacher’s stairs when I felt something tug me from behind.
I turned to tell them to back off when I saw Vance’s face.
Then I saw nothing at all because his elbow met my face.
Chapter 18
You’re panicking at the wrong disco.
-Coffee Cup
Banner
I tossed a beautiful pass that sailed right into Graham’s open hands and grinned before holding a thumb up.
Coach then called us in to get the pep talk going before the game started.
Automatically, I looked to the bleachers for my family, just like I did every single time before the game started.
I found them in the middle where I’d seen them the moment I’d walked out onto the field earlier.
My eyes narrowed when I didn’t spot Perry.
Then again, now that I was looking, I saw my mom, Oakley, and Ashe, but I didn’t see my dad or Ford.
I automatically started looking along the fence where my dad and brother tended to hang, but didn’t see them there, either.
My eyes once again went over the bleachers, and my heart started to pound.
Perry wasn’t there.
Where was she?
“What’s wrong?” Titus asked.
I swallowed the worry that started to fill my gut and gestured to the bleachers. “I don’t see Perry. Or my brother and dad.”
Titus was silent for a long second as he scanned the area for them, but shook his head when he didn’t see anything either. “Not in the concession stand line, either.”
I was almost to the coach when I saw my dad standing next to the bathroom.
I instantly felt better.
Until I realized that he was standing next to the bathroom talking to a police officer.
Gut churning, I studied my dad, seeing that he was worried.
He always stood with his hands on his hips when he had something bothering him, and he was doing that now.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, breaking away from Titus to head in the direction of my father.
“Hey, Spurlock. Get back here!” Coach called.
I ignored him and kept walking, stopping at the edge
