1
JAXON
The late July sun is brutal, baking the cracked pavement of the stadium lot. Even with the windows down, the air inside my truck clings to my skin. I cut the engine just as Jake Mitchell’s familiar voice fromCollege Football Primetimecrackles through the speakers.
"Biggest headline going into summer camp? Jaxon Montgomery transferring. A surefire first-round draft pick leaving Michigan State for Pacific Coast University. Chase, help me out—what's this kid thinking?"
I clench my jaw tight, my muscle ticking beneath the skin. I should switch it off. Instead, I sit there, letting it dig under my skin.
"No offense to PCU, but this is a downgrade. It has to be personal. No way this is just about football."
They're right. It isn't about football.
Through the windshield, the stadium looms—all concrete and glass, the PCU logo practically daring me to prove I belong here. New team. New playbook. High expectations.
I grab my bag off the passenger seat and shove the door open. The California heat slams into me, thick and punishing, a far cry from Michigan's cooler summers. Sweat beads across my neck before I even hit the turf.
A few players are already running drills, their cleats biting into the grass, voices carrying across the field. I head toward the open gate, the sharp scent of fresh-cut grass and sweat heavy in the air.
Heads turn.
One guy breaks away from the group, jogging toward me with an easy smirk, quarterback swagger written all over him.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” he says, holding out a hand. “Carter Hayes, QB1.”
I shake it firmly, locking eyes with him. “Jaxon Montgomery.”
“Oh, we know who you are.” He grins. “Coach hasn’t shut up about you since the transfer went through. Man acts like he won the damn lottery.”
Before I can respond, a voice booms across the field. “Montgomery! Glad you finally made it.” Coach Harding strides over, clipboard tucked under one arm. “Hope you’re ready to work, son. We didn’t bring you here to look pretty on the bench.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” I say, earning a few approving nods from the guys around me.
Carter slings an arm over my shoulder like we’ve known each other for years. “Let’s get you settled in and warmed up, man. Been waiting to see what all the hype is about.”
After I drop my bag in the locker room and change into my cleats, we run through routes, and it doesn’t take long to find our rhythm. Carter’s got one hell of an arm, and once I adjust to his timing, the ball lands in my hands like it was meant to be there. The more we connect, the louder the reactions from the team.
“Logan, my man. How you feelin’ about your new competition?” one of the linebackers yells across the field after I snag a deep pass over my shoulder.
Logan Brooks, one of the starting wide receivers, looks anything but happy to see me. He sneers, his green eyes full of hate. “Fuck off, Harrison.”
“I’m just saying. Montgomery’s pretty fucking good,” Beck replies as he wipes the sweat from his face with a towel.
“No kidding,” Carter says, jogging up to me. “You keeprunning routes like that, and we’re about to light up every defense in this conference.”
Coach blows his whistle, calling us into a huddle. “Good work today, boys, but this is just the beginning. Season starts in a few months, and I expect all of you to put in the work to make this offense unstoppable.” His eyes land on me. “Montgomery, you keep this up, and you’re gonna make a lot of noise this year.”
I nod, chest still heaving from the last sprint. “That’s the plan, Coach.”
As we break from the huddle, Carter nudges my arm. “Gotta admit, man, I wasn’t sure if you’d live up to the hype, but I like what I see so far.”
I smirk—I knew the razzing would come sooner or later, but his words have no effect on me. “Good. ‘Cause I’m just getting started.”
As he fills me in on practice schedules and some of my new teammates, I glance around at the unfamiliar campus. This place is my new home. New team, new opportunities. But none of that is why I’m really here.
My grip tightens on the strap of my bag. She doesn’t even know I transferred. Not yet, at least.
But she will soon.
