“No way, dude. I can’t forget you asked. You and Quinn haven’t started dating behind my back, have you?”
I snorted and shook my head. Given how he asked the question, I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that he was kidding.
“Don’t forget that I at least tried to help you,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“But since you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you, then forget it.”
I stopped and flashed my teammate a questioning look.
“You think I’m joking?”
“No, it’s just that…”
Telling him it wasn’t as simple as forgetting would leave me even more vulnerable. Though Zane had been a total asshole, I couldn’t help thinking that he really was the nice guy I’d seen. And I hated thinking of not having him in my life. I mean, without Zane, who would I make fun of?
I couldn’t help considering the giant hole he’d left in my heart. I could try to forget Zane all I wanted but that wouldn’t be easier said than done.
Levi’s hand slammed down on my shoulder, not because he was being aggressive, but because he was a meathead.
“You’ve got to focus your whole energy on this game,” he said. “You know why?”
“Tell me.”
“It’s more than just the championship. You should always be after that. It’s like our A-Number-One goal. But if the Riptides beat us, we’re never going to hear the end of it. Actually, it’ll be a lot worse than that.”
“How can it get any worse?”
“Pull your head out of your ass, would you?”
I didn’t get mad at him for saying that. Levi was a meathead, remember?
“How long has this war between the Lions and Riptides been going on?” he asked.
“Since dinosaurs roamed the earth, last I knew.”
“Right. You would’ve thought there would be no end to this war. Well, this game is going to put an end to the rivalry once and for all.”
For the first time in history, Levi Dunn might’ve had an intelligent thought.
“I think I’m following,” I said, “but in case I’m not, what do you foresee?”
“We’ve always taken whatever bragging rights we could from individual games. We always want to win especially when we’reup against those assholes. Only this isn’t just another game. It’s not even a regular playoff game. We could argue about those games until the cows come home, but it never meant shit. Now it does.”
“Because it’s for the championship?”
“Abso-fuckin-lutely. Whoever wins—us—will be able to lord it over the loser—them—for all eternity. Even the players on the Lions and Riptides teams that come after us will be bound by the results of this game. They can try to strike up a rivalry but I’m telling you it’ll fall flat as a pancake. The winner will be able to claim superiority over the loser forever more.”
I whistled in amazement.
If I hadn’t gone through what I had with the Lions, I would’ve found the whole thing silly. Yeah, I’m a competitor, but I’ve never thought about superiority or supremacy. That is, until the Remington Riptides came into the conversation. I never would’ve thought the rivalry would somehow come to an end. Then again, I’d never thought Levi Dunn could entertain an intelligent thought, either.
“That’s why we can’t lose this thing,” he said. “We can’t eventhinkabout losing this thing. If we do, we might as well forget about a rivalry next year. And think about the next generation of players who come to play here. If the Riptides win it all, who are they supposed to hate?”
“I’m glad you’ve got your priorities in order.”
“I’m telling you; we’ve got to go into this game guns ablazin’. And if we’ve got to take a few Riptides out of the game then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
