Page 47 of The Backup Plan
You watch film, Hamilton? Please say yes.
Hayden
Uh, yes.
Ethan
You watch how other teams beat the guy you’ve got to beat. Watch Cory’s playlist. The guy you’ve got to beat is the guy who takes that locker room from you.
You’ve got a four-star commit for next year, right? Jacob Torrence? Little J.T.? Got to watch it.
Hayden
Damn, I’ll send you the drugs if they chill you out a bit.
Cameron
On Marsh’s behalf, ahem.
WHAT.
Hayden
It was a joke.
September twenty-ninth fell on the Thursday after the loss. Cam didn’t know if Cory meant he went inactive on the twenty-ninth or the day after. The night before, he checked the date one last time.
Cameron Porter has created a private chat.
Cameron
Paging @JordanAckerman
Were you spinning your words all the time? Is that all motivation is, just a bunch of spin lifted from other guys’ speeches?
Did you really believe in us?
Jordy, FFS. I don’t know if I can do it.
Cam looped his hands inside the neck of his jersey, shifting the weight of his pads while he stared at the clock. Twenty-one to ten in the opponent’s favor was not an ideal halftime score, but it was better than they had in Iowa.
He spotted Isaac Fields pacing in front of the bench, agitation evident in his scuffing cleats tearing the grass.
“Fields. Are you all right?”
Isaac nodded at the line of scrimmage. “I guess not. Griff said I looked tired. Morgan’s out there with Justin.”
“Are you tired?”
“No.”
Cam shot him a sideways glance. Tate Griffin, the linebackers’ coach, wasn’t wrong. The dark circles under Isaac’s eyes contrasted sharply with his pale face, and every trace of the team’s golden retriever puppy vanished behind his glare.
“You don’t look like you’re feeling okay, though.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Isaac demanded. “Your defense is Swiss cheese tonight. Look at this. Look right there. He’s going to drop back and sling it, and twenty-one is going to smoke Madison and haul in a touchdown.”
Cam stared, slack-jawed, while the clock ran out. “My God, you can read this game,” he murmured.