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ya lit meme; [6/9 books/series]
all for the game by nora sakavic
“Home,” he whispered, needing to hear it aloud. It was a foreign concept to him, an impossible dream. It was frightening and wonderful all at once, and it set his heart racing so fast he thought it’d drum out of his chest.
“Welcome home, Neil.”
All eyes were on Palmetto State University last year when Kevin Day announced he would be returning to Exy and that he’d be making his debut as a striker for Palmetto State. Little attention had been paid to this team before Day’s addition to the rooster, but their savage decimation of the southern conference put them in the spotlight. After a whirlwind year, everyone is desperate to know more about the team that brought home the trophy against all odds, The Foxes.
Neil spotted the Foxhole Court long before they made it to the stadium parking lot. Built to seat sixty-five thousand fans, it’d been placed on the outskirts of campus where it could tower over the shorter utilities buildings nearby. The paint job only made it stand out more: the walls were a blinding white with obnoxiously bright orange trim. A gigantic fox paw was painted on each of the four outer walls.
Nicky clapped a hand to Neil’s shoulder. “All the orange grows on you,” he promised.
Better than that bright future was what he already had: a court that would always be home, a family who’d never give up on him, and Andrew, who for once hadn’t wasted their time denying that this thing between them might actually mean something to both of them. Neil hadn’t even noticed the silence at first, too distracted by his dizzying thoughts. Now he couldn’t help but smile and pull Andrew in.
This was everything he wanted, everything he needed, and Neil was never letting go.
“Don’t thank us, remember us,“ Dan said. “We’re your teammates. We’re here to help you with whatever you need, whether it’s this or games or general stress. We’ve all got different experiences, but we’re used to needing help. We’re just not used to getting it. But you’ve got us now.”
PALMETTO STATE FOXES; If we got what we deserved, we wouldn’t be foxes.