Page 42 of The Striker
We navigate through the opposition’s defense with precision passes, taking turns to run further down the field. Each sprint stretches longer and longer. We’re almost there.
With just seconds left on the clock, I find myself with the ball at my feet, right on the edge of the penalty area. The defenders close in, but I see a gap, a small window of opportunity to take the shot.
I take a deep breath. This is it. The crowd falls into a hushed silence. It’s like they can feel it too. Letting instinct take over, I unleash a perfectly placed shot towards the far corner of the goal.
The ball sails through the air, and it’s a race against time. The CPU goalkeeper stretches to his limits, diving for the edge but he’s a fraction of a second too late.
The ball kisses the back of the net, and the stadium erupts with a thunderous roar.
We did it! We scored with only seconds to spare. Fuck. “We won!” Julio grabs onto my shoulders. “We fucking won!”
“Fuck yeah, we did!”
My teammates rush to congratulate me, and I don’t bother fighting the smile on my face. My eyes go back to Cecilia and pride washes over me when I find her on her feet, cheering on our win. I want to go to her. To lift her in my arms and taste her on my lips.
It’s the adrenaline talking, but fuck that would be the cherry on top of today’s victory.
Instead, I grab my things from our bench and sprint with the guys back toward the locker room, only to come up short when Felix elbows me in the side. “Do you see what I see?” he asks.
I follow his line of sight to find Holt looming over a girl on the far wall, almost but not entirely hidden from view.
“He stormed off as soon as he realized Coach wasn’t going to put him back in,” he tells me. “And went and found someone to occupy his time with.” He raises his phone and snaps a pic.
“Is that?—”
He nods. “Giana Paxton.”
I eye the girl up and down. “That’s Gigi?” No fucking way. She’s the coach’s daughter. A fucking high schooler at that and only just turned seventeen. Only she doesn’t look like any seventeen-year-old I know. The freckle-faced girl who often acts as her father’s shadow during summer break training is taking a hard stab at looking like a seductress.
“I need this image burned from my eyes,” I mutter.
She’s wearing a navy blue mini skirt that barely covers her ass and a white, skin-tight, v-neck tee that showcases her bright red bra underneath. If that wasn’t bad enough, her tits are all but pouring out of her top as she leans in close to Holt.
He mirrors her movements with an arrogant grin.Fucking hell.
Giana’s eyelids are smudged in black, and her lips are painted a deep shade of red. The makeup and outfit give her the appearance of someone older.Much, much older.Coach is going to kill her. But only after he fucking murders Holt.
Felix’s expression is grim. “Remember when I mentioned he’d been poking around?”
Yeah, it was a while back when Cecilia and I were still … we were still whatever we were. “It’s escalated?”
“Yeah. Holt isn’t just chasing after her anymore,” he says. “Austin has her. He’s fucking her in secret or some shit. Ioverheard him talking to some of the guys about it the other day, and Rion confirmed that she’s stayed overnight multiple times at the Zeta Pi house, always in Holt’s room.”
Fucking hell.“What is she thinking?”
He grinds his teeth together. “She isn’t. She’s young and dumb and has stars in her eyes.” I register the pure venom in his voice.
“Are we still sticking with the plan?”
He nods. “I’ve warned her off twice already. Until we have enough proof to bury Holt’s ass, it’s the best I can do.”
I grimace. “I can try talking to her—” Giana’s just a kid. She has no clue what kind of guy she’s getting involved with. The kind of shit he’s capable of. Holt messing around with her works in my favor. I need a reason for Coach to kick him off the team and this is as good as any. But even knowing that this gets me one step closer to my goal doesn’t mean I’m alright with just throwing her to the wolves. I’ll talk to her if Felix thinks it’ll help. I know neither of us is okay with Giana turning into collateral damage.
He shakes his head. “It won’t make a difference. Besides, they’re not being particularly careful. I’ve got Rion Pru as my man on the inside. I’ll have what we need and we can get rid of the asshole soon.” It’s a start. Taking soccer away from him is only the beginning. I won’t be satisfied until Holt gets what he deserves.
“How’d you get Pru to turn?”
He chuckles. “Don’t act so surprised. After what I told him before in the locker rooms, it wasn’t all that hard. Dude’s a follower, but he isn’t all bad. He’s got a heart, enough of one at least that he can’t just stand by and do nothing while Holt takesadvantage of a teenager. Not when he knows Holt’s a repeat offender.”
