•McKenzie will be 12•
"Bye Mama, I love you." Jake yells out to his mom. Jake & his brothers were on their way to their football practice.
After they put their pads on Coach Lassiter called them in for conditioning.
"Keep in mind, today will be the day that determines if you see the field on Friday." Coach Lassiter says.
"Y'all spread out into the groups & let's get to work!" Coach says clapping his hands.
Jake & Dylan was throwing a football back & forth trying to get a good rhythm going.
"Okay, Jake you are up first." Coach says. Jake threw the ball & missed his receiver just by a little. He didn't think much of it & just shook it off. He thought he's just trying to get back into throwing.
Dylan was up next. Dylan looks at Jake so confused because Jake was a perfectionist when it comes to football. Jake shook his head at Dylan.
Dylan steps up & throws all his passes complete.
"Jake, I'm going to give you one more shot, but this time with Tyler." Coach says. Jake nods & motions Tyler to get into position.
Tyler runs & Jake throws, over throwing Tyler. Jake huffs. "Dang it!" He says taking his helmet off.
They have a good 3 hour practice.
"The starts are posted in the locker room, thank y'all for an amazing practice, see y'all Friday night." Coach Lassiter says dismissing the team.
"I am the starter." Dylan says so excited. "Congratulations brother." Tyler says. Jake didn't even say a word he took his pads off & walked back to his truck alone.
Few minutes later the twins came.
On the ride home Jake didn't say a word. "Dude, you haven't even said a word to me since you found out that I'm starting over you." Dylan says. "Are you even proud of me?" He asks kind of sad. "Because it sure doesn't feel like you are." Dylan says getting out of the truck when they got home, not giving Jake time to answer.
Jake got out of his truck & went inside. He could hear Dylan talking to their parents of him starting over Jake. Jake wasn't happy with himself at the moment.
"Hey." Lee says hugging Jake. Dylan just walked away when Jake walked to them.
"What was that about?" Emerson asks Jake. Jake shrugged. But deep down he knew it was him.
Few minutes later McKenzie came home from cheer practice.
"Kenzie!" Dylan yells. "What?" She yells laughing because she just walked in the door & Dylan is already yelling. "Come here, I need to talk to you!" He says. "Hold on!" She yells back going to the kitchen grabbing a snack & a bottle of water & also giving Jake a hug.
"What?" She says going into Tyler & Dylan's room. Dylan looked at Tyler smiling. Tyler rolled his eyes. "Omg, tell her." He says laughing. "I'm the starting QB for Friday's game!" Dylan says so excited. McKenzie was extremely happy for him. "That's awesome." She says giving Dylan a hug. "How does Jake feel about it?" McKenzie asks. Dylan's excitement went away. "He doesn't seem too excited for me." Dylan says sadly. "I'm sure he is though." She says leaving she decided to go talk to Jake.
Jake was in the back yard practice with his bow & arrows.
"Hey, Kenz." Jake says letting go of the arrow & it hits the target. "Hey." She says. "How was practice?" He asks her. "Pretty good." She answers. "How was yours?" She asks him. Jake sighs. "Not good." He says looking at the arrow. "I couldn't throw worth a crap today & today was the day that Coach Lassiter picks who starts Friday night & he picked Dylan over me." Jake explains.
McKenzie nods. "Yeah, Dylan told me that you didn't seem too happy for him." She says sitting in the grass & Jake does the same. Jake shook his head. "That's not true at all, far from it. I'm so freaking proud of Dylan, but there's a difference playing in an actual game than practicing." Jake explains. McKenzie nods. "I don't think he's ready." He says. McKenzie smiles. "Seems like someone is overprotective for his little brother." McKenzie says. Jake laughs. "Yeah, I'm very protective over all my siblings." Jake says. "I just don't want him to get hurt, or lose the game on his first try, & him come home saying it was his fault they lose. Because I've done that before." He says.
"You need to go tell Dylan that you are proud of him & not mad at him." McKenzie says checking her watch. "& between me & you, you'll have the starting job back, Dylan can't throw worth a crap." She says jokingly getting up. Jake laughs. "Nah, he's pretty good at it." Jake says getting up as well. "Who do you think he learned it for?" McKenzie asks. Jake smiles. "Me." He says McKenzie nods. "He's going to remember every little thing you've taught him & use it in the game on Friday." McKenzie says. Jake smiles even more.
Jake & McKenzie walk back to the house. "Hey, I was about to come get y'all." Lee says setting food on the table. Jake walks up to Dylan & Tyler's room. Dylan was about to leave because he thought Jake was mad at him. Jake grab him by the arm. "I need to talk to you." He says. Dylan was a little hesitant. "Kenz & I talked about you winning the starting job over me." Jake says. "Okay?" Dylan questions. "It was stupid of me to get jealous like I did & I'm sorry. I'm so excited for you, beyond excited for you." Jake says. Dylan smiles. "Thanks, that means a lot coming for you." He says. "I will use everything you've taught me for this very moment." Dylan says giving Jake a fist bump. "You are going to kill it." Jake says giving Dylan a hug.
"So next week I'll be starter again, right?" Jake asks as they went downstairs to eat dinner. Dylan laughs.
THIS WAS SO CUTE TO WRITE! seeing Jake's protective side come out! please vote & leave suggestions in the comments for the next chapter! ❤️
