Beautiful Broken Rules (Broken, Series #1)(36)

Ten minutes later, Cole scored a much-needed touchdown. Quinn and I jumped up and down. Jace clapped but he gave a determined look to Jax. I watched as he nodded back to his brother. This twin communication was bizarre to watch. When our team got the ball back, all of the offense including Cole and Jax lined back up on the field. The ball was snapped back to Dalton and he launched it toward Cole almost instantly. Cole caught it between his hands and tucked it in protectively. He started shuffling trying to get down the line. He didn’t see it coming, but one of the defenders came barreling for him from his right side. I heard Quinn’s intake of breath right before the crash. When the guy smashed into the side of Cole, the ball flew high in the air and Cole hit the ground hard, straight on his back.

All of a sudden, Jaxon was in the air and he snatched the ball so fast almost none of the defenders noticed. By the time they realized the ball didn’t come down with Cole, Jaxon was half way down the field. Everyone in the stands stood, yelling for him to run faster. Jaxon passed the end zone effortlessly without even being touched. He let the ball slip through his fingers and pointed right at me with a huge grin on his face. I pointed back to him and clapped. I’ve got to hand it to this sexy man, he was good. He didn’t stand down in the end zone and celebrate either.

When I looked over at Quinn, my smile dropped. She was still staring out into the field. When I followed her line of sight, I noticed Cole was still lying down flat on the ground. During his fall, his helmet must have been knocked off. Jace, Quinn, and I immediately moved up against the railing. Jaxon was sprinting back to Cole’s side. In his haste, he slid on the ground on his knees to stoop right next to Cole and pulled his helmet off as well. We all watched as Jaxon cupped Cole’s face and practically yelled at him in obvious frustration. Quinn took a stuttering breath in. I think Jace was about to jump over the side and take off running; his knuckles were pale white gripping the railing. The coach and the team medics were already jogging across the field.

Then Jaxon reached out his palm and Cole grabbed it. When Jaxon pulled him to a standing position and we all watched him walk normally back to our side of the field, everyone jumped up and cheered. Quinn let out a long relieved breath. I looked at her and noticed a tear slip down her face, but she quickly batted it away before anyone else could see. When Cole reached the bench, he sat down and chugged water from a squeezable plastic bottle. Jaxon walked by, patted him on the back, and sat next to him. Jace obviously couldn’t take it anymore; he swung his legs over the railing and went to sit on Cole’s opposite side. We watched as they all talked to each other. Cole shook his head at something Jace said and both he and Jaxon burst out laughing. It was a relief to watch; laughing meant Cole was okay.

Quinn and I both sat back in our seats to continue watching the remainder of the game that had resumed while we were glued to watching Cole recover from his knockout. I was a little disappointed none of the guys had come over to talk to us about what had happened. They hadn’t even looked back our way. They really were each other’s best friends sitting there in their own little world, talking and joking around.

The score was tied and the other team had the ball. Their quarterback was almost immediately sacked and the ball was returned to us. I was surprised to see Cole suiting up and going back out there.

“It must not have been that bad, Quinny,” I told her while pointing at him.

“I still don’t think he should be going back out.”

For the next two plays, Dalton threw straight to Jaxon as he ran it down the field getting closer and closer to the end zone. He must have deemed him fit to catch his precious golden boy throws, after that last touchdown. I don’t know why I was extremely uncomfortable watching Jaxon get tackled. I’d seen Cole get tackled numerous times. This was football and it was expected. Each time I watched him go down, my stomach dropped a little bit more and without realizing it, I grabbed Quinn’s hand on a particularly hard hit.