Crossing lines (Noah and Aiden) novel Chapter 261

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Chapter 261

I couldn’t believe this was my life. That this was what I was tying myself to. A family built on power, image, and control. A future where I wore someone else’s happiness like a costume. Where the girl they wanted me to marry smiled like she believed in something that was never real. Where every room I

entered would feel like a stage.

The truth was ugly and unchanging:

Aiden was right. William would never be satisfied. There would always be more to give. More to prove. More to lose.

My only hope-my only one-was that after the season, after the draft, after everything settled, William would find something new to play with and loosen

his grip on me. Maybe Lexie would fall for someone with her whole heart, and realize she deserved that back. Maybe she’d let go too. She deserved to be

loved for real-not by someone surviving her.

She was another victim of all this. Just like me.

I didn’t want to hurt her.

I didn’t want to lie to her.

I didn’t want to marry her and then spend the rest of my life cheating on her with him.

But I was still going through with it.

Because I had a family to save.

And a future to protect-not mine, but Aiden’s.

Even if it cost me everything.

I took a breath glancing at the den, sitting in one of the polished glass box suites beside Lexie’s parents, looking smug and comfortably detached from the

actual sweat and blood happening below. I’d noticed him hovering around Aiden a lot this past month-little private conversations in hallways, sudden

requests for meetings, tense expressions hidden behind polite smiles. I had a feeling I was the topic every time.

Coach Harper had already hinted the school wanted me to stay for my senior year-finish what I started here, lead the team again, keep their golden boy in

their pocket one more year and I was sure he was pressing Aiden to convince me. I’d thought about it. Hard.

But William held my contract and my future in his hands. He was managing my entry to the NFL. And Aiden… Aiden had already told me he wasn’t staying

past this season. If he was gone, then the only reason I had to stay was gone too.

Before I made any decisions-before I let my life be signed away again-I needed to talk to him. We needed a real plan, not desperation and hope and blind promises whispered in hidden corners.

But right then-

“Blake!” Jace’s voice cracked against my helmet as he slapped the back of my head. “Hey! You hearing the play or you leaving us to die out here?”

It snapped me back fast.

The game continued and, suddenly, it didn’t seem like we had the upper hand.

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7:40 pm

Chapter 261

“We’re running a pull-and-trap,” he said, breath already hard with exertion. “Cut through the middle and take it long.”

I nodded, resetting the world around me. Focus, Grass. Lines. Movement.

We pushed. Hard.

Grant took the ball and made a brutal dive into the end zone, arms wrapped so tight around it I thought he might fuse to it. The stadium erupted, the noise like a wave swallowing sound itself. But LSU came back vicious. Their offense punched straight through our defensive line with a forty-yard bomb that had the entire Wolves section groaning. Two plays later-they scored.

The field became a grind, a war fought one yard at a time. Every step hurt. Everyone was tired. Half our starting lineup was taped together, running on adrenaline and pride. LSU was the toughest defense we’d seen all year, and they weren’t just playing to win-they were playing to break us.

Then time bled out. Final drive. Fourth down.

Three points behind.

Less than a minute on the clock.

If we didn’t convert-we were done. Not just the game. Not just the season. Everything. All the work, all the sacrifice, all the pain, all the love no one knew

about-gone.