_Nathan’s POV_
The loss followed me into the next day like a second shadow.
It wasn’t just the score. I had lost games before. What sat heavier was where it had happened — under those seats, under those eyes, with Elias watching every mistake harden into a finished failure. By morning, campus talk had already moved from the rematch itself to what it meant. The Growlers had closed it. We had not. The packs had their result. My father had his disappointment.
Theo found me outside the athletic building before class, hands in his jacket pockets, expression already set.
“You look like you didn’t sleep,” he said.
“I slept enough.”
“That bad?”
“My father hasn’t called yet. That’s worse.”
Theo grimaced. “He’s going to.”
“I know.”
We walked toward the main path with the morning crowd movi
