The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 166

The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

Patches

ZANE

I am the first thing she reaches for when the world is too loud.

I have listened to every secret she never told another living soul.

My car is broken, but I have never left her side.

What am I?

I had read that stupid riddle more times than I could count, and every single time my head came up empty.

It was driving me insane.

I sat on the edge of the couch with the printed copy crumpled in my fist, jaw locked so tight it ached. Two days. Two whole fucking days of this. Every hour that passed felt like another inch of distance between me and her.

Mom was seated across from me with the same paper spread out on the coffee table, glasses perched on her nose, muttering under her breath as she tried to work through it for the hundredth time.

“Maybe it’s a journal,” she said. “Or a necklace. Something sentimental…”

“It’s not a necklace,” I snapped. “She barely owns jewelry.”

She looked up, her expression tired. “Zane..”

“I’m going upstairs.”

I didn’t wait for her reply.

I needed her scent. I needed something that still felt like her before I completely lost my mind. Breathing had started to feel wrong, like the air itself was thinner without her in it. I was alive, technically. My heart was still beating. But it wasn’t enough.

I pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside.

The familiar strawberry smell wrapped around me immediately. I crossed straight to the wardrobe, pulled out one of her hoodies, and pressed it hard against my face. My hands were shaking. I breathed her in like a man starving for oxygen.

It still wasn’t enough.

I stood in the middle of the room, hoodie clutched to my chest, when the late afternoon sunlight shifted through the window. The beam landed directly on the small brown bear sitting against her pillow.

Patches.

My eyes locked on the uneven stitching of his left ear.

I froze.

The riddle left my mouth in a low, stunned voice.

“I am the first thing she reaches for when the world is too loud…

I have listened to every secret she never told another living soul…

My ear is broken, but I have never left her side…”

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The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

My eyes widened.

“Patches.”

The word came out like a punch.

I grabbed the bear, turned, and stormed out of the room.

“Mom!”

Elira looked up sharply as I came down the stairs. “What…”

I held Patches up. “It’s this. The answer is this.”

She stared at the bear, confused. “What is that?”

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“Patches. Her teddy bear. She’s had him since she was little. One ear is torn-broken, just like the riddle says.” My heart pounded so hard I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. “It’s him. It has to be him.”

Understanding slowly dawned on her face.

“Oh my God…”

Within twenty minutes we were at the police station.

Detective Hayes looked at the bear, then at the riddle, then back at me.

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.”

One of the younger officers frowned. “It’s just a toy. How can we be sure…”

I turned on him so fast the man actually stepped back.

“It’s not just a toy,” I said, struggling to keep my temper in check. “It’s the only thing she’s kept with her since she was a child. She talks to it. She sleeps with it. She reached for it every single night I lived under the same roof as her. If you waste another second questioning me, I’ll-”

“Zane.” My mother’s hand settled on my arm.

Hayes raised a hand, silencing the room.

He studied the bear for a long moment, then nodded once.

“Alright. We treat it as the answer.”

He looked at the officers.

“Prepare a statement. We’re going to broadcast it.”

I frowned. “Broadcast it?”

“The kidnapper is watching the news,” Hayes said. “He wants us to play the game. So we play. We announce the answer publicly. If he’s telling the truth about giving the next clue once it’s solved… this is how we force his hand.”

I stared down at Patches in my hands.

For the first time in days, something stirred inside me.

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The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

Hope.

“Do it,” I said.

Hayes nodded.

“We go live within the hour.”

The press conference ended just after six.

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I stood off to the side of the station’s media room, still holding Patches, while Hayes spoke into the cluster of microphones. Cameras flashed and reporters shouted questions. Within minutes the announcement was everywhere, local news, social media, even group chats.

My phone started vibrating nonstop.

**Tyler:** Bro is it true?? They solved the riddle??

**Jax:** What the fuck is a Patches

**Cristiano:** You good man?

**Lionel:** We’re here if you need anything

I typed the same short reply to all of them.

**Me:** Yeah. It’s her bear. We’re waiting on the next move.

Mom and I left the station shortly after. The drive home was quiet. She kept glancing at the bear still clutched in my hand like she still couldn’t believe it.

When we pulled through the estate gates, another car was already parked in the driveway.

Jason.

He got out the second he saw us.

I stepped out of the SUV, slamming the door harder than necessary. Jason walked straight up to me, eyes locked on the bear.

“So it’s true,” he said.

“Yes.”

He dragged a hand through his hair, frustration written all over his face. “We can’t just keep waiting for that son of a bitch to send us clues like we’re some puppets.”

My jaw tightened. “What do you propose we do then?”

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