Page 112 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

“Sorry!”

“Please be careful when you walk in the hallway, Miss Hastings,” she says.

“Yeah, of course.”

She nods at me and then at Kade before disappearing into her office.

Not wanting to see if Kade saw that—even though I know he definitely did—I dash to the girls’ locker room and quickly change into my gear. Kade is already sitting in the bleachers when I get to the field. He waves with a smile, and I once again feel all warm and toasty.

“Positions, everyone!” Uncle Brayden calls. “I heard Linston High has been working their butts off for Friday’s game. I’d hate to lose our winning streak, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes!” we all say.

“Psst, Hastings,” Isaiah hisses. “Are you into the new guy?”

“What?”

“You get googly eyes whenever you look at him.”

“Googly eyes? Dude, shut up.”

He shakes his head with a chuckle.

Practice is…well, it’s a good thing I’m not starting on Friday’s game because I’m not performing my best. Is it because Kade is watching? He’s watched me before, but it feels different now. It’s not that I’m trying to impress him, am I?

When practice is over, Uncle Brayden calls out, “Great practice, everyone! Zoey, please put your head in the game. Okay, hit the showers!”

I’m about to run to the girls’ locker room, but Uncle Brayden calls, “Zoey, can I have a word?”

“Sure.” I jog over to him.

“Is everything okay? You seemed distracted.”

I rub my upper arm. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just…um, excited to go to Boston,” I lie.

He watches me before moving his gaze to Kade. He leans in to whisper, “I know how it feels to have someone very special watching you. The excitement and nerves and apprehension…a whole whirlwind of emotions that takes over your mind and your body.”

“I never…I don’t…”

He smiles softly as he rests his hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Zoey. You don’t owe me any explanations or excuses. Just, try to focus on the game, okay? We’ll be playing Starview Grove High next week, and you know how good they are. When we step on the field, we need to push everything else away and focus solely on the game, even when it feels like that special person consumes every part of us,” he adds with a chuckle.

“I…I don’t know how I can do that when my heart won’t stop hammering.”

He nods in understanding. “I get it. It may take some time to figure it all out, but I trust that you will.” He rubs my shoulder. “Now go get him.”

“Ugh, Uncle Brayden,” I mutter before heading to the girls’ locker room.

Once I’m dressed in my clothes, I leave the locker room and find Kade leaning against the wall with his earbuds lodged in his ears. He pulls them out and smiles. “Ready?”

Is my heart always going to flutter whenever he smiles at me?

“Ready,” I tell him with my own smile.

“Are we taking the bus?” he asks as we leave the building.

“Yeah. I already told Ally not to pick us up.”

We join the many other people waiting for the city bus. Edenbury has only one bus route, so it tends to get quite packed during this time. When the bus finally pulls up, it is indeed practically stuffed to the max. Kade and I squish in the back. Since there isn’t a lot of room, he reaches to hold onto the handlebar overhead and I clutch one of the poles.

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