Page 71 of The Longshot

“Small world or small town?”

“You got me there.” She laughs, a lingering sense of delight in her eyes. “I can see why Wilks likes you so much, Chelsie,” she admits. “You’re beautiful.”

I start blushing. It’s one thing to get a compliment from her—Christ, I can only wish to look half as stunning as her when I’m about ready to push a baby out, but what strikes me more is the meaning behind her words.

Not only did Gary mention me to her, but he told her he liked me. Gary doesn’t seem like the type to bring someone up unless he’s serious about them.

Is he serious about me?

“You’re too nice.” I’m left nervously shying away as I attempt to rid the questions from my mind. “Really.”

“Yeah, well, because it’s true!” she fires back. “I mean, look at you, you’re stunning. Oh…” She places a somber hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry if I made him late for your date the other night. I hope he wasn’t in the dog house. I take full blame.”

“It’s okay.” I place an equally assuring hand on her shoulder. “Things happen, I know he was just giving you a hand?—”

A grumble that comes from behind me prompts me to cut my sentence short and look back. By now, there are masses of people I’m holding up who are waiting to get into the stadium.

“I better not hold up this line any longer, Delaney,” I tell her, feeling a sense of remorse. “It was great to meet you. Thanks again.”

I’m about ready to step aside and let the next person walk through when Delaney shouts, “Wait!”

I cock a brow as she reaches out for my hand. “Come.” She guides me through the turnstiles. “I just so happen to have somewhere that you can sit.”

EIGHTEEN

W I L K S

“Lads, listen up. This is another important game for us this season,” I inform the team as we huddle into a circle. “And because of that, I want to see everyone bringing their A-game today. Hart,” I call out his name first, commanding his attention. “Make sure you’re watching out for number twelve. He’s like a whippet the way he moves around the field, you following?”

“That I am.”

I nod. “And Green.” I divert my gaze towards him next. “Their striker is weak on his left side, so if he makes it on our end, you steer him to the left, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Captain.” Green nods his head receptively.

“And for the rest of you…” I meet the eyes of each player one by one. “When we’re out there, we’ve got to make sure that we’re communicating with one another. We’re a team, lads, and the only way we’re going to make this work is if we act like one, got it?”

“Got it,” they all say in unison.

There’s nothing quite like having these pre-game pep talks where I can shed light on our opponents. Even before I took on the role of captain, I’d always taken the liberty to do my homework. I learned that from Coach.

“Know your team like the back of your hand, but know your opponent like they’re your best friend.”

I hold onto every piece of wisdom Coach throws my way—I have to. Coach knows what he’s talking about. He played in the big leagues for most of his career. Therefore, I’d be stupid not to take any piece of advice he can pass along.

“Alright, hands in,” I instruct as both Alf and Coach join us in placing their hands in the huddle. “Let’s get this game started, shall we?”

“Crawfield on three. One, two, three, Crawfield,” we chant before peeling apart from one another, yet my hope is that my motivational speech will be enough to bind us together throughout the game.

I’m in the starting lineup, as usual, jogging my way onto the field, where I’m immediately greeted with an overwhelming amount of support.

“We love you, Wilks,” I hear someone in the crowd call out, and it’s not just the kids in my jersey who are cheering me on. It's a mixture of all ages—young, old, you name it, they're there.

The fans are a second family to the team, and without them, we’re nothing. Their support is what motivates us to keep going, and after the few days I’ve just had, Lord knows I need it.

I’ve been torturously looping my conversation with Ruby over and over in my mind. It pains me to know that Chelsie came back into town this morning and that I wasn’t the first person to greet her, but I have to have trust in what Ruby said to me. I have to let her take the lead. I can’t push something with someone who’s not ready.

The whole point of a relationship is to mutually work towards something together, but if Chelsie’s not ready yet, that’s okay. I’ll wait. I’ll wait until she tells me what she wants, and if that isn’t me, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I have something else to do—a job I need to accomplish and a role I have to take on.

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