Page 73 of The Longshot

“Oh, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.” Hazel playfully flashes me a smile. “So, tell me. Is this your first game?”

As if it wasn’t already obvious, I anxiously nod my head.

“Really?” Hazel bubbles over with excitement. “That’s amazing. You’re in for a real treat…” she lingers at the end in an attempt to remember my name.

“Chelsie.”

“Ah, yes, Chelsie.” She nods, raising her finger into the air. “Not sure how I forgot that, that’s Greenie’s favorite football team.”

“Greenie?” I question.

“Sorry, Green,” she corrects herself. “Daniel Green. He’s standing right over there.” She points towards number seven, who stands in the center of the defensive line. He’s stocky, clean cut and now waving over in Hazel’s direction as she flashes him a warm smile.

“Aw, cute. How long have you two been dating?” I can’t help but ask, feeling this abundance of chemistry despite the distance between the two of them.

“Dating?” Pink rises to her rounded cheeks as she clutches onto the book that rests in her lap. “No, no, no,” she’s quick to deny my accusation. “Green and I, we’re just friends. We have been forever, actually. We grew up together. So, I try my best to come to all of his games. It makes me happy to watch him play. What about you?” She diverts the question back my way. “Who are you here to watch?”

Before I can respond, the remaining players make their way onto the field, but my eyes don’t gravitate towards them. They immediately fall back onto Gary.

There he is, standing front and center, with his foot on top of the ball, patiently waiting for the ref to blow into the whistle.

It’s tough to be so far away from him, knowing how close we once were. Just staring at him holds the power to remind me of the feeling of his lips, his hands, the pounding of his heart with each and every tug of my?—

“Wilks, huh?” Hazel’s voice, in combination with the ref blowing into the whistle, prompts me to swallow deeply.

Christ. Is it really that obvious?

“So, are you two dating?” Curiosity seems to get the best of her as she purses her lips.

I shoot her a playful stare.

“What?” she protests. “I’m a romance lover. See…” She lifts her novel into the air, pointing to the cover where two people are intimately kissing. “I love, love. So spill. Tell me everything.”

“There’s nothing to say, Gary… Wilks,” I keep having to do that. “And I aren’t together.” I re-divert my attention back onto the field. “We’re just?—”

“Figuring things out?”

I look her way once more. “Precisely.”

We watch in silence for a few moments before the question train continues.

“So, how did you guys meet?” Hazel settles into her seat, crossing one leg over the other as she smiles at me through the corner of her eye.

I smile back. “Well, I work at the bakery nearby,” I explain. “And to cut a long story short, Wilks just so happened to stop by. We got to talking, and low and behold, here I am.”

Hazel places her elbows on her knees as her head drops into her hands. “Sounds romantic,” she gushes. “I love a good meet cute.”

“Meet cute?” My brows crease in confusion.

“Yeah, meet cute.” Her eyes move back and forth as she follows the play on the field. “It’s when two love interests meet for the first time. Think of it like two strangers bumping into one another, or two people calling for a taxi at the same time. It’s like fate bringing them together. Destiny if you… YES!”

I have to shield my ears as not only does Hazel jump up from her chair, but so does the entire stadium as they erupt into a cheerful fit of excitement.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Hazel jumps up and down. “That might’ve been their quickest goal ever!”

“They scored?” I join her in standing up from my seat, watching as the players embrace themselves into a hug.

“Yes, Wilks scored!”

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