Page 90 of The Sky Between Us

Planting my butt back to the designated chair I watched as I-J-K-L last name people walked across the stage until we reached M.

My eyes searched for her in the sea of black gowns and I immediately found her. The careful curls that laid on her back, the even tan she developed in the spring sunlight or in the artificial solarium, I didn’t want to question that, and the white high heeled sandals. I could only assume she was wearing a white dress underneath and my cock twitched in anticipation. It’s been a while since I was with anyone. After Hazel… it didn’t make sense. Not even for one night. Not after you experience such a deep connection.

I followed her as she walked across the stage, holding herself with confidence. But not the one she used to have, this time it was real. She shined and my eyes remained glued to her. The smile on her face, the cheers from students around as well. I watched Sarah, in front of me, scream, and Elliot whistled and girls from the dance team all cheered. She didn’t retreat after I was gone, she went full out.

After the ceremony, my parents wanted to take several pictures to make this moment more memorable, and my old teammates stopped by to take pictures too but everyone was busy with their own families. Camilla was over the moon happy to see me and I couldn’t blame her, I missed her too. I didn’t realize leaving them was going to be this hard. They were my family and being thrown to another continent from one day to another did also take a toll on me.

“We are extremely proud of you,” mom said as she cupped my face and kissed my cheeks for the tenth time. She was wearing a beautiful lilac dress that complemented her features and even dad had a new looking suit on. Camilla beamed in her blush pink tulle dress that she sent me hundreds of pictures of before. They were all happy, especially since I was able to take care of myself after all, since let’s face it, none of them believed I could make it. Most days, not even me.

“AIDEN!” A high-pitched voice made me jump from surprise, and I watched as Sky sprinted towards me in his cute little suite and bow tie. He looked adorable with the red bowtie on. The sight of him made me grin and reaching down, I lifted him up.

“What’s up, buddy?” I asked as I ruffled his hair.

“I watched all your games!” he explained as he threaded his arms around my neck and his entire face turned into one big grin. “I even made Elliot play with me and I tried to do the Aiden kick.”

“The Aiden-kick?” I repeated with a muffled laugh. “What’s that?”

Sky jumped out of my arms before I could even put him down and stood in front of me. “It’s what you do before you score. You start to one side, then you pivot like this and kick the ball to the other side, but you kick it that it ends up going to the original side. The goalkeeper never knows which one it’s going to be, until it’s too late.” He explained, his short legs showing me the technique I didn’t even realize I did. I mean, I knew I did something crazy, but I never broke it down. This kid had an eye for soccer. “I beat Elliot last time we played, right?” he asked, looking up at my best friend who approached us.

Elliot already discarded his gown and he was in his dark jeans and white button-down shirt, but the sleeves were already turned up. “Yeah, this little man whipped the floor with me.”

“It’s not that hard when you think you are so much better because you are older,” Sky grimaced. “It’s not the age that counts in soccer, but the brain. I can read your game like an open book.”

“But you can’t read an actual book,” Elliot teased him with an easy grin.

Sky made a face and rolled his eyes, his behavior reminding me of Hazel’s. I scanned the crowd and there she was, standing with her hands on her hips, in her beautiful white mini lace dress, talking to Sarah who was wearing an emerald green, one shoulder, satin dress with a huge flower on one shoulder. Extravagant as usual.

My heart pounded by the sight of my girl, yet disappointment poisoned that feeling. Did she really just send over Elliot to collect Sky? Was this the end of us?

Our eyes connected, and just like when I was scoring, everything slowed. I could hear her breath hitch, her cheeks flush and her pupils dilated. Our hearts connected, even from a distance, and started beating in the same reckless beat. Her lips parted, and in that moment, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and kiss her. I needed to show the entire world that she belonged to me.

“You guys broke up,” Sky reminded me with a small punch, making me flinch. “You broke her heart, she kept hugging me and crying. I told her to get a puppy or a toy as I wasn’t part of the cuddle therapy she needed.”

“Dude,” Elliot muttered, shaking his head. “You don’t say things like that.”

“Well, I told her, here’s the phone and call him,” Sky shrugged. “Sometimes she doesn’t make sense.”

As much as I appreciated his honesty, it painted me to know she suffered.

“I have a girlfriend,” Sky went on, unbothered by the emotional turmoil he put me through. “She is starting to like soccer. We play together.”

“Do you kiss her?” I teased to divert my thoughts and Sky gave a disgusted noise.

“No, we don’t do that!”

Elliot and I exchanged a look, and we both burst into laughter.

Sky grabbed my hand and tugged me, making me almost choke on my laughter. “Come say hi to Hazel.”

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” I said at the same time Elliot did, but the little guy didn’t care. He dragged me across the field and we stopped right in front of Hazel. Her not so long-ago passion filled green eyes, turned almost brown and were throwing daggers at me. I was having a sick sense of déjà vu.

“Look who I found!” Sky exclaimed excitedly and gave an innocent grin to Hazel. “I will take Elliot and Sarah! BYE!” he screamed, running away.

Hazel shifted from one leg to the other, before crossing her legs and tilting her head. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I replied, stuffing my hands into my pocket and blinking up at her. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too,” she nodded and I watched her take a long breath. Her eyes roamed my face, like she wanted to remember every inch of it, before it moved over my body which has changed over the past few months. I was always strong but skinny. Now, I was more muscular than ever, but still not bulked up. Far from it. I had a six pack I was proud of. I watched the curve of her neck bob as she swallowed hard.

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