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“Yes!” Emmett jumped.

It had been a long day for both of them, and if chocolate milk was the best choice he made tonight, then it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“Let’s get it and take it home. I think it’s a good night for a movie,” she told him.

Emmett talked her head off as they grabbed their fast food and headed home. She’d been cranky with him a bit too much this week and felt bad. This was her apology though he probably didn’t even care anymore.

Tomorrow she’d start working on Chance’s plans and the schedule again. Tonight she was going to spend with her son. Everything else could wait.

Six

Chance wandered onto the soccer fields half an hour early on Saturday morning. He’d spent the rest of the week hoping to hear from Tori again only to be let down.

Today he had a plan, though. He was going to do his best to convince her to let him take them to lunch to discuss the plans. If that didn’t work he didn’t have a backup, perhaps a failure on his part.

He spotted her on the field nearest him and walked over. It had been years since he’d been out on fields like these early on a Saturday morning to play soccer. He forgot how great it felt to be that age and so excited to come play your game.

Kids and parents yelled, and whistles blew from all the fields as four different games went on in several different age groups. All in good fun, there was no fighting, just cheering as the balls went from one side of the field to the other.

“Hey,” Chance said, coming to a stop next to Tori.

“You’re early,” she noted, never taking her eyes off the field. “Same team, guys,” she yelled at the bunched up group of blue jerseys all kicking at the ball.

Chance looked for Emmett. His blonde head easy to find as he came away with the ball and went towards the net. As he watched, he thought of different drills they could run to help with the basics.

“I can’t talk to you right now,” Tori told him.

“That’s fine. I’m good to watch them play.” He didn’t elaborate on his thoughts, letting her focus on the game instead.

His intention wasn’t to bother her but more to catch her before the game was over so he had a chance at getting her to agree to lunch. As he watched the game play out, he was happy he had gotten here in time to watch some.

“How long is left?” Chance asked her.

Tori looked down at her phone, where a timer was running. “Five minutes. We are up by two in case that was your next question.” Tori never took her eyes off the field.

“He plays forward?” Chance asked.

Tori nodded. “Forward and occasionally center midfield but it’s not his preference.”

Chance watched Emmett pass the ball to a teammate and then run towards the goal.

“Watch your offsides!” Tori shouted.

Emmett must have heard her or one of the other parents screaming it at him. He took note of the defenders and corrected himself back to onsides. Chance smiled. It was fun to watch him play the game.

The ball came Emmett’s way with another player hot on his heels. Chance tensed, waiting for the pass and hoping it worked out.

The pass came. Chance cringed. He was just offsides when he got it, having to move to get the pass. Emmett took the shot, scoring. The whole sideline went wild even as the ref blew the whistle and raised his arm, indicating he had seen that Emmett was offsides.

“Damn,” Tori swore.

Emmett threw his hands up at the ref and said something. The ref smiled at him and spoke, leaving them both laughing as they parted ways.

Relaxing a fraction, Chance was glad to see while he’d likely complained, it hadn’t escalated. He couldn’t say the same about one of the parents who was clearly shouting at the ref still.

“Why didn’t it count?” A man walked up next to Tori, gesturing to the pitch.

“Hi, Isaac.” From his angle, he could just barely see her roll her eyes. “He was offsides. You would know that if you attended more games.”

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