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“They love kids,” he told her.

“Well, Emmett loves them, so I’d say it’s a good fit,” she joked.

Chance led her over to the seats the team usually waited on and took a seat next to her.

“You aren’t going to go play with them?”

“Not right now. I think I’ll enjoy the view with my soccer mom.” He reached between them and squeezed her hand. “Is there anything you’d like to see?”

She never imagined seeing behind the scenes. “I hadn’t even considered it. I think just being down here, looking at the stands is enough. It’s so weird to imagine it they way you see it.”

“It used to be surreal. Now it’s a bit more like just a normal thing. In a big game all of these seats fill up and listening to the crowd scream when you score is the best feeling in the world.”

“I can imagine,” she whispered as she did.

“Mom,” Emmett yelled. “Come see.”

Tori laughed and stood. “I’m beckoned.”

He let go of her hand as they stood but stayed close. All at once, she wished that Emmett knew so she could hold his hand or feel his arm wrapped around her as they walked out onto the pitch.

She watched as Emmett did the trick with the ball and kept Maddox from stealing it. “Good job,” she praised him.

“Want to learn?” Maddox asked.

“No, thanks. I’m more of a fan than a player. I have perfected my part in this.”

A few of the guys laughed with her. Chance was pulled away by two players she recognized, and they were talking. She focused on Emmett learning his next skill trick instead.

“You did a good job turning your image around, man,” someone was saying.

“For real. A single mom? You couldn’t have done more of a turnaround than that from your old life,” another man said.

“I bet if you asked, they’d let you play now. This was a genius move,” the first man said.

She held her breath, waiting for Chance to tell them they were wrong or for someone to give her more information. The denial from Chance never came and when she turned to look, they were all three further away from her now.

It took her a minute to get herself under control, standing there in the middle of the pitch, surrounded by players, she’d never felt more lost and alone.

Tori took a few calming breaths as she watched Emmett continue to play with Maddox. The other shoe had fallen and she really wished it hadn’t.

For her son’s sake alone, she continued their day as though nothing had happened. It would be the last time that she and him were here like this and she wasn’t going to take it from him. It would hurt enough when Chance stopped coming around.

It was her worst fears realized about him. It had all been an act and Chance wasn’t interested in her.

Fourteen

Chance studied the paper in front of him. He’d researched the best skills to teach kids of all ages and then printed them out. They weren’t challenging for him, but what he was trying to do was balance the simple stuff with something for the older kids.

Tori was going to help him with it but after yesterday she hadn’t even returned his texts. He’d texted her a few times last night and then sent pictures of what he was working on today.

Something happened at the pitch yesterday. He’d noticed her smile change from genuine to forced and then she’d barely spoken to him. He asked her, but of course she’d said she was fine.

He’d planned to take them to dinner, but she said she had a headache, so he’d driven them back to her car, and they’d parted ways. Radio silence from her since then.

Maddox said he didn’t know what happened either. She’d been with him when it did and now they were both confused.

Instead of having someone that knew children a lot better than him, he was waiting on his team to come over and help him figure this out. They needed to plan for four days of activities that spanned one hour and fit all abilities and it terrified him.

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