Page 12 of Chasing Football Dreams

Nightfall was rolling in when Coach Shane called it a day.

I was exhausted by the time I removed my helmet, and I still had to remove my gear.

“Man, I could have a burger or two!” Freddie exclaimed.

“You eat too much,” Terence remarked.

Andrew shook Freddie’s shoulders playfully. “No, it’s that waitress girl he met at the diner,”

There was a real smile on Freddie’s face. “Her name is Jade and she agreed to go out on a date with me,”

There was applause and hoots. All of us were happy to see Freddie moving on.

We continued to make our way off the field when the cheerleaders, also decided to call it a day. We crossed paths with them and I expected a flirty smile from Monique but she avoided Duncan like the plague.

We all looked at Freddie when Denise broke away from her team to pull him aside.

“That’s not going to end well,” Xander muttered.

“Do you think he is going to need backup?” Wesley asked.

“Would you leave the guy alone?” He got this,” Andrew assured.

I tried to laugh but my eyes landed on a man exiting a black SUV. He pushed his sunglasses back and I felt a flashback creeping closer. There was something about him that I couldn’t place my finger on.

He smiled when he saw Coach Shane and walked up to him to shake hands. Benjamin Foster. Shane Martin’s bestfriend. Second-string quarterback before becoming the full-back because Shane took his spot.

Duncan rested his hand on my shoulder. “Zoey,”

I blinked and looked at Duncan. “I feel like I know him—like personally know him,”

Duncan followed my stare and nodded. “Do you maybe know how?”

I shook my head. “It’s an insane feeling,”

“Do you want to get closer and maybe see what this feeling is?” Duncan asked and I saw that the team standing around us.

“Hey, what did I miss?” Freddie asked, coming closer.

We looked at him. “How did it go with Denise?” Andrew queried.

“I told her that I am not second best,”

“So, you finally blew her off?” Xander asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, so what’s up with you guys?” Before we could answer, we heard Coach Shane calling the team.

We all turned in unison and I acted calm when Benjamin and Coach Shane came over. “Is that Benjamin Foster?”

“So, this is the team you decided to coach,” Benjamin noted.

Coach Shane nodded and introduced the team. “This is Zoey, their quarterback,”

I found Benjamin’s gaze focusing on me. “Zoey, as in your girl, Zoey?”

Coach Shane smiled but it didn’t reach his ears. “She does remind me a lot of my girl,”

Benjamin came forward to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you. I saw the article about you in the Sports Illustrator,”

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