Page 266 of Well Played

“Seriously, I just asked if she had an air filter I could use because mine was definitely not changed before I moved on.” Grant pointed at the wall where the offending filter was. “We got to talking at her place and I forgot I was cooking.”

“Well, you’re lucky you got to it.” Her dad said. “Could have been much worse.”

Grant nodded his understanding. “I can promise you it won’t happen again.”

“It didn’t need this response. Everyone can go.” Cassie waved at her family.

“It’s automatic,” Jack reminded her.

“I know that. But now it’s done, and he has to get to practice in the morning. You wouldn’t want to put him off his game because you were busy giving him a hard time over a burnt pizza, would you?” She didn’t think it would, but if it got them to leave, she’d pretend it mattered.

Grant turned to face her, and she caught the laughter in his eyes.

“I think we can probably get out of here. Looks like the smoke has cleared out. You’re welcome to come down to the station forsome dinner instead.” Gone was her grumpy Dad, now he was a fan who remembered who he was talking to.

“Thank you, but another time. I think I have something I can stick in the microwave, or just make a sandwich instead and not cook anything.” Grant followed them as they walked out.

Cassie didn’t go with everyone, preferring not to get caught up in whatever the conversation was they wanted to have with her. Instead, she began cleaning up the small mess from the pizza.

“You don’t have to do that,” Grant said as he walked back in.

“I know that. I just didn’t want to dip out on you or go with them.” She sent him a grin. “I’m about to start my own dinner, so if you want to wait half an hour, you can eat with me?”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll get the filter changed and take out the trash before I come over.”

“You might want to leave every fan on in here,” she reminded him.

He sighed as she laughed. His apartment would smell like burnt pizza for a while.

5

Grant was exhaustedin the best way. He’d been running drills all morning and that had been the routine for the entire week.

They might not be fully professional, but this team trained hard, and he loved it. It had been way too long since he’d gotten to train with other players and his muscles were screaming, but it was worth it.

Their first game was this weekend, and he still didn’t know if he’d get to play. That was frustrating because he was used to starting, but he didn’t know where he fit in here.

The guys were nice enough. Not all of them were thrilled to have Grant there, but they let it go on the pitch and that was all that mattered. Some asked questions about playing on his other team, and Grant was happy to answer them.

“You got anyone coming tomorrow?” Maddox, a midfielder, asked.

Grant shook his head. “Nope. I’m far from home here.”

“Surely you’ve met people since you’ve been here.”

He thought of Cassie. She was great company and he could see them being something more if he were staying around, but he wasn’t.

“I know that look,” Maddox laughed. “Whoever she is, just invite her.”

Grant shook his head. “I don’t even know if I’m playing.”

“You’ll play. You might not start, but I’d bet money you’ll see game time.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a bit late to ask, and she’s just a friend. Her family is all fans of the team, though, so they’ll be here.”

“Already met the family?” Maddox shoved his water bottle in his bag.

“You don’t even want to know.” Grant wanted to forget.

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