Page 268 of Well Played

“Good to know.” He swallowed his next bite. “Are you coming?” That wasn’t quite inviting her, but just testing the waters.

Cassie nodded. “Season pass holder here.”

That made him more excited than he was willing to admit, and he pushed it down in front of her. “Awesome.”

“My whole family is. We’ll be hard to miss, sadly. But until they start yelling, I’ll let you know we sit pretty close to the center and are about halfway up in the stands. One of us always gets there early to save seats.”

He was probably grinning like a fool, but couldn’t stop. “I’ll look for you.”

“I’ll be there probably around 5:30 to get some food from the food trucks and then get ready for the game.”

A thrill shot through him at the thought of seeing her before the game. He had no reason for it and quickly pushed it back down.

“That’s cool.” Even to his own ears, he sounded like an idiot.

“Yeah, it’s a tradition. We’ve all gone for years to the local games. Sometimes my brothers work it on the ambulance, but usually we are all there in some way.”

“You never travel to the other games?” He was disappointed, but also curious. It was hard to play away games sometimes because it felt like the entire crowd was against you.

“I’ve been to two, but my schedule doesn’t allow for it most of the time. Plus, as I’m sure you know, I like the home team advantage.” She winked.

Grant grunted an answer as they finished dinner. He wasn’t sure what else to say to her. His mind was a whir of thoughts, most of them screaming that he was getting too close to her.

6

Cassie and Reaganwere in their seats and watching the game as they were every weekend. Reagan always came with her to these games, which gave her a bit of a buffer from her overwhelming family.

“Is it just me or does Grant keep looking up here at you?” Reagan whispered.

Cassie blushed. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

“Over him? I would too if he were constantly searching for me in the crowd.”

The game had just started again after halftime, and Grant had played the whole game so far. She’d admit that this season was the first time she’d really concentrated on the defense, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Do you think he’s really looking at me?” Cassie leaned on her friend as she asked, insecurities creeping up.

She and Grant spoke in some way every day. More often than not, it was in person. He’d seamlessly become a part of her life and it was strange how quickly it had happened.

“I don’t think it, I know it. That man can’t take his eyes off you.”

Cassie grinned. As she watched, Grant stole the ball from a player on the other team and kicked in down the field. Her whole family shouted as he cleared it.

“Your neighbor is pretty good. I can’t imagine why he’s down here on this team instead of playing in the big leagues like he was.” Ben never took his eyes off the game as he spoke.

All that did was remind her that this man wasn’t here to stay and broke her heart in ways it really shouldn’t have. They could remain friends after, but he had a life in DC to get back to and she didn’t think it would last long.

“Yeah,” she answered and hoped he would drop it.

After a few more minutes of play, she watched as Grant collided with another player in what was definitely a foul, even if the ref didn’t call it. The entire crowd gasped as he went down and Cassie squeezed Reagan’s hand as they waited for him to get up.

The cheering started as soon as he began to move. The crowd was roaring for him as much as they were shouting at the refs.

“That’s a fucking card, ref!” Ben was shouting.

“Are you blind?” her father was backing Ben up.

Grant waved at the stands and she pretended it was just at her. It was childish to do, but she did it, anyway.

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