Page 82 of A Game as Old as Time

“I guess...” His full attention shifted to her, and she once more froze under his green eyes. “I guess I’ll have to find a way to put my own spin on this scene when we practice.”

He is so good at this.

Her face went hot, and her stomach fluttered. As she reached for her soda, she felt something warm brush against her hand.

“I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, his face full of panic. “I wasn’t paying attention and went for my drink. I didn’t mean...”

While his apology rambled on, his hand remained on hers.

“It’s OK,” she whispered, not pulling away.

It’s really OK.

It took him a second, but he finally tightened his grasp. The heat on hercheeks intensified as she sank deeper into the seat of the car. Even though she looked back at the screen, she knew she could not play it off. Her ears were ringing, and her heart was pumping so fast that she thought it might come out of her chest. Tomorrow, she would probably laugh at the irony of the song that was playing on the screen, but not tonight. Tonight, her entire body was weightless, dancing, and the only thing that kept her from floating out of the car was his hand on hers.

Chapter 15

“It is homecoming weekend, and tonight, we are so excited to bring you the final regular season game for the South Mountain Pioneers! After a tough start, the Pioneers now ride a seven-game winning streak, and with a win tonight, they can guarantee themselves a spot in the district playoffs. They will be playing winless Grove City, who sits at 0-9 and should be no problem for this red-hot Pioneer team. However, before kickoff, we have a special surprise ceremony on the field: The local Boosters have created a memory plaque for Coach Weston. They intend to have the plaque placed at the entrance of the stadium so we can all remember Coach Weston’s contributions, not just to this football team but also to the surrounding community.”

**********

“G.” Ty punched Gunner in the shoulder and snapped him out of his trance. “You’re up.”

Right.

Gunner exhaled and peered out to where his mom and sister stood in the middle of the field. The plaque they held glistened in the lights, and it took every ounce of strength he had to walk out to them.

Let’s just get this over with.

He locked eyes with his mom as he moved into a slow jog. Her smile, while vibrant, held a stillness that he knew meant she was forcing her cheeks to stay wide.

Just smile and wave.

He followed his internal instructions. His sister did the same with her pom poms as he finally drew up next to his family.

“Hey guys,” Gunner said softly. “Was this you, Mom?”

A tightness in his chest was making it hard for him to catch his breath.

“No, sweetheart, this was all the Boosters.”

Of course.

Gunner stood quietly as the ceremony continued and some of the local Boosters spoke about his father’s accomplishments. Near the end, he glanced up into the crowd and found Hailey, who was sitting with Juelz and the rest of the musical cast. They were surrounded by other students, but the matching musical shirts made them easy to spot.

I wish I was up there with her.

Her eye caught his as the ceremony finished, but he quickly looked away.

“Gunner.” Principal Davis leaned over to him with the microphone. “Would you like to say anything?”

No.

He froze. The face of his father stared back at him, making his mind go completely blank.

“I’ll say something.” His mother ran defense, moving the microphone away from his face.

Thank you, Mom.

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