Page 103 of Once Upon a Fake Date

“Well, it was worth it if you got the girl out of it, wasn’t it?” Samuel asked.

“Yeah.” I grinned. “It was.”

“We should go on a double date sometime. I think Dani would love that.”

“Sure. But maybe like… next semester?”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

“I can’t believe this season is almost over as it is. The exhaustion has basically seeped into my bones at this point,” I said.

A nap would be great. In fact, if I could sleep until finals week, that would be even better.

The other guys laughed. Derek, our team captain, got on the bus and sat in the row behind Samuel.

I nodded at him. “How’s it going, man?” I’d thanked them all for coming after the opening night of the musical. Part of me still couldn’t believe the way they’d shown up for me. Even if it had taken some of my attention off the team, they’d supported me. That meant more to me than I could properly express.

All this time, I’d thought of my last team like brothers until everything had gone down with Raf and Millie, but looking back, they were never as close as this team was. They wouldn’t have dropped everything to watch me sing and dance in a theater performance.

Transferring here had been the right call all along. I was glad to be a part of this team. Though some of them would graduate next month, I had one more year, and I wanted to make it count.

“You know, the usual. How do you think Coach is going to be tonight?”

We’d been on a winning streak, so the extra practices and drills he’d been having us run felt excessive. Though even I had to admit they were successful as long as we kept winning. So I shrugged.

“I’ve heard he’s having problems with his wife. Maybe that’s why he’s been so hard on you, Maxwell,” Taylor offered.

“Fuck if I know,” I muttered.

“I don’t think that’s why,” Derek offered. “I think he’s been watching you, Parker. You’re a skilled player. Especially after you bonded with the team. You’re good at reading passes and creating opportunities to score. I’m pretty sure he’s had his eye on you for captain next year.”

“Captain?” I repeated, my eyes practically bugging out of my head.

“Yup. But don’t tell him I told you that.” He grinned. “I’d be happy to leave this team in your hands, Maxwell.”

“Thanks, Stephens.” I looked around at all of them, even the teammates I wasn’t as close with as these three. “I’m really grateful I ended up at Castleton and met all of you. This has been a great season.” I meant it. Even without Audrey’s presence in my life, I’d had a fantastic time playing lacrosse with all of them.

And I was going to take these last few games to soak it all up and savor each moment.

The next day,we played hard. All of us knew what was at stake—the playoffs. A potential championship. None of us wanted to lose that. So we’d given them as few opportunities to score as possible, stealing the ball whenever we could and trying to make as many shots on goal as we could. We were on fire.

It wasn’t surprising, considering how harmoniously we all worked together. Offense and Defense were at the top of their game.

“That was fucking amazing,” Samuel said, slinging his arms over Derek and I. “We’re going all the way to the top, baby!” He shouted the last words from the top of his lungs in the parking lot as we returned to the hotel.

“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed. “Don’t go jinxing us.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not possible. We’re too good.”

“Too cocky,” Derek said.

Samuel grinned. “My girlfriend’s not complaining.”

“Ew.” I pushed him off of me, still laughing even as I feigned disgust. “Don’t need to know about your sex life, Samuel.”

“What about yours?” He smirked at me. “Isn’t that your girl?”

“What?” My head whipped up to where he was pointing.

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