Page 70 of Matched

“Yeah.”

She took a sip of her cider. “It’s going to be so weird without him around next year. I can’t believe he’ll be here. We’ve never been so far apart.”

My stomach churned. “Yeah. It’ll be weird.”

“I said I was okay with it, that I was looking forward to having a bit of space without him breathing down my neck, but it’s not like that. He doesn’t even breathe down my neck. He looks out for me because he’s my brother.” Her lip trembled. “Now it’s actually happening, I wish I could change it. I’m going to miss him so much.”

“Shit,” I muttered. My boyfriend’s sister was upset, and I needed to comfort her. Easing the water bottle out of her grip, I curled my arm around her shoulders, giving her a careful side hug.

Wait a minute.Boyfriend? Had I actually just thought that?

I groaned aloud, and Sophie stared up at me, concern creeping into her gaze. Quickly shaking my head, I squeezed her bicep before removing my arm from her shoulders. “Just thinking. You know, we’ll all miss him. But you’ll have us still. The rest of the team. Your friends. I bet Jonas will be looking out for you as well.”

“You’re right.” Some of the sadness disappeared from her voice. “Jonas has already offered to cook for me.”

“There you go. You’re onto a winner, there.” Glancing around us, I noticed that although there were still a few people milling around up here, most had found their seats. “Come on. We’d better sit down. The match is starting soon.”

Together, we made our way down the stairs. When we reached Sophie’s seat, which happened to be in the row directly behind mine, I handed the water bottle back to her and gave her a reassuring smile. “You’re gonna be fine. And our team’s gonna win today.”

“Yep.” She grinned at me. “Thanks, Charlie. For all of that.”

“No problem. See you later, okay?”

When I slid back into the empty seat on the end of my row, everyone having switched places in my absence, I took a moment to soak up the pre-match atmosphere, setting everything else aside so I could throw my entire focus into this match.

Then the teams came out, and the crowdroared.

30

I’d never experienced anything like this outside the one Glevum match I’d been lucky enough to attend when I was a kid. The noise from the crowd was immense, despite the fact that the stadium was less than a third full. As the players jogged out of the tunnel and lined up on the pitch, the sound intensified, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My gaze fixed on Nate straight away, standing tall and strong in his blue LSU football kit, his dark hair ruffled by the breeze. He looked so good.

I knew his full concentration would be on the game, so I wasn’t expecting him to spare a glance in my direction, even though he had a rough idea of the section I’d be seated in. But I was wrong.

His head turned, just slightly, and I watched, my breath caught in my throat, as he scanned the rows of spectators. Whenhis gaze connected with mine, my heart stuttered, and for a second, it felt like the world stood still, and we were the only two people that existed.

Just a second. A second before the noise filtered back in, Nate had turned his focus back to the pitch, and I was left there with a fucking life-changing epiphany.

I didn’t just like him.

I didn’t just want him to be my boyfriend.

What I felt for him and what I wanted went far deeper than that. So deep, it scared me. Because I knew that everything between us was coming to an end.

I was still reeling when the match began, but I managed to lose myself in the game I loved, where the guy who meant everything to me played his heart out, throwing everything into it. My heart was in my throat every time the ball landed in our end of the pitch, but the defence did a great job of keeping Plymouth from scoring. Whenever Nate touched the ball, I got a bit of a lump in my throat, proud and happy for him, and weirdly emotional.

A cross from Travis to Preston, who launched straight into an overhead kick, sent the ball flying into the top-right corner of the net. The goalie didn’t even stand a chance, and our section of the stadium went wild, jumping up and down, screaming and cheering as the players celebrated on the pitch. It was still early in the game, but we were ahead, and that was the boost we needed.

Plymouth equalised three minutes later, but those of us in the stands kept up the morale for our players, singing and chanting and shouting encouragement. Two minutes before the end of the first half, Ander scored a goal with an amazing header. He raced down the pitch, holding up his hands in a heart shape towards Elliot, who smiled wider than I’d ever seen him before.

Half-time flew by in a blur, and then we were back. Plymouth’s team was just as determined as ours, and their determination paid off with a free kick, followed by a brilliant goal by one of their forwards, right over the outstretched fingertips of our goalie.

2-2.

There were still another twenty-three minutes to go. We could do this.

During a quick break in gameplay when the ref was sorting out a dispute with one of the Plymouth players, the LSU coach conferred with Travis. A minute later, he substituted Damon for Bennett, who blew Niccolò a kiss as he jogged onto the pitch. The Plymouth team also made a substitution, and then the game restarted.

Seven minutes to go.

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