Page 51 of Game Changer
“Hmm?”
“I want you to kiss me and show everyone whoIbelong to. Can you do that for me?”
A laugh rumbles in my chest. “Gladly.”
My lips meld with hers in front of a room full of people, and in this moment, when her body shudders against me, something solidifies between us. The insecurity that I’m not good enough for her no longer exists as we kiss in perfect synchrony. We both want thisequally, and I’m done holding on to this last reservation about us.
In the tunnel I’ve hidden myself in for years, Maya glows like the sun at the opening, and it feels like I just stepped into her light.
It makes me never want to go into the dark again.
Twenty- five
Ethan
At my first home game of the season, I told myself I wouldn’t act like a coach. I haven’t accepted an official position, yet I’m standing on the sidelines with my fist pressed against my mouth as the clock winds down. It’s the fourth quarter, and it all comes down to a single field goal. Marco is a decent kicker, but his track record isn’t stellar. Not thatanythirteen-year-old’s would be.
Ronnie approaches my side when Marco runs out to the field. “Have you decided yet about being my assistant?” Over the past month or so, Ronnie and I have gotten closer, and at every practice he asks me the same question.
My jaw ticks when I reply. “No.”
He exhales heavily through his nose. “All right.”
“Is that all you’re ever going to say in response? You aren’t going to push?” He never says anythingbut“all right.”
“Why would I push?” He shrugs and points at the field. “You’re right about this being a big decision. I didn’t start this program to have people come into these kids’ lives and not stick around. When you know, you’ll know, and I’ll hand you over a whistle when you do.”
Marco aligns himself with the ball, and all of us, including those on the bleachers, hold our breath when he makes the kick. The ball soars into the air, and it’s an automatic no-brainer. It strikes dead center through the end zone, and the boys go wild. They run onto the field to hoist Marco into the air, carrying him on their shoulders while they chant his name. It brings me back to when Cameron and I won the state championship in high school. Even though I knew it would be the last game I played, it was the best day of my life. Confetti. Dumping the water cooler on our coach. The roaring of the crowd.
I snap out of the flashback to find Ronnie smirking at me. The opposing team heads off to the other side of the field with sad faces and broken hearts, and I can’t help but notice they don’t have official uniforms. “Why are they only wearing those jerseys?” They’re made of basic red and blue mesh material and remind me of the ones we used to wear while playing capture the flag in gym class.
“They’re a team without many sponsors,” Ronnie explains. “Some programs lack funding. Possibly because they live in a bad section of town, or simply because the coach isn’t dedicated enough to raise the money.”
My eyes linger on the kids with the tattered jerseys. I try to fight the pinch in my chest, but it’s useless. My mind immediately strays to how I can get their team better jerseys.
Ronnie claps me on the shoulder. “Let me know when you’re ready,” he repeats. “In the meantime, let’s go celebrate with these lunatics.”
The boys are crowding Mark a few feet away, hooting, hollering, and giving him multiple high fives when Ronnie and I join them. The breath stalls in my lungs when the kids swarm me next, nearly tackling me to the damn ground in their excitement. Pride surges through me. It has me thinking that there might be a sliver of potential that I’m good at this, even if there’s still a lingering fear that I’m not.
“Congratulations.”
I spin around to find Maya, her eyes softening at the hold the kids currently have on me. She looks cute dressed down in sneakers, shorts, and a T-shirt. It’s the simplest I’ve ever seen her look, and she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve laid eyes on. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail and she’s not wearing any makeup.
“Thought you could use this,” she says, passing me a water bottle.
“I didn’t think you’d come.” I mentioned it briefly over dinner last night but never asked her to meet me here.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because the outdoors is your least favorite thing. You hate mosquitos and everything to do with sports.”
“True, but this is important to you, Ethan, which makes it important to me too. Although, theorangejerseys might be a little much. Don’t know if I’ll be able to pull that color off.”
She’d pull offanycolor, but before I can say that, Derrick, one of the players, interrupts.
“Who is she?” he asks.
“I’m his girlfriend,” Maya replies with a smile. “Congrats on winning, by the way.”
