Page 75 of Fear of Love
“Sounds good.” With one hand, he reached out and threaded his fingers through mine, resting it on the console between us. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“You made it!”Josie had to yell to be heard over the crowd as Landon and I finally found our seats.
“The traffic is insane. You’d think Taylor Swift was in town,” I said before greeting everyone. Seemed we were the last ones to arrive.
“Took us half an hour to park and then this one kept getting stopped.” Josie jerked her thumb toward her fiancé.
“What can I say, I’m famous.” Wyatt shrugged, a smile playing on his face.
“And so humble.” Josie patted his chest. Since everyone was already seated, Landon and I took the two together at the end of the aisle—a setup that was probably done on purpose.
We were seated in the same section as the last game, the area packed with people in school colors. I could have sworn there were more people in attendance than the last time.
Because it took us so long to get through traffic, we only just settled in our seats when the announcer’s voice came through the speakers. There looked to be more students in this section which meant this was going to be a loud game.
I peeked around on the other side of Wyatt to see Evelyn. She looked out onto the field nervously, hands fiddling with the cap of her water bottle. She looked more nervous here than she did during the guys’ hockey game. Not that I blamed her. This was an important game for Mateo.
“Wish we could have brought our signs,” Josie grumbled next to me.
“They don’t want us to have any fun,” Tasha chimed in.
We had planned to bring our signs again, but the other day, Mateo texted our group chat to tell us that signs were prohibited. I wasn’t too surprised and almost wondered if they did that on purpose, thanks to last time. At least Mateo would see us seated directly above the team again, so he’d know we were here.
As the announcer introduced Trinity University, everyone around us booed. The players ran out onto the field, as did the team’s Tiger mascot. He waved his arms around wildly, but while the other team’s fans cheered, our boos easily overpowered them.
Another minute passed before Mateo’s team was announced. The crowd around us roared as the team ran out onto the field. Along with everyone else, I stood up, hands cupped to my mouth as I screamed.
Just like last time, number ten jogged near the back of the group. Mateo held his helmet by his side as he ran, unflinching as the yelling increased. As he got closer, I could see the set of his jaw as he got into game mode.
Mateo was goofy and easygoing, but like his brothers, when it came to something he loved, he was serious. I wasn’t sure if it was how he was raised or if it was just part of their DNA, but the Boone’s never gave up.
When the team settled below us, an ear-piercing whistle sounded beside me. I cringed, pretty sure I lost some of my hearing. I opened my mouth to ask Landon what the hell he was doing, but when I noticed Mateo had stopped to look in our direction, I clamped it shut.
His eyes swept over us, and a smile grew on his face. With a wink, he joined his team.
“How do you know how to whistle like that?”
Landon shrugged. “Wrangling tons of little kids on the ice is not as easy as it looks.”
Over the last few weeks, I’d spent more time at Hockey Haven.I watched a few of his practices as well as two of the Junior League games. For a guy who could be quite grumpy, Landon had a surprising amount of patience.
When the little kids asked endless questions, he calmly answered every single one. When a few kids from the Junior League asked him if he could help with drills, Landon didn’t hesitate to stay behind. A week ago during a practice, a little boy fell to the ice and started crying, but before the kid’s mom could get to him, Landon gently helped the boy up and spoke to him softly. I wasn’t sure what he said, but within minutes, the boy was smiling and skating back to his friends.
Every kid that went to Hockey Havenloved Landon, and while he wouldn’t admit it, he loved them as well. I saw it in how he interacted with them, as well as his assistant coach and coworkers.
As the teams got ready to play, I felt the nerves coming off of Landon. His eyes were glued to the field, and his knee kept bouncing.
I leaned toward him and put my hand on his knee. “Relax. He’s got this,” I whispered.
All I got was a nod but I understood. He wasn’t going to relax until the game was over. I squeezed his knee before I put it back in my lap as a whistle was blown.
It took a few minutes of kicking the ball and getting possession before Mateo jogged onto the field for the first time. Next to me, Josie let out an ear-piercing scream. I didn’t know why I thought she’d be more tame here than at a hockey game. Either way, she was someone you wanted in the stands, supporting you.
I held my breath as Mateo got in position to hike the ball. Over the last week, I’d done a bit of research on football so Icould at least learn what was going on. If Mateo was going to be this big football star, I wanted to know the basics.
With the ball gripped tightly, he moved smoothly down the field, looking for the right moment to pass. Watching Mateo play always stirred something electric. Like you just knew you were seeing someone that was going to be big. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be one of the top football players in the league. I think everyone knew that as we watched him throw a perfect spiral to his teammate.
