Page 21 of The Game Plan

It’s chicken souvlaki night. Sam loads up her plate, and I grab a protein shake and a peanut butter sandwich for my last meal of the day. I’m not even hungry, but according to my nutrition app, I haven’t eaten enough today. If I don’t keep my calories up, I’ll start to lose weight, and with it, I could lose my starting line position.

“How was your day?” We take seats across from each other at an out of the way table for two, far away from everyone else.

“Fine.” I take a bite out of my sandwich, letting the rich peanut butter flavor linger on my tongue.

She rolls her eyes. “You can talk to me.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“Come on. We should be friends. Real friends,” she says. “I don’t have enough of those.”

I grunt. I know what she means. I have the guys in the house. That’s about it. I don’t hang out with the rest of my teammates when we’re not on the field or the weight room. My social circle is limited. That’s the way I like it. Less risk of people being nice to my face and then stabbing me in the back.

So, maybe my attitude isn’t the healthiest. I’m working on it.

“Sure,” I finally tell her. “We can be friends.”

Her smile makes my stomach twist. My sandwich turns to paste in my mouth.

I don’t think we can be friends. I want more than that.

Except that’s all we can ever be. There’s no way she would ever be interested in me. I need to forget about her and move on. I’ll get used to the disappointment. I’ve lived through worse. I can handle this.

Chapter nine

Sam

Thenextday,Tamaris waiting in the locker room with a cookie bouquet from my favorite bakery.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“Okay.” I push past her and head to my stall, pulling out my practice gear.

“I miss you.”

“Well, bully for you.”

“I’m sorry I was mean about your new friend.”

“Yeah, you were a real piece of work.”

“I just… I don’t understand.”

“Well, now you do.”

“I don’t, though. I don’t get it,” Tamar admits. “What do you guys even have in common?”

“Statistics. And he’s sweet,” I tell her. “Being around him puts me in a good mood. I can’t explain it. He’s going to be my friend. The only question is if you’re going to be my friend, too.”

“I miss you,” she says again, which is still not a real apology.

“I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“Except you have. There’s this distance between us now. You’ve barely been able to look at me all week.”

“I wonder why.” I pull my shirt over my head and tug on my sports bra to avoid looking at her.

“I’ve been a bitch.”

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