Page 67 of Wright Together

Jensen shrugged, defeated. “I love him. I want him to be happy. If this helps the behavioral problems, then he can play as much soccer as he wants.”

“Okay, but real question,” I said, glancing back at Colton. “Can he actually play? Because otherwise, Eve might kill me.”

Jensen laughed. “He can play. It’s not just ego.”

“You mean,allego,” Emery said. “Because the boy hasyourego.”

“Can’t help it if we’re naturally good at everything, love.”

Emery rolled her eyes. “Oh, good ateverything, huh?”

“Obviously.”

“Now, whose ego is showing?”

“You married me.”

She snorted. “As you keep reminding me.”

I left them to lovingly bicker and took my seat in the stands with West. He shot me a look that I read as,What the hell have you gotten us into?

I just shrugged. We were about to find out.

Isaac didn’t start Colton since he was the newest member. So, he stood on the sidelines, bouncing on the balls of his cleats and shouting encouragement to his teammates. He was a completely and entirely different kid in a uniform. Gone were the attitude and defiance. All that was left was camaraderie, excitement, and a drive to get out there.

Isaac pulled himself out first to let Colton on the field. The kid full-on sprinted to the center midfield position, and as soon as the whistle was blown, he was off like a bullet. He had boundless energy, dribbling up to Blaire and Eve to assist for shots, pulling back to defense to hand the ball off to Annie and Hollin, and moving seamlessly through the center field with Julian and Nora. He played selflessly. None of the ball hogging I would expect from someone with his self-esteem. And damn him, hewasgood.

Good enough that Isaac didn’t pull him out when he came back in. He rotated the rest of the team to keep Colton on the field. Isaac had a daughter. He must have seen, the same way I had, that the kid needed to be out there. Or maybe he just wanted to win, and Colton was assisting Blaire and Eve to multiple goals, where girl goals counted for two points.

By the whistle blow, the Tacos were up by an outrageous amount to an opponent that West insisted they’d barely beaten the year before. With Eve and Colton on the pitch, they were unstoppable.

Eve ripped off her Tacos uniform top, revealing the sports bra, toned body, and tattoos underneath. She vaulted the bleachers and plopped into my lap.

“Okay, I forgive you,” she said.

West laughed next to us. “This should be good.”

Eve kicked West’s shin. He yelped.

“I accept your forgiveness?” I said more as a question.

“The kid’s good. We’ll keep him,” Eve said.

“Excellent.”

“Pizza?”

“I’m down.”

Eve leaned back and waved at Jensen and Emery. “Hey, we do pizza after every game. Can the kid come with us?”

Jensen exchanged a look with Emery, who shrugged. “We have to get home. Her mom is watching the kids.”

“We can drive him home,” I said automatically.

“I don’t know,” Jensen said.

“Maybe you should let him,” Emery said. “He played really well.”

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