He tilted his head down until our faces were almost touching, noses brushing. “You’ve become my favorite person, Lu. So, yeah, I have a magical, stunning girlfriend, and I get to kiss her and tell the world about it since I never got to do that before in my entire life. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Because I have pretty big feelings for you.”
“So you’ve said.” And I wanted to say it too even though the casual idea of letting those sorts of words loose made my legs feel like jelly.
“And I get to keep saying it.”
I wanted him to.
“Here he is.” The woman came back. This time, her husband, broad and a little burly in comparison to her, was in tow. “Matthew, I was just talking to these two. Aren’t they adorable? Reminded me of us.”
“I’m Matthew now?”
She rolled her eyes. “Matt.”
“Nice to meet you two,” said Matt.
Ryan extended his hand immediately, shaking Matt’s. “Ryan.”
Before I needed to offer my own palm, I answered as well. There was something about shaking hands that always sent off a string of nerves—a feeling I’d been having a lot more recently, especially when I needed to be tall and confident when standing next to Ryan. “I’m Lu.”
“Ryan and Lu,” Matt repeated, as if committing our names to memory. “How did you happen to win over Hannah?”
Ryan thought it over. “Turns out, we are adorable.”
Matt glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye. “Of course you are.”
“Forgive me if I’m a little hormonal,” Hannah said with a roll of her eyes. It was then I noticed her hand gently reaching up to settle on the tiny curve of her stomach.
“Weren’t you on the team? I feel like I’ve seen you before.” The man eyed my green jersey.
Ryan opened his mouth before seeming to rethink whatever it was he was going to say. “I was on for the past few years, yeah.”
“Position?”
“Running back.”
“Fantastic. I was on the team for a bit.”
“For one year, Matt,” Hannah said. “For one game.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t very good,” Matt conceded. “But it was fun, being part of the team anyway. You aren’t playing today?”
“How could you tell? By how calm and at ease I am?” Ryan asked, attempting to joke.
After another moment, the woman offered a small laugh, leaning into his humor.
“I’ve been getting over an injury from the first game actually.”
“Ah.” Matt nodded in understanding. “But you’re going to make it out there before the senior game soon enough, right?”
“Well …” Ryan lifted a hand to the side of his neck.
“Leave the boy alone, Matt. You don’t know what is going on,” his wife intervened.
“I could go back and play again,” admitted Ryan. However, he went on. “But after a few hits to my knee—”
