“Alex is my brother-in-law. I roped him into being our ref for the afternoon.”
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, an attractive contrast to his tanned skin. His blond hair was cropped short enough to spike at the front.
“And I don’t like Penny or my brother enough to play favorites, so I promise to be fair,” he said, holding up his hands, grinning as his crystal gaze stayed on mine.
“I don’t think you can cheat during a scrimmage game, but good to know.”
He laughed, still searching my face in a way that made me feel on display.
“Alex just moved here from California. Hence the surfer hair and tan,” Penny said, tipping her chin to where Alex stood next to her. “He knows enough about soccer to realize when he has to blow the whistle. I wasn’t picky when the ref I had scheduled texted me last night that he was sick.”
“My sister-in-law is free and easy with the compliments,” Alex said, folding his muscular arms over his chest, still focused on me.
“This is Sabrina,” I said, squirmy enough under Alex’s stare to shift back and forth on my feet. “We all went to high school together.”
“They were the soccer all-stars,” Sabrina said, moving her finger back and forth between Penny and me. “Not me.”
“I see,” Alex said, backing away. “Nice to meet you both. Have a great game!” He threw me a glance over his shoulder as he jogged to the middle of the field.
“Shit, he’s hot,” Sabrina whispered in my ear.
“Yes, he is,” I agreed, both of us still gazing in his direction.
“For real,” she said, elbowing my side. “And he’s into you.”
“He seems like a flirt.” I shook my head. “He’s probably into everyone.”
“A flirt who didn’t take his eyes offyouthe entire time. Jesse isn’t going to like that,” she sang.
“There is nothing for anyone to like or not like.”
“Coach Emily!”
Maddie giggled as she barreled into my legs and squeezed her arms around me.
“Hey, kiddo,” I said, hugging her back. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail with a maroon ribbon tied around it.
“My ponytail ribbon matches our shirts,” Maddie chirped, pulling down the front of her team T-shirt.
“And it makes you easier to track on the field,” I said, tapping her nose. “I love it.”
“That’s good to hear. I only had to watch the YouTube video on how to tie a ponytail three or ten times.”
Jesse’s smile was warm as his dark eyes held mine.
“Nice job, Uncle Jesse,” Sabrina said, grinning at Maddie and giving her ponytail a gentle tug. “What are you going to do when she asks for a braid?”
“Probably sweat or call my mother,” Jesse said with a chuckle. “And speaking of…”
I noticed Mrs. Evans’s watery smile over Jesse’s shoulder.
“Emily,” she gasped before almost knocking Jesse over to pull me into a hug. “Let me look at you,” she said, grabbing myarms to push me back. “My God, you haven’t changed at all. Still so beautiful.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Mrs. Evans.” I squeezed her shoulders.
Other than a little sparkle of gray mixed in with her brown hair, she was exactly as I remembered. So much so, I tried to swallow away the scratch at the back of my throat at just hearing her voice again.
“But thank you. You look amazing.”
