Maybe it’s the quick breather, or being out here with the guys, or that sweet thrill of seeing your hard work turn into something real—but something inside me clicks.
I want this.
Not just for Dane and the team—I wantthis for me. I want to work hard to get this team to the Premier League because I want the satisfaction of earning my elite rugby position.
When practice ends and the sun sets, everyone’s dead with exhaustion. During the cooldown stretch, everyone discards their shirts and socks, left covered only in shorts and sweat. I collapse when I reach my bag—my jelly legs unable to support me any longer.
I close my eyes and listen to the hard breathing of my teammates and their continued tales of Beachside Sevens. There’s a nudge on my shoulder, and I turn to find Dane standing tall, holding out a blue sports drink for me—a full one. My mouth would water if I weren’t so dehydrated. I hesitate. He says nothing, but there’s a hint of a smile. No big speech, just quiet... approval?
I take his peace offering with a tired but genuine grin—feeling like I’ve earned something more.
Dane sits next to me, and I down the entire bottle in a couple seconds. I lay back and relax, listening to my teammates laugh about the antics of our social sevens team—my earlier envy gone.
For once, the fun can wait. I now have something better—a shot.
Chapter 14
The Storm
Renée
“Have you seen the sky today?” Amber asks, kicking off her work shoes when she gets home for the day.
“No,” I reply absentmindedly from the couch, where I’ve been grading online assignments and prepping next week’s lesson for the last few hours. I can’t wait to return to in-person courses in the fall—biology was not meant to be taught virtually.
Delta and Lo are both in their room playing. It’s nearly one hundred degrees today, so playing in the air conditioning is the only way to go. To keep the house cool, I drew all the curtains so our two little window units wouldn’t have to work any harder than they already do. Every fan we have is blowing cool air through the rest of our small home.
My sister crosses the living room and pushes open the curtain to reveal an ominous sky. It’s only 3:00 p.m., yet the sun is nowhere to be found.
“Makes me wanna watchTwisterand get it on with a hot tornado chaser,” Amber says, waggling her eyebrows.
I pick up my phone and open the weather app. “Yikes. Not a tornado, but we’re about to get hit hard. We’re under a severe weather advisory.”
Amber is already hightailing it for the back door. “I’ll double-check all the windows and secure the lawn chairs.”
“I’ll find the candles.”
Before I even open the closet, a sudden, roaringdownpour hits the house like a tidal wave, drowning all other sounds.
“It’s raining, Mom,” Delta hollers from her room, excitement lacing her tone. “All the plants are going to grow better now!”
My heart pitter-patters whenever she talks about nature like that. Does she care if there's a massive storm? No, she cares about the flowers in our garden, and I hope I can keep her view of the world like that as long as possible.
As soon as a drenched Amber makes it back inside, the lights flicker once, twice, three times before everything goes dark and the air conditioning cuts out.
Shit.
To make matters worse, I just bought groceries. So help me, if the power doesn’t come on soon, I’m billing the electric company.
“Mom, the lights turned off.”
“Yes, I know, sweetie. The storm made the power go out.”
She takes a candle from me, and her eyes widen. “We could tell ghost stories.”
“Yes!” Amber hisses as she towels off her hair. “Did I ever tell you about the time I stayed in a haunted mansion with the heiress of an orthopedic shoe empire and the cast of Cirque du Soleil?”
There’s no way Delta knows what most of the sentence means, but she clutches her little sister and gapes at her aunt. “No.”
