“I’m surprised you have not given coaching a try,” Professor Jefferies said. “As good as you are at sports, I bet you’d be great at it.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” he asked, shaking his head. “Turns out teaching isn’t my forte; the one time I tried was a total disaster. In fact, I think I scared a few kids away from playing baseball.”
“Oh, well, it was just a thought,” the professor said, shaking his head, then looked up at the clock. “We’re on in just a few seconds. Any questions before we start?”
Before he could open his mouth, Professor Jefferies’ phone began to vibrate on the table. He took one look at the screen, then quickly connected. “Hi, honey,” he said, an anxious look on his face. “Is everything okay?”
He watched as all the color drained from the professor’s face. “I have to go,” he said, jumping to his feet when he disconnected the call. “My wife just went into labor, we’re having twins.”
“Congratulations, that’s so exciting,” he said, then looked around. “Wait, you can’t leave. Who’s going to announce the game?”
Professor Jefferies was patting his pockets for his keys, but he stopped for a second and looked over at Walker. “You can do it,” he declared. “You did great during the third quarter, helping me. Just do what I did. You can handle it. You know the players, you know the game, that’s half the battle.”
Before he could argue, Professor Jefferies found his keys and took off, leaving the microphone sitting empty and a silence in the gym that had everyone looking over at him. Heart pounding wildly, he scooted over in front of the microphone, cleared his throat, and, imagining what the professor would have said, made his first attempt at doing the other man’s job.
After a couple of failed attempts to imitate Professor Jefferies, he was thinking about giving up, but then he saw Maddie across the gym. She gave him a big thumbs up, and his brain instantly cleared. No longer nervous, he decided to just be himself; it was much easier then. Before he knew it, he’dforgotten about all the people listening to him and was wrapped up in the game instead.
When the final buzzer sounded, not only had the team won, but Walker was floating on a cloud of happiness; he’d finally found what he was meant to do, finally figured out the one thing that could make him happy. He wasn’t sure how he was going to turn it into a career, but for the first time since he’d started at Parkhurst, he saw a path to his future. A second later, he felt a wave of warmth spread through him, and he looked up to find Maddie watching him, a big smile on her face. He realized that all the pieces of his life were falling into place.
***Maddie***
Walker was waiting for her outside the locker room when Maddie finished with the players after the game. As soon as he saw her, a big smile spread across his face. When she got close enough, he picked her up and swung her around, then set her down, pulled her into his arms and gave her a big kiss. It was impossible not to get caught up in his excitement, and she laughed when he finally let her go and did a little dance up and down the hallway.
“It’s taken me three and a half years to figure it out, but tonight it finally happened,” he said, sweeping her into his arms again. “I know what I want to do, and even better, I think I know someone who can make it happen.”
“I’m happy for you,” she said, giving him a big hug. “Let’s go out and celebrate. You can tell me all about it.”
“Really?” he asked, even more excited. “I didn’t think you’d really go because you always race home after the games.”
“I think I can stay out a little longer tonight,” she said, linking her arm through his. “Where do you want to go?”
He paused for a second, then looked over at her. “Maddie, you’re not married or something are you?” he asked, a worried look in his eyes. “I mean…that would explain…well…a lot.”
“I’m not married, Walker. You know me better than that, I would have told you,” she said. “I just have a lot of responsibilities, but I’m not married or involved with anyone else.”
Walker studied her for a second, his eyes searching her face for the truth, then a big smile spread across his face. “But you are involved with me,” he announced. “You just said so.”
“That’s not what…I mean…we’re not…dating…” she trailed off. “Are we?”
“Hmmm…let’s see,” Walker said, linking hands with her. “We’re holding hands on our way out to dinner together. I kissed you twice, and you kissed me once. I think this counts as dating.”
It was her turn to pause, then she looked over at him. “I’ll never forgive you if you hurt me again, Walker. This scares me so much, but I can’t seem to resist you,” she said. “I just want you to remember that I’m not perfect, there are things I haven’t told you, things I’m still not ready to tell you yet, but when I do, I just want you to remember that I did what I had to at the time.”
He was silent for a long time and she knew that he wanted to ask her what she was hiding, but in the end, he pulled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. “I can wait. I trust you, Maddie, I know that you’d never lie to me,” he said. “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here to listen, until then, I don’t want you worrying about it. I want all of you, imperfections and all.”
She looked up at him, fighting tears, almost ready to tell him the truth right then, but realized where they were. “I hope so, I really do,” she said, laying her head on his chest. “I don’t want to get hurt again.”
He pulled back and looked down at her, then tipped her chin up until their eyes met. “I’m never going to hurt you again,Maddie, that’s a promise,” he said. “I’m sorry about what I did when we were freshmen. If I could do it all over again, I never would have hurt you in the first place.”
“What if you get scared again?” she asked, thinking about a little boy who looked just like his father. “Are you going to run away?”
“My running days are over, sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re stuck with me now, whether you like it or not.”
This time when his mouth came down on hers, she let herself enjoy the kiss and the pleasure that erupted the moment his lips touched hers. No one else had ever made her feel the way Walker did and she knew deep down that no one ever would, but she’d been so sure he’d never kiss her like this again. Now she was back in his arms, and the empty place inside her was slowly beginning to fade. But she knew she had to be careful; she’d learned a painful lesson the last time, and she wasn’t about to find herself in the same position again.
Walker was the one to break the kiss with a groan, but he held her for a long time, stroking her hair, then finally pulled back and looked down at her. “Let’s go get something to eat,” he said, a smile on his face. “As much as I want this to go further, I know that you’re not ready, so I’ll settle for a large pizza with everything.”
“Sounds great,” she said, smiling up at him, relieved that he wasn’t going to push things further. “Where are we going?”
