SMAWTASS
Wonderwall by Oasis
Holden
“Did you see them out there?”Liam smacks my back, grabbing me by the neck in a sideways hug. “They killed it!”
“They lost,” I mock. They played hard. They played well. They tried their best and had their asses handed to them, but they got back up and tried again. That’s all I want.
He eyes me suspiciously, and I raise my hands in defense. “I’m joking. They did great.”
“Joking? Since when do you joke?”
I shrug, my eyes finding Natalie immediately. She has Vero propped on the curve of her full hips as she’s smiling at Izzy, or Bella—I don’t know what she’d want me to call her. I need to ask both of them about that. She’s jumping up and down, so excited about playing. She threw herself at me at the end, celebrating that she got ice time and not saying a peep about losing. I must be doing something right if they feel comfortable enough celebrating the trying.
Liam follows my gaze, narrowing his stormy eyes. “Clay.”
“What?”
“Is that her? Izzy’s mom?”
“That is Izzy’s mom. I guess her aunt brings her to practice?—”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” he cuts in, his glassy eyes locked on mine.
I sigh. “Yes, but before you say anything, I didn’t know. She didn’t know. And Izzy also didn’t know. She goes by Bella at home, so in the weeks I’ve been hanging out with her mom, it never came up that they were the same person until Tuesday.”
“Tuesday? And you weren’t going to tell me you’re dating the mom of one of the girls?”
“Well, until Wednesday after practice, I didn’t know we were actually dating.”
He tsks. “Come on, Clay. No girlfriends ever, but did you skip the lesson on dating? One person asks the other one out, they say yes, usually dinner or drinks or something fun.”
“She said she wasn’t sure if she was ready to date, asshole.” I shove him away with a playful push. Apparently, it’s not playful enough, because suddenly Natalie and her family and Cleo, another player, and her family are all looking our way. We raise our hands in defeat, as if our old coach caught us in trouble, and not likeweare the coaches now too.
“He was just…”
“Playing,” we say in unison. Izzy narrows her eyes at us, and Natalie blushes instantly. Even from back here, I can tell. She waves shyly at us, and Vero mimics her, so I return it, smiling like an idiot.
They return to whatever they were doing before we interrupted them with our shenanigans, but I can’t tear my eyes away from them.
Liam clears his throat.
“What?”
“You like her, don’t you?”
I nod. “I do.”A lot, I want to say, but I keep it to myself. She’s tangled herself in all my thoughts, and I don’t want her to leave them. I want her to stay in there. I want to know more.
“Then what are you going to do about it?”
“Be patient; earn her trust and hopefully her love too. One day at a time.”
He pats my shoulder and strides away. “See you all Monday for practice!” he shouts to the remainder of the girls.
I want to go to Natalie, but I don’t want to intrude. We haven’t talked much since our kiss on Wednesday, just a quick hello and have a good day, especially after she told me how busy she was yesterday. I don’t want to come on too strong. I want her to know we can take this at her pace, but I don’t want her to think I’m not interested either. I’m a thirty-six-year-old figuring out how to date. Comical. Aspen would get a kick out of this.
You know what? Fuck it, they’re right there. I can say hi.
