She narrows her eyes at me. “You just said you don’t care about playing sports.”
“Oh, I don’t, but I care about winning.”
Evie shakes her head with a grin. “All right. See you at half time.” She starts jogging over to the center.
Her words give me pause. “Wait. Half time? How long is this game, anyway?”
Nobody answers my question, and I watch as they start. It's no surprise when Slater gets the ball right away, dribbles right past Evie and scores on Quint. I laugh out loud. They didn’t even have a chance. Quint throws the ball in, and Evie gets it. I notice Slater stays back. We all know he could get it right back from Evie, but he doesn’t. Then Evie passes it to Zane, who has some soccer skills. It figures. All these guys are so athletic. But Reid and Slater get it back and score again in the next minute. I jump up and down and cheer. I eventually sit down inside the goal. The ball never even gets down to my end, which is just how I figured it would be. Zane and Evie aren’t bad together, but they’re up against Reid and Slate. Reid’s lanky and tall and a runner because of his sport, so he and Slater just keep them running. They end up scoring another goal, and I cheer loudly. Quint ends up switching with Evie, and I feel bad for her because there’s no way she’s stopping either Reid or Slater’s shots. Suddenly, for the first time in this game, the ball comes to my end. I stand up, feeling like I should at least look like I’m playing. I watch as Quint slide tackles Slater, taking him out. Slater shouts at Quint, but Quint ignores him. And then, it’s Zane and Quint approaching. Zane gets around Reid, and kicks the ball to Quint. Quint lines up and powers it into the goal. I move out of the way, so it doesn’t slam into me. Zane and Quint hi-five, and Evie runs over to join in the celebration.
Slater jogs over to me and stops in front of me, towering over me. “You do realize that the job of the goalie is to block the ball, right?”
I feign shock. “Really? I had no idea. Seriously, though. I’m so not getting in the way of that ball. I like my nose how it is—unbroken.”
“Want to switch?” Reid asks when he reaches us.
“Are you here to pick on me too?” I ask, but there’s no heat in my words. “Fine. Be the goalie. I’ll go play with hotshot here,” I say, pointing my thumb at Slater. I walk towards the center of the backyard.
“Are you ever going to just call me by my name?” Slater asks from behind me.
“While we’re playing soccer? No.”
When we get to the middle, Quint eyes me with a grin. “Look who’s finally ready to play.”
“You’re going down,” I tell him, and his grin widens. I turn to Slater and find him close.
“Want to make a plan?” he asks in a low voice, so Quint and Zane can’t hear.
I nod. “Sure. Here’s the plan. You get the ball, dribble down the field, and score.”
“I have a better plan,” he says, stepping closer.
I’m already shaking my head. “No. No. Slater Thorne, we have a good plan already.”
He continues anyway. “I’ll get the ball down the field. You line up, and I’ll kick it to you so you can score on Evie.”
He walks away from me over to where Zane and Quint are waiting. Evie’s back in the net. “Hotshot,” I hiss, but he ignores me.
“Ready?” he asks, looking at me.
“No.” He smirks, and then he’s off. With no other option, I race after him. I remember at the last minute to get to the other side of the field. I also remember why I hate running. He effortlessly gets around Quint. Zane almost gets it, but Slater is faster. Then the ball is coming towards me. It stops almost perfectly at my feet. I stare down at it a moment. “Kick it!” Slater shouts. And so I do. I kick it as hard as I can. I hear a whoop behind me, and I open my eyes. Evie is bending over, and it takes me a moment to realize why. She's laughing. Then Slateris there. “You scored.” He high fives me and then aks, “Did you close your eyes and kick?”
I realize that’s exactly what I did, and I don’t regret a moment of it. I lift my chin. “Yep, but it went in.” He shakes his head, and Evie joins us next.
“Oh, Tessa, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen.” She’s still laughing
“Hey, now. It went in,” I defend myself.
Evie grins. “It did. Good job.” I high-five her.
I turn to face Slater. “My job here is done. You’re welcome.” I start to walk to the sidelines, but he snags my wrist.
“Where are you going?”
I point to the house. “I’m done. I came, I played, I scored...I’m done.”
He grins down at me. “Come on; you’re not done. We’re on defense now.”
I groan when I realize he’s really not going to let me get out of this. “You’re a horrible person, Slater Thorne.”
