As if it wasn’t enough to let myself absorb the blowback from the concussion, the games I’ll miss, and the way Athletics is going to look at me after this, my parents are being beyond cordial. They’re treating this guy likefamily.
I try my best to channel ‘confused concussed woman’ while continuing to plaster the empty smile on my face.
Colt, for all his bluster, looks like he’s holding back panic when his eyes dart from me to my mom to my dad, the both of them, at least, waiting expectantly. ‘Well – I couldn’t impose—’
‘You wouldn’t,’ Papa puts in with a good-natured chuckle. ‘We’ve already known you for years, son, it’s no skin off our back to feed you a meal. It’s the least we could do. Clearly you’re beyond good for our daughter. It’d be our pleasure. No rush at all. We’d just love to have you come home. Back to where it all started, one might say.’
Damn it, Papa.
After all that, there’s no way Colt can say no. Shit. He blinks a couple times as if digesting everything he’s heard. Finally, he stutters out, ‘Oh, sure.’
‘Beautiful.’ Mumma finally loosens up a bit (the only positive to come out of this situation), giving Colt a relieved smile. ‘We really do appreciate you, Colt. Tell your mom and dad we’re so excited to have you back in town. They’ve raised you well.’
Theirony. I could laugh the bitterest of laughs at everything she says, but I hold it in till the hugs are exchanged all around and my parents leave us to excited team chatter about boyfriends and dinners and cooing over Colt’s gesture. ‘Don’t be a stranger, son,’ Papa even goes so far as to add. ‘Come round when you get the chance, alright?’Son?He’s gone all buddy-buddy.
I get the point. It was a kind gesture, Colt’s heroic run. But it was for the sake of the game plan. There’s nothing to coo about. Is there?
Coach Dillon hops up onto the PT table next to me, and instead of the same warm smile I’ve been seeing for the last hour from spectators and paramedics alike, she purses her lips, her eyebrows rising. ‘You know something, May?’
‘Know what?’
‘Well.’ She shrugs. ‘How do you feel about what Colt did today?’
I go slightly slack-jawed. ‘Coach. You know what’s going on.’
‘Oh, honey, it looks likeyoudon’t.’ She cuts her eyes towards Colt, who’s going all red and gooey amid a conversation with our defenders on the other side of the long room. ‘That boy could’ve taken a pretty severe penalty for running after you like that. You remember what the penalty is for being on the field, don’t you?’
Maybe, but I try not to let on. Instead, I swallow hard. Guilt buries itself in a pit in my stomach that I refuse to acknowledge.
‘Could’ve been finedthousands.Barred from our next few games. Even a subsequent penalty waiting for him in the MLL, sitting out a few games. But when he saw you out there …’ Coach shakes her head knowingly. ‘He didn’t do that to put on a show. I couldn’t hold him back. Didn’t listen to a word I said about the penalties. Just … ran.’
Coach waits for some kind of response, and I really can’t find one.
I scratch my nose, my biggest tell, a crack in my perfect poker face, and she laughs aloud. ‘Take a good look, May. You can’t hide from it for ever.’
Chapter Fifteen
Albuquerque
May
Ibusy myself picking out each type of cloud as they pass the windows by.Cumulus. Nimbus. Stratus.Jordan, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with clouds.
‘…reallyfamous football team, and maybe now, we’ll get to see some of the players at the game—’
‘Girl, you aretoomuch,’ Maddie hollers from the back of the bus.
‘Shut your mouth!’ shouts Jordan in return. ‘You don’t wanna see Ronny Casamento?’
Sounds of agreement fill the bus, and up front, Coach shakes her head exhaustedly. Beside me, in the aisle seat, Colt’s brow furrows. ‘Ronny who?’
‘RonnyCasamento,’ Jordan says with a little extra ‘oomph’. ‘Last year, when Albuquerque came up here for the yearly match, wemet him at this massive party Lambda Alpha Delta hosted. I thought Maddie was gonna passoutwhen he complimented her game. Sayin’ all these things about how she was scoring and then something real cute about her smile. Sheateit up. And him? He wouldn’t stop following her around like a lovesick puppy allnight.’
‘He’ll looove to see her again this year,’ Brianna jumps right in.
I can’t help but laugh. The lore around Ronny Casamento goes deep – especially because after the Lambdas’ Jungle Gym party, he followed Maddie on Instagram, and rumour has it they’ve been in touch over the past year, waiting for the next Albuquerque game to have their adorable little reunion. As it goes with all rivalry games, we alternate between away and home each year, and this year, we’re travelling to Albuquerque to play the Armadillos in one of our most anticipated matches of the season. I’d be more excited, but the eight-plus-hour bus ride and concussion protocol have kind of ruined the mood for me.
‘He’s guaranteed to be in pro football within the next two years,’ I point out, raising an eyebrow at Maddie, who’s got her quickly reddening face in her hands. ‘That’s wealth management. Capitalize on that while you got the chance, girl.’
