Mack takes the first snap, drops back, and launches a deep throw down field, hitting his receiver mid-stride.
“Beaumont scores! Beaumont scores!” the announcer yells into the microphone. The entire homestand crowd erupts in cheers. Three rows down my mother is on her feet hollering Mack’s name and pumping her fist in the air.
In front of us, Amelie jumps up and down, screaming her brother’s name. She’s got Mack’s number painted on her cheek and keeps looking at Josie and me with glee in her eyes. I give her a high-five and continue cheering.
“Did you see that, Uncle Liam?”
“I sure did.” I point to the mini-Jumbotron. Showing Mack’s face. Amelie cheers louder.
The other team takes over after the kickoff, only to march down the field and get stopped at the goal line. They have to settle for a field goal. Points are points and they add up as long as you continue to score.
It’s the second quarter and Josie points out Tristin, Teagan’s son. I quickly glance around for her and find her standing at the fence. She’s got the principal’s job tonight, which is half hosting and half crowd control, shaking hands with parents, running middle-schoolers out from under the bleachers, all while trying to watch her son play. And every time I go looking for her, she’s drifted a little closer to the sideline. The part of the sideline she keeps drifting toward has Nick standing on it.
“Yes,” I say under my breath and pump my fist.
“What are you going on about?”
I nod toward the sideline. “It’s working.”
“Nothing’s working,” Josie says. “Teagan came in the café today and Trudy overheard her asking if there were any social clubs.”
“What the fuck is a social club?”
Josie lifts her shoulder. “A place to meet people, I guess? I don’t know. Katelyn will be here soon; we’ll include her in something.”
“What if Teagan doesn’t want to hang out with a mom from school?”
“I’m the President of the PTA. She can meet me for coffee and if my bestie happens to be there, so be it.”
I nod, liking this idea, but then it hits me. “What if they’re not compatible?”
What if Nick is secretly pining for Josie?
I’ll kill him.
Josie looks at me. “I’ve seen her look at him during fundraiser meetings. Girl has stars in her eyes. It’s only a matter of the right interference. You need to do your part.”
“I tried!”
“Try harder.”
I look at her oddly. Why is Nick finding love so important to her? “Something’s fishy.”
She’s still looking at me and makes sure I can see her roll her eyes. Not once, but twice. “Whether you admit it or not, Nick’s your friend. You should want your friend to be happy.”
I stare at her for a long time and nod. She’s right. But friend is pushing it. He’ll never be more than my frenemy.
Tristin comes in and catches a short one over the middle and takes a hit that has Teagan on alert. She begins pacing the sideline, mirroring Nick’s steps. Josie’s right, it seems they’re just orbiting each other, and neither know how to make the first move.
At halftime Amelie and I go for hot chocolate. A man ahead of me needs to tell me about his knee, how the cold really bothers him, but he can’t miss a game and hasn’t in forty years.
“My Uncle Liam played then,” Amelie says. I bite the inside of my cheek and remember age is nothing but a number to her. I’m older, but not there yet.
“Yes, I remember him back in the day.”
Back in the day. That stings.
When we get to the counter, Amelie orders a hot dog, pretzel, a bag of chips, cotton candy, popcorn, and eight hot chocolates.
