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“I’ll give you that one.” Sawyer tossed the ball back at me. “Good luck, ladies.” He sauntered off without another word toward the woman who might finally capture his heart. I needed a Dr. Pepper right about then, you know, for the carbonation to make my ill stomach feel better. I really needed to get myself together and get over him. Maybe I should start looking for a new job now. Metallurgists were in high demand, especially female ones since there were so few of us. I could basically write my own ticket.
I would have to think about it later. I had to focus on my girls. We went through our series of stretches and then we ran several drills for dribbling, passing, and shooting agility. It didn’t take long before it was time for us to take our side of the field where her highness Gwendolyn was already set up as if she was laying on the beach in Monte Carlo. I was waiting for Mario to start fanning her. Thankfully, some sanity awaited me in the form of Aspen, my friend and mother of Chloe, our fabulous goalie. Aspen would have been the perfect assistant coach as we were former teammates back in the day, but as a single mom of a preteen, she was busy trying to make a living working at the bank and going to school so she could get a promotion. Aspen’s road hadn’t been an easy one, but she was a fighter and an amazing mom and friend.
The always well put together Aspen, with tresses of golden brown, hugged me tight. “Hey, girl. You ready for today?”
“Always. Our girls are looking fierce today.”
Aspen pulled me a little closer and whispered in my ear, “Who’s the blonde with Sawyer?”
It took everything I had not to look their way. I’d already noticed them front and center, chatting cozily. Miss Shelby was a leaner and was practically in his lap. I guess she was getting the deluxe tour. I took a deep breath and let it out. “Her name is Shelby and she’s the new office manager at the eye center.”
“Looks like she’s managing something this morning,” Aspen remarked.
Unfortunately for me, my friends knew how I felt about Sawyer. I may have been a little exuberant when he first asked me out. It wasn’t often I was asked out, especially by sane individuals, so I’d celebrated prematurely. There had been several conversations since on why he never asked me out again. My friends kindly thought it was because my mother had passed away and then his evil mother put the moves on my dad, but I think deep down we all knew why. It was me, plain and simple, because I was plain.
“They make a pretty couple,” I responded.
Aspen leaned away from me with her narrowed emerald eyes. “Are they seeing each other?”
“Not yet, but from the looks of it, it won’t be long.”
Our eyes both darted to the two of them laughing in the bleachers.
Aspen rested her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, Em.”
I shrugged and plastered on a fake smile. “What for? I’m happy for him. He deserves someone like Shelby. As far as I can tell, she’s sweet as can be.”
She pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. “I’m here for you if you want to talk.”
I gave her one more quick hug. “Thanks, girl, but I’m good.” What other choice did I have?
Back to my girls. Twelve reasons to make me smile. It was time for my motivational speech and the chant we had made up and shouted before each game. We gathered around in a circle, arms wrapped around each other, heads leaned in.
“All right, my little warriors. You need to accomplish three things today. The first and foremost is to have fun. The second is to be your best. Remember, your best isn’t the same as anyone else’s. And third, learn something new on that field today. Study your teammates and opponents, learn from their successes and their failures. But remember, you only truly fail when you give up. And I know my girls aren’t quitters. Are you ready to go out there and take command of that field?” I shouted.
“YES!”
“Who are we?”
“THE PINK LADIES!”
“What does P stand for?”
“POWERFUL!”
“What does I stand for?”
“INTELLIGENT!”
“What does N stand for?”
“NIMBLE AND NICE!”
“What does K stand for?”
“KICK BUTT!”
Yep. Kick butt. That’s what I was going to do. I had a feeling it was going to be painful because it was my own that needed the kicking.Chapter FiveI was still living off the glow of yesterday’s soccer match, but the closer I got to Carrington Cove, the more I felt the light being sucked out of me. It didn’t help that I kept getting flashes of Shelby touching Sawyer any way she could yesterday. You know, those little flirtations and touches that say all you have to do is say the word and I’m yours? Shelby was skilled at them. Her delicate hand resting on his chest or playful pats on the arm. And man, could that woman lean. Sawyer invited me to have lunch with them and continue the tour, but I passed on account of I liked to enjoy my food and seeing them would only upset my stomach. And you know Dr. Pepper would have been involved. Knowing my luck, it would have gone down the wrong way again and there was a good chance it would have come out my nose.
