Refreshing. So completely refreshing.
He picked at a blade of grass. “That sort of fast living doesn’t appeal to me. Not anymore.”
“But working with displaced children does?”
“Yeah, it does. For all the altruistic reasons of wanting to help, but for selfish reasons too.” He squeezed his eyes shut. Hopefully honesty wouldn’t shoot him in the foot. He liked this woman and wanted her to think well of him, but he needed to be truthful, too.
“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”It had been one of the first Bible verses he’d memorized. One he repeated to himself often when he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing or when his teammates were giving him a particularly hard time.
Amber rolled onto her side and created a triangle with her arm, resting her head on the heel of her palm. “What could be selfish about being here and serving?”
He avoided her gaze this time, instead staring at a lone dandelion growing along the sidelines of the pitch. “Being with the kids helps me remember. Sometimes with the lights flashing and the cameras in my face and some of the other aspects of the world of professional sports, I forget why I love football so much. But seeing their faces when they score their first goal, watching them develop confidence and work together as a team, I remember. I remember what being guileless looks like without all the lies and other stuff to muddy the waters.” He shrugged. “They give back to me more than I can ever give to them.”
Her gaze went to the ground. “I guess you could say I’m here because I’m running away. Or trying to find something. Or seeing if I have what it takes.”
His fingers itched to touch her. Push away the confusion and sadness that seemed to have blanketed her. Instead, he picked a few blades of grass and tossed them at her head. “That’s a lot of ‘or’s.” He grinned, hoping that lightening the mood would bring the glow back to her face.
She gasped then plucked her own grass to chuck at him. “Not all of us have everything figured out like you seem to.”
He laughed. “You’re further from the truth than Ben was from making that goal earlier.”
Her lips bowed in a small smile. “He was pretty far off, wasn’t he?”
“My sister could have come closer.” And she hadn’t touched a ball since the first year he’d played professionally.
“Don’t knock little sisters. They’ll surprise you.”
He gazed down at her. “You have no idea.”
A loud rumble filled the space between them. Amber pressed her hand to her stomach, her cheeks tingeing pink. “How embarrassing.”
Seth pushed himself off the ground and held out a hand to help her up. “You should have said you were hungry. Come on. I’ll introduce you to some great local foods. We can keep getting to know one another.
She accepted his help up but then quickly dropped his hand. Her weight shifted between her feet.
Seth tilted his head as he watched her. “Something wrong?”
She seemed to be having some sort of mental conversation with herself. Finally, she sighed, her fingers all tangled together in front of her. “Are you…”
He waited, but she didn’t say anything else. “Am I…”
Her fingers twisted. “Look, I know this is going to make me sound like a crazy person, but are you asking me to lunch as a friend, a coworker, or…as a date?”
Now it was his turn to shift his weight. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Why? Because I’m an athlete? Because you think I might make an inappropriate pass at you? Because—”
“Because I don’t date.” Her words rushed out, tumbling over each other.
He paused. “You don’t…date?”
Her head oscillated side to side.
“Like, ever? No one?”
The oscillating continued, although she added a smirk to her lips. “I told you I’d sound crazy.”
