“It’s good to see you’ve still got your A-game,” Leah says. “All the focus on schoolwork didn’t kill your skills.”
“We’re sorry for giving you such a hard time,” Hayley says, frowning. “We just didn’t want to lose our games. We didn’t want to loseyou.”
“It’s completely selfish. We know,” Dominica adds. “But it really feels like a huge piece of the puzzle is missing when you’re not on the field with us.”
My heart bounces in my chest. Not that long ago I couldn’t string two sentences together in front of these girls. Now, this feels genuinely amicable.
“Maybe we can hang out outside of practices and games?” I suggest. “There’s a sequel to Katarina and Jeremy’s movie now streaming.”
Leah smirks. “You watch those movies?”
“I can’t get enough,” I gush.
Dominica nods. “I’m down.”
As we move off the field, Coach gathers us for a celebratory pep talk. I hang in the back so no one sees how Coach looks at me. We still haven’t announced our newly found connection to everyone. First, we had some tests done to confirm what Mom wrote. Thankfully, she was right.
I still haven’t called him dad, but I love spending extra time with Coach. He has come over to our house for dinner a few times. The next step will be for me to spend time at his house. I just haven’t been ready yet.
After the paternity test confirmed everything, we had a meeting with Principal Harvey to disclose our relationship. Even if the rest of the school is in the dark, Coach’s boss needed to know in case something slipped and went into scandal territory. The principal was weirdly sympathetic to everything. He even reminded Coach of the privileges given to children of alumni and faculty.
Coach wants to pay for my tuition. Aunt Maddy and I feel weird about it. Mom kept the fact he’s my dad a secret because she didn’t want to seem like she wanted his family money. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. Coach insists he can help because heismy family.
It’s moot at the moment, because my scholarship is intact. Oh my gosh, am I relieved! I’ve never felt more pride than reading that letter to Aunt Maddy, discovering all my hard work studying is paying off.
When the team disperses after Coach’s talk, he steps up to me as casually as possible. “Hey, kiddo. Good game.”
I grin. “Thanks, Coach.”
“Do you need a ride to the cafe?”
I shake my head and nudge my shoulder to the right. “No, I’m good. Kai’s here to drive us over.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it,” he replies. “Good luck with the catering job today. Is Maddy still stressed?”
I roll my eyes. “Oh my gosh, yes! I refused to let her come to the game because she’s been such a basket case. David’s at the cafe to keep her calm during food prep.”
Coach chuckles. “At least she’s got a good man by her side. Speaking of which, your boyfriend looks eager to see you. Everything’s still going well with you two.”
My smile grows tenfold. “Never better. Milo is amazing.”
“You’ve really evolved as a person since spending more time with him,” Coach says. “Milo too. You’ve really helped him come out of his shell.”
I lean in and hug Coach in the most subtle way possible. “Thanks, Coach.”
Coach wishes me luck for the rest of the day, and I make my way over to Milo, Kai, and Tabitha.
“Good game, James!” Kai cheers, greeting me with a fist bump.
I thank him and move on to Milo, whose hug I’ve been dying for.
He kisses the top of my head. “You were amazing.”
“Did you keep up?” I joke.
Kai laughs. “Barely. I had to keep him focused on the game rather than his essay outline on his phone.”
“I can’t blame him,” Tabitha butts in. “Sitting through an entire game is tough.”
