Brady and I shared a look before he crouched down to chat with the pint-sized thief.
We eventually got Addie subbed in. She was pretty good once she had a position and knew which way the offense was moving. But it didn’t make a difference in the final score. True to the girls’ warning, the Vultures scored in the last two minutes of play. They beat us 3–2.
While the girls dragged their feet over to the sideline, their disappointment was short-lived. Brady went around the circle of tired bodies and found a compliment for each one of them. And then Bonnie showed up with her cooler, and no one on the Brookline team seemed to remember that they’d lost this morning.
Bonnie passed out orange slices and packs of Goldfish crackers along with a Gatorade for each kid. She took the time to chat with her students and their parents. She checked in on Jamie to make sure she was really okay after that hit. And I overheard Bonnie telling Tori how brave she was to play in goal. The shy girl preened under her teacher’s praise.
Eventually, Bonnie made her way to me as the kids surrounded Brady and Mac, giving helpful play-by-plays and asking if they were married.
“Tough loss, Coach,” Bonnie said around a small smile.
“This may come as a surprise, but I’m not actually very competitive. I’m just hoping to survive the season.”
Bonnie laughed, and like clockwork, her hand came up to cover her mouth.
I wanted to tug her fingers away and lace her hand with mine. Press a kiss to those smiling lips.
“Thanks for coming,” I said instead. “You didn’t need to buy snacks for the whole team.”
Her brown eyes drifted over to the girls, smiling softly. “I know. I wanted to do something special for their first game.”
I wondered how many times Bonnie had gone out of her way to make someone else feel special. Was there someone who did that for her? Or did everyone in Bonnie’s life take her for granted the way her husband had?
Silence settled between us, and I thought about asking her what she was doing tomorrow. If she wanted to take a drive with me. I knew the weather was supposed to be nice, and the thought of her on the back of my bike with her arms wrapped around me was a welcome one. I wouldn’t mention the fact that I’d picked up another helmet for her.
But then I started second-guessing myself, wondering where I thought this thing with Bonnie was even going.Reboundwhispered in my mind again, and I nearly flinched. I thought about that khaki-clad principal who’d stared at her longingly and would probably be a much better match. I wondered what I could possibly have to offer that might be good enough for someone like her.
“Well, I’m going to pack up and head home,” Bonnie eventually said. I’d been too busy wrestling with my own cowardice to keep up with the conversation.
We shared a long look, and I knew she was giving me a chance, a moment to step up and say something—do something. Ask her out or whatever people did with women they couldn’t stop thinking about. Women they’d recently kissed.
But I allowed time to stretch, unfurl itself and pull taut.
I cleared my throat. “Thanks again for coming.”
The moment snapped like a rubber band.
Bonnie nodded to herself, giving a resigned little smile that said,Well, at least you tried.
And I almost reached out and grabbed her hand.
But instead, she tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear and walked away.
Gritting my teeth, I watched until the team bounded up, surrounding me in a halo of light blue and friendship bracelets, asking for high fives before they left. Several of the girls’ moms came up and introduced themselves.
I tried to casually peek around the women to see if I could find Bonnie. Maybe I could stop her, tell her I’d text her later. Or maybe?—
Gia’s mom boldly reached out and squeezed my bicep, drawing my attention to whatever she was saying. When I looked over her shoulder again, I found Bonnie at the edge of the sidewalk watching. When our eyes caught, she quickly looked away and hurried to the parking lot.
I sighed, leaning away from the woman’s touch. I managed polite conversation with the rest of the parents, and I avoidedflirty smiles and uninvited touches, hating that Bonnie had seen that.
And hating that I hadn’t been brave enough to ask for what I really wanted.
The bar was busy that night, and I was on the schedule to close. The kitchen had already run out of buffalo chicken flatbread, so I knew it was going to be a rough one.
Around ten thirty, I was changing the keg for the raspberry chamomile hard seltzer when Kayla came up and asked me if I’d take the customer at the end of the bar.
“Does he need to go?” I asked, washing my hands behind the counter.
