I rolled my eyes, but her little comment made the edge of my mouth tug up.
Emily shifted closer and took Zara’s hand between both of hers, squeezing it. “Listen to me,” she said gently. “You’re supposed to stand out. Every great athlete does. The trick isn’t trying to be like everyone else. It’s figuring out how to be exactly who you are — and using it to wreck your competition.”
Zara snorted.
“Now go get back out there and show them what scrappy looks like,” I said. “Your team needs you.”
Zara grabbed her helmet off the grass, a little more fire in her eyes as she stood. She nodded her thanks to me and Emily both before I blew my whistle at the end of the play, calling for a timeout.
I huddled the team together, gave a little speech about digging deep when we feel defeated, and how this game wasn’t over yet. We were down by ten points, but that didn’t mean we gave up. There was still time to win.
They looked determined and fierce when I jogged back to the sideline, and when they pulled off a first down, Emily cheered loudly next to me as I whooped and clapped my hands.
We shared a look.
And then Emily picked up her pompoms and shot me a wink over her shoulder before sashaying away.
“Maybe we’re a better team than you think, Boss.”
Emily
“You know, we were released from this event an hour ago,” Marcus commented, arching a brow at where I was packing up my bag. His eyes drifted to the family I’d just been in conversation with, and he lifted a hand in wave before his attention was back on me. “I volunteered to be on cleanup crew. What’s your excuse for staying late?”
“Masochism?”
“Sure, because you look so tortured at the moment.” He smirked, crossing his arms. “This is your thing, isn’t it?”
“Staying late? No.” I stood when my bag was zipped, tossing the strap over my shoulder and heaving the heavy sonofabitch up. “Actually, very unlike me, so don’t get used to it.”
“I meantthis,” Marcus said, gesturing to the emptying field around us. There were just a few staff members left milling about now, but the energy from the jamboree lived on. “Giving back. Community events.” He paused. “You shined today.”
I narrowed my gaze. “All right. What do you want? This is far too many compliments in a row.”
“Stop deflecting, you little brat.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and then sighed happily, looking around the field. “It’s not all community events. I just… I really got to know some of the girls here today, and I guess I saw a lot of me in them.”
“How so?”
“They feel like they don’t fit in, like they don’t belong. And they don’t realize that’s their strength.” I let my gaze linger on Marcus for a beat, hoping he caught the little edge in my voice, a reminder that being different wasn’t a weakness. It was a super power.
Marcus’s eyes softened, and the corner of his mouth ticked up as he turned to walk with me toward the parking lot. “That’s sweet, Em.”
Like I did any time I talked about myself in a non-self-deprecating way, I shifted with discomfort, desperate to get the attention off me.
“Besides, we got to ogle the hot football players up close. Whowouldn’tbe happy after that?”
“Do I have any dried drool at the corner of my mouth?” Marcus asked, thumbing his lip as he jumped in front of me like I was his own personal mirror. I shoved him off with a laugh, the conversation turning to our next practice and the impossible dance we were currently learning as we exited the field.
The train was to the left, which was where Marcus was heading and where I should have been, too. Darcy had already headed out, and we had plans to shower, order from the vegan restaurant we loved, and curl up on the couch for the rest of the day.
But to the right, Braden Lock stood next to an old, silver Toyota Camry — which currently had smoke drifting up out of the hood.
“You coming?” Marcus asked, pausing where he’d been headed for the train.
“Go on without me.”
My feet were already moving toward Braden, and when Marcus’s eyes flitted to where I was heading, his smile turned devilish.
