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“Are you sure you want to believe Freddy?” he asked, slickly moving the ball again so that I couldn’t reach it. “He’s not exactly the most reliable source, you know?”
“Yeah, well, I think he might be right about this one,” I said, reaching for the ball with my foot and missing it again. “You wouldn’t dump me in the mud.”
He laughed, the sound of it was as sweet as lemonade on a hot summer’s day. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!”
This time, I was ready. Zane faked right and I darted for the left. The ball landed in front of me and I went to kick it to my teammate coming up strong. But Zane was quick. He dodged me again and stole the ball back. I tried my best to turn and chase him down, but the mud was too slick. With a surprised shout, I landed flat on my rear, staining my floral tunic and leggings, and watched as Zane sprinted toward the goal and made a beautiful scoring shot.
So much for him taking it easy on me.
Freddy doubled over in laughter as I glared accusingly at him from across the field. He beat his chest with his fist and his laughter turned into a coughing fit. It was slightly humiliating, but what was a girl to do? Not give up, that was for sure. Pushing myself off the ground, I brushed off the mud as best I could. I wasn’t going to let Freddy or any of the other guys on my team down.
And I had a score to settle.
“Doing all right there, Makeup Girl?” Zane asked as he jogged by me. He looked me up and down, eyes glittering with humor while he took in my mud-soaked attire.
Showoff. I wrinkled my nose at him and brushed him off. “Doing great, thanks. Next time, you’ll be the one going down.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asked from behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to see him standing just two feet away. Biting back a smile, I nodded. “Yep. I may not be a sporty girl, but I’m as competitive as the rest of them. Just you wait and see.”
“Can’t wait...friend,” he said in a low voice, before jogging away.
I watched him go, feeling utterly hopeless at the sight of his muscular calves, spattered with droplets of mud, and the way he ran his fingers through his hair. I would’ve stared at him all day, too, if my gaze hadn’t landed on Janelle sitting on the sidelines. She was watching me, that old condescending look on her face. The sight of her was enough to lurch me back to planet Earth and away from my totally not-like-a-friend feelings toward Zane. With a shake of my head, I turned to refocus on the game.
The more we played, the more I realized how much I’d missed out on by refusing to participate in sports. From an early age, it had been dance and makeup and anything girly for me. Sports seemed like nothing but a modern day gladiator spectacle. But now, I could see the appeal.
It was fun to steal the ball, to push past an opponent and race them toward the goal line. Of course, I didn’t get to do it very often. All of the guys were athletic as I could get out. With their lean muscles and quick moves, I didn’t stand much of a chance. But when I got the opportunity, I took it. And near the end, I could tell that I had nearly as much mud on my face as the rest of the guys. My makeup was probably a wreck.
And for once—I didn’t care.
Zane had the ball again. He ran with long strides toward the other team’s goal, making it look easy as he bypassed my team. If he wasn’t such a brilliant actor, I would’ve said he should go into soccer. He was clearly athletic and talented. And as he tripped up Freddy, making him splay hilariously face first into the mud, it left only me to stop him from advancing.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Zane asked as I ran up on him. “Your team is already getting trounced. Do you really want to sacrifice yourself for one last goal?”
Jutting out my chin, I wiped a bit of mud off the side of my face. “Always. We Blacks go down fighting.”
He flashed me a quick smile and then moved the ball to his other foot. “I knew that was one of the other reasons I liked you.”
I glanced quickly around us. No one was within ear shot. Zane had left the rest of my team dead in the mud. They were all wiped. And no one remained close enough to hear his sweet words.
“You know, sweet talk gets you nowhere,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m not going to take it any easier on you just because you’re cute.”
My heart stuttered a bit. Maybe I was crossing the lines flirting with Zane, even if everyone else was out of earshot. But Zane just tilted his head back and laughed.
“Can’t say I didn’t try and warn you.” He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Ready, Lexi?”
“Are you?”
I wagged my eyebrows and he laughed again. But as he was distracted, I lunged toward him, doing the only move I remembered from my dad’s attempts at self-defense classes for me and my big sister. I hooked my foot around his and leaned my bodyweight into his, just enough to get him off balance. He went down in a tangle of limbs, sending mud flying everywhere.
The ball was free!
Out of the side of my eye, I could see Freddy and the other guys cracking up at my moves on Zane. Still, I didn’t let that distract me from the soccer ball as I dribbled it down the field with my feet. No one tried to stop me. And when I closed in on the goalie, there was only me and the mud and the squelching noises my feet made as I kicked it as hard as I could. It flew over the goalie’s head and through the trashcans. Goal!! With a cheer, I threw up my hands and celebrated my team’s 10 to 3 loss with my first and only career score.
“Not bad, Makeup Girl,” Freddy said, coming up behind me. Laughter still danced in his eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the image out of my head of Zane Rees getting trounced by a girl half his size. Pure gold. Thank you for that.”
