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“Going to her game?” Cruz whistled. “Sounds serious.”
“How the fuck is it serious? I just met the girl a week or so ago.”
“But you’ve fucked her, and when you spend so much time together, it’s easy to think it’s been months. Hell, you've probably seen more of Ash this week than you did Mel all of May. Remember? You kept telling me how she had to do this or that, or we had an away game, or—”
“Are you done?” I bit at him, not wanting him to keep reminding me of my ex. It was like he had a hard on for bringing her up and making me squirm.
“Yeah. Let me grab my things, I’m going with you.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. Because as much as it's no one's business who you sleep with, it's going to discredit Ash if everyone finds out. If we both go, you look less like a lover boy and more like a spectator.”
I wasn’t sure his logic was sound, but once he said that being with me would discredit Ash, I practically blanked out. That was not what I wanted for her, so I nodded toward the car and told Cruz to hurry up.
We bought tickets at the gate like anyone else and sat as close to the field as we could. When we got settled, I immediately scanned the field for Ash, wanting to see her in the final minutes of her warmup.
She was with a red head, laughing and bouncing a ball from knee to knee. The red head was shaking her legs out, twisting her neck, and stretching her back out. She seemed less relaxed than Ash, and I snickered under my own breath at how I loosened Ash up the night before.
When the redhead bent over to touch her toes, Ash scanned the stands. She was looking for me, and my chest puffed out a little waiting for her eyes to land on mine. When they did, her lips quirked but her eyes didn’t linger. They went right back to the redhead and I slid my sunglasses down from the top of my head to cover how long I stared.
Cruz leaned back in the seat next to me, relaxed. I could tell he was scoping out both teams and enjoying being in the stands of a game instead of on the field. There was no way I could lean back. I wasn’t as relaxed. I had my elbows on my knees, my fingers steepled in front of my lips, and my eyes zeroed in on Ash.
Then I saw Hunter, walking up to her with his drill sergeant stride. He was wearing slacks, a polo shirt, and a hat. Trying too hard to look like the head coach, but I hated him for some reason and that may have skewed my observation.
Ash didn’t seem worried. Hunter was telling her something and she was just nodding along. When a whistle blew, Hunter and Ash both started jogging side by side from the field and down toward the end of the bleachers.
The soccer stadium wasn’t much bigger than a high school football stadium. It shared a parking lot with the practice field and the locker rooms were in between. When it was time to leave the field, they didn’t go under the stands like we did, they went around and out toward the separate building that housed their lockers.
I kept my eye on her as long as I could, and right before they disappeared, Ash shot me one last glance and smiled. She knew I was probably wondering what Hunter was saying, sitting up there being tense. Not until that smile did I lean back in my seat and relax.
Taking a deep breath, I wiped a hand down my face and confessed to Cruz. “I hate that guy.”
“I can tell,” Cruz responded without even having to ask who I was referring to.
“He freaks Ash out.”
“Probably because of you. Colin has you stomping around his turf and he has no idea why. He probably just thinks Colin doesn’t have faith in him when in reality, Colin was just trying to give you something to do.”
“Maybe. But he needs to be careful and not give me a reason to beat his ass.” At this point, I was willing someone to give me a reason to throw my fists.
“Let me know and I’ll help.” Cruz was that kind of friend. He teased and busted my ass, but he was loyal and loved his friends. Without question, I knew if I wanted to beat someone’s ass, he would jump in head first and ask questions later.
The game started with Ash at left wing, my same position. We had talked about the fact that we played the same position, but seeing her in action was different. She owned that side of the field, and her left foot kick was unmatched by everyone else. I was so fucking proud, watching her focus and dominate.
It was different than watching her with me, because against me, I was able to keep control over her more often than not. But against her teammates and opponents, I could see why Colin wanted her in top form. She was a head above the rest.
By the seventy-minute mark, Hunter pulled her from the game and the trainers came over to tend to her. They stretched her out and made sure she was good before leaving her to watch the rest of the game.
There was so much pride swirling around my heart for Ash. I played no part in her being as good as she was, that was all Ash Keller. All she needed was to refocus, and every athlete went through that from time to time.
“Damn.” Cruz had been chatty as the game went on, cheering and getting into it with all the fans. But at the end, he sat there and watched as the teams shook hands and started their way off the field. “That was intense. Ash is good.”
“She’s amazing,” I muttered.
Right before she was behind the bleachers, she glanced up at me and smiled. “I’ll take a ride share home. You go get your girl.”
“She’s not my girl. Just a little fling.”
