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Cruz decided to come along, too, and we stayed at Levi’s place for the first game. It was fun hanging with my brother, and the only guy on my team that knew about Ash and Melanie. I could say whatever I wanted, and it felt good being so upfront and real about where I was in my life.
“You don’t even act the same as you did when you were with Melanie,” Levi noted. “Ash has you flying back and forth, making shirts, and carrying pom poms.”
I looked down at the pom poms in my hand. Maybe they were overkill, but it was my girl’s last tournament, and probably the last games of her soccer career. She had been emotional, saying she had played all her life, and didn’t know what it would be like walking away from the sport.
I reminded her she would always have soccer. Not necessarily a team, but I would go one on one with her every day if she wanted me to.
“Don’t start,” I pointed at him. “I used to fly back and forth for you too. James and I got super close when you were constantly fighting with Charleigh.” James was the pilot we hired to go to and from Miami. He provided other charters for other people, but Levi and I had him on speed dial.
“Let’s go,” Cruz came in from the bedroom wearing his specially made shirt.
Levi laughed and grabbed his keys, leading us to the door. “I’m only staying till halftime. I have to meet Charleigh at the gym. Y’all better have a ride to the airport.”
“Charleigh didn’t want to come to the game?”
“Tell me when you’re ready to introduce Ash to the family, and she will be here. Y’all are still kinda fresh. She wasn’t sure she should come.”
“This isn’t like before,” I told him seriously. “I want you both to meet Ash whenever you want. There is no pressure here. No agenda. No secrets.”
Levi nodded and licked his lips, understanding where I was coming from, and seeming happy about it. He opened the door and walked ahead of us, down to the street level where he had his car parked along the curb, being watched by the attendant.
We climbed in and he drove us the short distance to the university where the tournament was being held.
“It's colder here,” Cruz whined, not having spent a lot of time out of Miami.
“It's only sixty-five degrees,” Levi laughed.
“Trust me,” I backed Cruz up. “Your blood thins fast in the Miami heat. You’re never down there long enough to adapt.”
“Levi!!!!!” A girl screamed my brother’s name and his eyes widened in horror. “Rhys!!! Cruz!!!!”
A hoard of fans heard the scream and flocked towards us before we could get to our seats. We spent several minutes posing for pictures and signing autographs before security came and broke up the crowd.
“Why did they ruin the fun?” Cruz asked, shaking his head. “Don’t they know this guy is single and ready to mingle?”
“I think they were more worried about mob control, but I see your point,” Levi laughed.
We were able to get to our seats in time to see some of the warmup, but Ash never saw me. She was so focused on the game, and I took pride in knowing the four orgasms I gave her the night before probably had something to do with that.
When she stood for the national anthem, and faced the crowd. she finally spotted me. I looked into those beautiful eyes of hers. Even far away I could tell how bright they shone. If Melanie did anything right, it was passing those eyes to my girl so that I could always look at them like that.
ChapterForty-One
Ash
“Why is Rhys Peyton in the stands wearing a shirt that says, ‘Keller is Stellar?”
Coach was slowly walking to the sideline after the anthem with a look of confusion. I hadn’t noticed at first, but Rhys had shed his jacket and I could see what coach was referring to.
“He’s, um… “I tried to think of something to tell Coach, but I just kept smiling. Cruz was sitting next to him with a shirt that said, ‘Erin ain’t sharin’’ and I could barely look that way with a straight face.
“He needed the distraction,” Coach said plainly, finally answering himself. “The rest is not my business.”
I held a hand up to stop him, not wanting him to explain the conclusions he had come to. It was obvious that Rhys was there for me, and based on how I was reacting, it would be hard to deny that we were way more than friends.
“I guess we needed each other,” I shrugged and then ran off to take my position. It was the most accurate thing I could say. Rhys and I did need each other. We were both spiraling. With him it was his ex, with me it was life. I thought that the only thing that mattered were the goals I had, and reaching them, to set myself free.
In reality, like Rhys always said, goals were reckless. If all you ever did was try to reach those goals, you closed yourself off to the good things that came along the way.
