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Losing them changed me.
Soccer helped me.
Right before they passed, I was able to secure a scholarship with the University of Miami. There was no way I could be anything more than the hand I was dealt, unless I found a way to get an education. It became my only focus.
The problem was, the closer I got to graduating, the less I wanted to play soccer. My mind kept thinking of jobs that involved my passion for facts. Like math. Equations weren’t subjective.
Coach was right, I wasn’t focused on soccer.
The game felt irrelevant.
A means to an end.
At least it had until Rhys showed up.
ChapterFive
Rhys
The girl was good.
Colin had given me game footage, per my request, and I spent every spare moment I had watching Ash play. I could see why he wanted her head back in the game, because when it was, she was unstoppable.
The volume on my phone was down as I watched a few more plays from the front seat of my car. Colin was still practicing with the team, and I had no intention of joining them until Ash was ready. I didn’t have it in me to face Rachel, or Hunter, head on again.
When I heard the whistle sound for the end of practice, I climbed from my car and leaned against it as I watched the team walk toward the locker room. Colin gave me a quick nod, a silent thank you for showing up again, and Hunter took a long hard stare at me, like I had punched his puppy or something.
Fucking tool.
On the field, Ash stood alone, twisting her body in stretches, getting ready for more work. Inadvertently, I bit my lip when I started walking toward her as I watched her move. My cock twitched a little, remembering how attractive she was, but I immediately reminded myself that she was too young to be fucking around. Even if her eyes had been calling to me like a siren.
Ash saw me in her periphery, and stopped, turning to place her hands on her hips, watching me as I approached her. My sunglasses were still on so she couldn't see the way I was running my eyes over every inch of her, getting one last fill before I had to let reality set back in.
Practice was going to be different now that she was no longer angry, no longer pissed. We worked well together, and she knew that now.
But when I took my eyes from her body and got close enough to see her eyes, I stopped walking, and tilted my head at her in question.What the hell?She looked ready to pounce, her green eyes beaded, and a small snarl on her lips.
She actually looked incredible, all fired up and pissy.Damn I really was crazy.
“What did I do?” I finally asked, breaking our intense stare down.
“You kicked me on purpose,” she seethed.
“I know,” I nodded, as if to say ‘duh.’
“I thought you kicked it at me and got lucky.”
The smirk on my face made her nose scrunch up, but she stayed still, waiting for my response.
“I meant to hit your ass too. That wasn’t luck either.”
She let out a sigh of frustration, and fisted her hands at her sides. “You piece of shit. I tried making you feel better, and less guilty. But you were so guilty!”
There was no way I could hold in my laughter. I wasn't sure what made her realize the truth in what I had already told her, but it was cute watching her trying to be indignant about it.
There was a ball near where I was standing, and I popped it into the air with my foot the way I always did. Once it came back down, I lined myself up and aimed for her shins, being mindful not to kick it as hard as I did before. No way was I leaving any more marks on her body.
At least not with a soccer ball.
