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Aubree and Tommy jump up and down. “Me, me, me!”
He goes to leave, and Tommy follows him, of course. Anywhere Dad goes, Tommy goes. Their connection is so special; it melts my heart.
I sit back in my stadium chair and pause for a moment to really take everything in. Being back feels so weird. As I look around, I hardly recognize anyone. I guess being gone for twenty years means the people around here have changed. I laugh when I realize, when I was last here, every student currently enrolled wasn’t even a thought in their parents’ minds.
That fact alone makes me feel very old.
I sigh, only to look back to the field, and have my entire body cover in chills as he comes into view.
Of course, I knew he’d be here. He runs the football program after all. I just didn’t know how I would react to actually seeing him.
He’s two hundred yards away, yet my chest becomes so tight that I can hardly breathe. I want so bad for him to turn around and see me, yet I’m terrified if he does. Twenty years is a long time to go by, especially when we left the way we did.
I know he knows I’m here—hell, there’s an actual section saved for me to sit in. On the field, he’s exactly like my father was, and there isn’t one part of tonight that he didn’t have a hand in.
I’m staring at him, not able to move my sight, when he finally turns and our eyes meet.
Nothing but all the love and heartache we both experienced flies through my mind as I suck in a quick breath and close my eyes.
CHAPTERTWO
Summer Before Freshman Year
“Do you think just because you’re a player now, you don’t have to help me?” I ask Aaron with my hand on my hip and my eyes wide open.
He mimics my pose playfully. “Maybe you should have planned ahead so you wouldn’t need my help.” He’s trying to act dramatic, but the grin on his face gives him away.
“Then, maybe you can go home and not come over until everyone else does,” I volley back.
He nudges me with his hip in a way that says,Move over, and I hand him the box of Bagel Bites so he can set them on the tray I have ready for him.
This has been our Thursday night routine for as long as I can remember. There’s only been three stable things in my life—my dad, football, and Aaron.
Since we’re only a few months apart, we’ve spent all our free time together for as long as I can remember. We fight like brother and sister sometimes, but over the years, he’s been my one true constant friend. He’s the one person who knows me more than anyone else—even though, sometimes, that is held against me for sure. But I know him the same. I guess that’s how life goes when you grow up next door to each other.
Being the daughter of the head football coach, I’ve been around football players my entire life—not just on the field, but also in our home.
My dad wanted to create camaraderie among players when he first started coaching, so he invited the team to our home one Thursday night when I was just a baby. It was such a success that here we are, still holding the weekly event fourteen years later.
They literally take over our entire home. In one room, we have the video games set up, and in another, we have kids tutoring other players. Then, everyone eats in the kitchen. It’s become such a tradition that it’s not uncommon for players who have already graduated to randomly stop by on a Thursday night because they know we’ll be here.
This is Aaron’s first year as a player though.
He’s been coming over Thursday nights for years to help me with the chores associated with the night, especially after my mom passed when I was nine. I don’t want to say he stepped in to take over her role because no one could ever do all the amazing things she did on a daily basis until she got sick, but having him here definitely makes the entire night easier.
Summer practices officially begin this weekend, so even though we haven’t started our freshman year yet, he’s officially a Mac High Bulldog football player.
I know it’s something he’s dreamed of ever since the first time he saw everyone come over to our house. He didn’t really know what football was back then, but over the years, my dad and these players have taught him what it means to be a player and to play for Coach Z.
When he turned eight and joined the Junior Bulldog football team, I knew he’d play for my dad eventually. It’s every guy’s dream in this community—to play under the lights at the Mac High football games.
Sometimes, I wonder if he keeps hanging out with me the older we get just to get close to my dad.
I get the feeling my dad looks at Aaron like the son he never had, and on the flip side, I know he looks at my dad as the dad he never had. He has been raised by a single mom, and my dad has taken him under his wing in more ways than just football.
I guess it’s the same way with his mom, Debbie, and me. She’s the one who first helped me when I got my period and who takes me clothes shopping when my dad has no interest at all in going to the mall.
Really, our families are lucky to have each other live next door.
