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“Wow, this actually looks good,” Emily says.
“You mean you don’t miss the stacks of five-dollar pizzas our high school would give us?”
She gives me a venomous look, probably remembering the time she got food poisoning from one of those pitiful yearly parties and how we refused to eat thereafter. She’s right, this looks a million times better than what our old school ever served.
The room is filled with muffled chatter as everyone eats their dinner. There’s a nervous energy as we wait patiently to send off the seniors and hand out the awards. I pick at my food, trying not to look for the only person I want to see.
The air changes and I know he’s walked in. I stiffen in my seat as Emily glances behind me.
“Girls,” his deep voice rumbles over my head, fingers swipe across my back as a hand grips the back of my chair.
“Hey, Coach. You just missed the food,” she says.
His soft chuckle washes over me, heating my entire body as I remember that sound whispered against my skin. I tilt my head to look up at him. His green eyes sweep over me, a flash of arousal darkening them.
“Sage.”
“Hey,” I say weakly.
His lips curl, a secret pass that he knows he’s affecting me. “How do you feel about the season ending?”
“Lost,” I tell him honestly. Emily laughs, thinking I’m joking, but Fallon’s face falls. He understands I mean it and in more than one way.
“Harris!” Coach Amber calls for Fallon, waving at him to join her on stage. His hand slips to the back of my neck, squeezing it gently once before walking away.
I watch him before turning back to my uneaten food as Coach Amber begins to thank everyone for coming and lists out the sponsors of the department.
My side prickles with awareness and I turn to look at Emily, who is staring at me.
“What?”
Her usual jovial face is tight with a guarded seriousness. “Nothing if you don’t have anything to say.”
Bile rises in my throat. I haven’t told anyone what happened between Fallon and I, not even my best friend. And I wasn’t sure I ever would. “There’s nothing to say.”
She nods slowly. “Anymore? There’s nothing to say anymore or nothing to say ever?”
I face back to the stage, tuning out whatever speech our coach is droning on about.
“Does it matter?” I mutter.
She doesn’t answer, turning to watch silently next to me. It wasn’t like I wanted to withhold this from her, but what was the point now? We were over before we actually ever began. And there was only so long that I could be the only one fighting for us. He made his stance perfectly clear till he asked me not to date Alex, and then he muddied the waters. He hasn’t done anything since his birthday present, so I’m not sure where we stand.
The rest of the presentation is a blur as I fight back the desolation I’ve become familiar with over the past few months. Emily waves in front of my face, grabs my attention, and nods toward the stage. I turn back to Coach Amber stepping back, and Fallon is grabbing something off the table next to them and moving behind the podium.
He clears his throat, looking at the award in his hand for a second before facing the audience. My heart skips a beat when his gaze catches mine for a brief second before he looks away.
Fallon leans forward on the podium. “This award is for a player who has not only grown expeditiously this year, but inspired her fellow teammates to do the same. This is a player who met every obstacle with determination to overcome it. I’ve had the privilege to watch this player not only hone the skills we all knew she had, but blow our expectations out of the water.” He pauses, winking at the crowd because of the pun and a few pitying chuckles ring out around the stage.
Fallon locks eyes with me again. “This is a player who I saw a lot of myself in. Someone I believe has what it takes to not only bring this team to championships every year they attend, but perhaps grant this school their first Olympian. It’s been an honor for my first coaching job to contribute to someone with the magnitude of talent that she has. Please join me in congratulating Most Valuable Player Sage Peters, not only for her exceptional performance this year, but her All-America First-Team selection.”
Applause erupts around me, but I can barely breathe. Tears stream down my face, my nose stinging as I try not to let the sobs escape my throat. Emily nudges my shoulder to stand, and I look at her crying face. My legs are shaking as I walk to the stage, reaching Fallon’s side.
He gives me a soft smile before handing me my award.
I cradle it to my chest. “Thank you… for everything.”
Fallon swallows, his eyes misting before he looks away and nods. I don’t wait for him to respond as I make my way back to the table quietly. There isn’t much more we can say to each other in a room full of people. I set the heavy glass award before me, running my finger over where my name is engraved.
