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George treated all of us to dinner at a chain restaurant after Paxon’s victory in the second game. If I thought I had known what chaos was, it didn’t compare to what I went through as all the guys were unable to remain still, too pumped about winning.
Paxon was going to the finals tomorrow.
Even Justin felt better to join in on the celebration, but then again, with how Paxon and Toby were reacting, it was impossible to not get pulled in.
Toby would start up a chant, a moment later, joined by Paxon. Then Cal. Then George would make them all shut up before we got kicked out.
Not even two minutes later, Toby would do it again.
I only suspected our meal came out so quickly because the server was hoping it’d shut them up. It only kind of worked, but at least the chanting had stopped.
I put my phone down, done talking with Micah and the twins. They were with some other friends, going out to do something else before heading back to the hotel so I wasn’t worried about them.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Paxon after he had some time to eat.
Paxon’s contagious grin was an answer enough, but he still said, “Like I’m on top of the world. I never thought we’d make it this far, truthfully.”
“Everyone put in the hard work. Of course you would,” I said.
“Thank you,” he said, pushing his shoulder with mine. Then he turned to his food and finished devouring it. His food never stood a chance.
I thought he had ordered a lot, getting a pasta dish, chicken fingers, and fries. But he proved me wrong as he ate it all faster than I could eat my chicken sandwich and fries.
“No!” Bryan covered his food, glaring hard at Paxon.
I laughed. “Leave his food alone. Have my fries instead.” I passed over the rest of my fries. Paxon smiled with appreciation as he devoured those too. Only after he finished that did he lean back, relaxing in his seat.
“Everyone looked like they were having fun,” I said, not commenting on the obvious. In both games, while they were hyped and did extremely well, there was no doubt about the tension.
And it was clear that it was caused because of Benji’s presence.
Benji spent both games warming the seat for the most part. There were times when he was on the field, but once it became clear that his own teammates weren’t willing to pass him the ball, the coach pulled him.
That was how severe his situation was.
I had only noticed when Toby pointed it out to me. Benji was one of the starters, but it had been noticeable that people would rather risk not following their plan instead of passing him the ball.
And Benji visibly became more pissed off. He even faced off with one of his teammates—not Paxon thankfully—until the coach pulled him. Then he rarely went on the field and was ignored after that.
Outside of that, they killed it. And that excitement was holding them together.
“As long as we stay focused. Whenever we make it to the second day, it’s always harder—tired from today, lack of sleep, bodies sore.” Paxon was more than happy to talk about his past experiences in other tournaments.
“Which is why I have more snacks back at the hotel,” George said. “To help with your recovery.”
Paxon groaned.
“How are your legs feeling?” Toby asked.
Paxon’s response was a little too fast. “Perfect shape.”
“Lies,” Bryan called him out.
That led to teasing Paxon about being an old man.
The rest of the dinner was fun and then we headed back to the hotel.
As soon as I was able to check in, Paxon was swiping my key card. “Movie night in Cadence’s room,” he called out.
