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1
Cruz
The ball went flying through the air and I jumped with all my might along with everyone in the penalty box. We were a swarm of bodies, sweaty, dirty, and desperate to win this game. It was the final one at this prestigious soccer tournament and we’d played many hours for four days straight to make it to this point. An elbow slammed into my rib and a cleat whacked my calf, but I hardly felt a thing. The ball was coming right at us and I twisted my body, using my height to edge in front of the defenders surrounding me. The side of my forehead connected with the ball and I sent its momentum in the direction of the goal.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the goalie lunge for it. My feet landed back on the ground with a couple of bodies crashing into me, but the cheers from the sidelines told me I’d hit my mark. It was the final seconds of overtime, and the ref blew the whistle at that exact moment. We’d won the game, the tournament. As Spike and Bodhi, two of the other top players on New England Elite, helped me up, it wasn’t the win that sent a surge of satisfaction through me. It was the look of respect on my teammates’ faces. Four guys in particular who I needed that from.
Bodhi threw an arm around my shoulder. “Nice work, man.”
His twin Emmett, who’d sent the pass, jogged over and went in for a bro hug. “I knew you’d get that, Cruz.”
Spike was there with a fist-bump and nod. “Badass.”
Moody joined us with a low five. “I hope someone got that videoed. I need to watch that go down in slow mo. There were six of you going for it and you got past all of them.”
It was the respect from these guys, the four best friends who’d let me into their group, that hit deep. I’d do just about anything for it.
My eyes shot to the sidelines and my grin wavered a beat. There she was. Hazel Ross. Fresh off the field from her own tournament win, I could only guess. Hazel never lost, and she stood now with a ball at her hip, all tough and confident. She had to know I wasn’t the only guy staring, but her eyes were on us. She was part of our group, and I’d been the outsider. With the way I caught her looking at me sometimes, I’d wondered if she’d felt threatened by me, but no, that wasn’t Hazel. She wasn’t afraid of anything. And these guys would never push her out of the crew. Hell, they’d probably die for her if it came down to it.
“Yo cuz, how many?” Bodhi, her cousin, called out to her.
She held up four fingers.
Emmett jogged over and swung her around. As her cousin, he could get away with that kind of outward affection. Hell, even Spike and Moody had known her long enough for that. But it wasn’t only that I was the newest to the group that held me back from pulling Hazel into my arms to celebrate our wins. If just a sharing a smile with the girl sent electricity through my veins, full body contact might start a fire.
Or at the very least, clue in the guys just how bad I was crushing on our girl.
Hazel
“Is that drool?” Bodhi snickered from beside me in the hot tub.
I whipped my head around and glared at him, which only made him laugh.
Cruz Donovan was walking across the hotel pool deck in black boxer briefs. That’s it. Okay, he was holding a hotel towel in one hand, but it was all my fantasies coming to life. If my stupid cousins weren’t in the hot tub with me, that was.
By the time the awards ceremony happened, it was easier to just spend Monday night at the hotel in New Jersey and hit the road back to Defiance Falls, Massachusetts in the morning. It was Memorial Day, so we’d only miss a half day of school Tuesday morning. In the final weeks of eighth grade we weren’t exactly learning much anyway.
Cruz turned to toss his towel on a chair and I got a little glimpse of his backside.
“Definitely drool,” Emmett confirmed and I kicked him in the shin under the bubbles. “Oww,” he whined.
Cruz stood over the hot tub now and I tried, I really did, to pull my eyes away from him. But he was practically naked, and he’d filled out this year, looking more like seventeen than fourteen years old. He was almost fifteen actually, with a late summer birthday.
I mean, his body was the perfect specimen of athleticism. But his face, that was what nearly killed me. The boy was simply beautiful. So gorgeous, it was almost shocking in its intensity. He took his time stepping in, adjusting to the hot temperature.
“You guys got the room keys?” he asked the twins.
“Yeah, I got one,” Emmett said. “Nice suit, man.”
Cruz smirked and his cheeks turned a light shade of red. He was only up to his knees in the water now so I could only guess he was blushing.
“Forgot my suit. Where’s everyone else?” He started easing into the spot beside me and butterflies took flight in my stomach. It was a little disappointing though, because now I couldn’t look at him as easily.
“Spike and Moody are coming down,” Bodhi answered. “But I think everyone else headed home. At least on our team. Any girls on yours stick around tonight, Haze?”
“Sounded like most were hitting the road.”
“Good thing we’ve got your dad and a minivan then, huh?” Cruz asked, brushing his shoulder against mine as he lowered himself all the way in.
