Page 31 of Halftime

I opened my mouth but couldn’t answer.

Cooper shook his head. “When are you two going to admit you’re more than friends? It’s not like I’m the relationship guru, and even I can see it.”

I felt blood rushing to my cheeks and wanted to punch Cooper. I didn’t need him digging around in my head. The phrase ignorance was bliss? I was a fan of that one.

“She’s not interested, Cooper.”

He shrugged. “I call it as I see it.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t see everything. You don’t know her story.”

He didn’t answer. He looked at me for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, try to get your head into our game, because we need a win, too.”

We got our win, and I did manage to keep my focus on our game for the last two periods. I still checked the women’s scores after each period and was just as happy that Faith got her win. Not a shutout, and I knew I’d hear her moan about that for a day or two until she let it go.

I tamped down Cooper’s comment in my head. Faith and I were friends, and I wasn’t going to do anything to mess that up. Faith trusted me now, but as a friend. I didn’t know if I would ever convince her to try dating me again, certainly not now. Now, we were still building trust. I couldn’t even let my mind consider whether my feelings for Faith were crossing that line. I needed plausible deniability. Fuck Cooper and his calling it as he saw it.

I needed to keep my libido under control. I was just out of a relationship with Holly. It would be too messed up to rush into asking Faith to try again. I’d told Holly I didn’t break up with her because of Faith. I didn’t want to be a liar. I wasn’t sure if I wanted more with Faith, but I didn’t want to lose what we had now. It was easier not to think about it, because then I couldn’t ask for more than I could get.

9

Faith

Life had improved. And if I was totally honest, a lot of that had to do with Seb. I couldn’t say for sure that what he’d said to Coach had changed her mind about that first day. But I was getting to start every other weekend. I knew I was playing well. My teammates knew it too and were happy.

The other freshman goalie, Vash, was my roommate on the road, and we spent a lot of time together. I knew I was better than she was, but for the team to do well, she had to improve. I spent time working with her at practices, above and beyond what our coach did with us, and I think that helped Coach Cray’s opinion of me as well.

I wasn’t being altruistic or trying to impress Coach. If our team were to get to the playoffs, we all had to be at our best. If Anders or I went down, Vash would need to step up. Every game might affect our position in the playoffs at the end of the season, so it was only smart to make sure she could fill in when needed. Vash herself hadn’t warmed up to me, but right now I needed to focus on my relationship with Coach Cray.

School was finally making some sense. Seb had helped with that. He’d helped a lot with Professor Warner, and somehow, learning to do well with her had translated into my other classes as well.

My roommate, Penny, was still working on my makeover. After that first party where I’d let her choose my clothes and do my makeup, she’d decided I was now her project. I didn’t think I needed a makeover, necessarily, but I did like exploring more girlie things—clothes and makeup, which was what Penny was into. I’d never had a girlfriend like her before. We spent time together when I wasn’t away at games or practicing, and she wasn’t busy with friends. The cross-country guy hadn’t lasted, but now she’d found a basketball player.

I was bonding with my team and hanging out with Seb a lot. I finally felt that college was going the way it was supposed to. Like it did in the movies or on TV. I played on the weekend and recorded my first shutout against a good team. I’d gotten a B on a psych paper this morning, and Seb insisted we needed to go out for pizza to celebrate. I was on board for that. Living in the WE res meant that I normally followed a strict eating plan. I knew that was good for me, but once in a while, I could afford to break the diet. I’d had pizza at the hockey house, drank a bit at the occasional party, and I was still playing at my best. I could handle some Tito’s pizza.

I was almost ready to go. Penny was critiquing what I looked like even though this was only pizza with Seb when my mom called. Penny’s basketball player was coming over, so I grabbed my coat and stepped out of the room, heading down to meet Seb while answering the call.

“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

I stopped moving when she told me.

* * *

Sebastien

I got to Faith’s residence a little early, looking forward to pizza and time with Faith. We hung out all the time now, but not usually just the two of us. Her roommate was around if we were at Faith’s dorm, and the hockey house was always packed with people. Unsurprisingly, Faith got along well with the guys. She was friends with all of them and would tease them, play video games with them, and dissect our games with them. It was a gang hang, unless there was a party somewhere else, and then we were with the guys at that party. The team didn’t go out a lot. We kept things under control enough to play well. It was all about balance. Coach would probably balance the scales a little further away from the party side, but as long as we were playing as well as we were, he didn’t ask questions, and we didn’t tell.

I was enjoying the year the way I’d hoped I would. And now that Faith had shown up and we had cleared the air between us, it was even better. Except for the girlfriend part. But it was probably good that I was single for a bit. I hadn’t met anyone who’d made me want to change my status since Holly.

“When are you two going to admit you’re more than friends?”

I’d been trying to forget Cooper’s words, but they popped up every now and then. Faith had agreed to being friends, so I was being the best friend I could be with her. I didn’t get to see her on weekends, because when we had home games, her team was away. And when she was home to play, we were away. That took care of weekends together until December, since we didn’t have any breaks in our schedule.

If we didn’t travel far, whichever team was on the bus would get back on Saturday night and be free on Sundays. Faith and I would get together then to study or play or just hang out. And we had weekday evenings. And sometimes lunch. Basically, anytime we could make it work.

If Faith gave a single sign she was up for more, I suspected I’d have her in my arms without a second thought. So much for plausible deniability. Cooper had blown that. I just couldn’t risk what we did have. She was my best friend. She knew my shitty family history, and I knew hers. We shared a love of hockey, which right now took up almost all our free time. After two years of dating, we understood each other.

That was big for me.

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