Page 27 of Ready to Score

“Exactly.” Lim had fists tucked underneath where her arms were crossed.

Whatever her feelings were for the other woman, Jade felt horrible for Lim in that moment. She was absolutely disgusted to hear what she’d been through. This career they’d chosen for themselves could be brutal on anyone, but when it was compounded with misogyny and racism, it could become downright violent.

“I-I’m sorry, Lim,” Jade said. And no matter how much she wanted to right then, she didn’t reach out and touch her. “You didn’t deserve that. You deserved for that guy to be taken care of the second he started singling you out.”

Lim caught Jade’s eyes, the look in them warm and appreciative. The palms of Jade’s hands ran as slick as her mouth. She swallowed.

“You’re right,” Lim said, her eyes following the line of Jade’s throat before flicking back to her face. “That’s why I believe in solidarity now. The more of us there are, the easier it’ll be to fight them.”

Jade looked away from the other woman’s gaze as a thing that felt suspiciously close to shame flooded her. It made its way slowly through her entire body until she was left with a chilly feeling all over. She didn’t know what to say in response. The humanity in her wanted to acknowledge Lim’s statement as correct, but the rest of her knew that all that hand-holding peace-and-love shit didn’t work. The stakes were too high to let her guard down over one sad story.

Weren’t they?

As a coach, she taught her players that good sportsmanship was imperative to being a good player. That didn’t mean they couldn’t get a little trash talk off from time to time or consider themselves the best in the game. It just meant that she was always there to remind them that they were only as good as their biggest loss. And those losses were inevitable.

This was different, though. Neither she nor Lim were on the field, fighting for the right to call themselves MVP. They were going after something that had the potential to change their lives. As women. As women of color. Trying to make names for themselves in this arena took an immense amount of drive and focus. It took a hell of a lot of grit and willingness to take it on the chin too. They were using kitchen knives to carve their names into institutions older and more solid than either of them could ever probably imagine. But the same stubbornness Jade saw in herself, she saw in Lim. That single-minded unwillingness to fold or give up, it was right there in the other woman’s eyes. And she’d be a fool not to recognize and respect it.

That didn’t mean she could fall into that well of respect, though. Not if she wanted to stay her course. Not if she wanted to win.

She hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to manufacture animosity for someone, though. Not for longer than the course of a game. Not while she saw and interacted with them so much. It made her shoulders tight and her abs ache. It was taxing.

But Jade figured that she could put their rivalry on hold for an hour or so while they finished their dinner. Then she could get right back to it.

“You should come out with us sometime,” she heard Miri tell Lim.

Lim flashed a look at Jade that she couldn’t quite decipher before offering Miri a small smile and a noncommittal maybe. Jade figured she wouldn’t be joining the girls for drinks and dancing anytime soon. She convinced herself that this was a good thing. Ignoring the thought of Lim in a pair of well-tailored dress pants, grinding against her beneath strobing club lights.

She took a bite of her patty melt to distract herself. Three bites in, she looked over at Lim, who hadn’t even gotten her drink order yet. Sighing with all the reluctance left in her body, she pushed her plate toward Lim.

“You can have some fries if you want,” Jade offered. “Until your food gets here.”

Next to her, she heard Miri suck in a breath. Normally, it went against every single one of Jade’s instincts to share food, even with her friends. She’d sooner give someone the clothes off her back than a bite of her sandwich. And here she was, acting completely out of character, for reasons she couldn’t even narrow down herself.

It was her turn to send a kick into Miri’s shin.

“Thank you,” Lim said, smiling at her as she ate a crispy golden fry, then licked the salt from her thumb before going back in for more.

Jade didn’t find it the least bit disgusting. Not even a little bit.

10

Port Royal Academy had a lot of money. It was evident to Franny the second they pulled up to the scrimmage game in two charter buses decked out with the burgundy and white of their school colors. The boys exited the vehicles in single file, already sporting their pristine uniforms, trying their hardest to look as intimidating as a bunch of adolescent boys possibly could.

The second bus held their parents. Largely a ton of white people with coiffed hair, pearls, and Vineyard Vines’ finest.

Franny supposed this obvious showing of wealth and privilege was supposed to spook them. But as she stood off to the side while the coaches shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, she couldn’t help but take note of Greenbelt’s side of things. Just about every child on the team had a parent or family member there to support them. Team parents made sure the snack table was well stocked. Their buses may have been yellow and their cleats may have been well-worn, but they were in damn good spirits. This team reminded her of what she loved so much about sports at this level. When it was still kids and families and community coming together to create magic.

She wouldn’t knock Port Royal for what they had. But those cushy seats on the ride over didn’t mean anything for their chances of winning. Greenbelt had too much to lose this season, betweenLandry retiring and trying to get a championship in the process and Jade and her clawing their way toward their dream jobs, not to mention the kids working their asses off to win. They had it in the bag, Franny could feel it. And it made her feel so excited she could hardly keep the grin off her face.

“What are you over here smiling so big for?” Landry had approached her stealthily, with Dunn right on his tail.

“We’re going to win this one, Coach.” Her smile didn’t break. “I can feel it.”

“For once, I agree with her,” Dunn offered.

Franny bit back the urge to say something snarky about how the other woman had agreed with her enough to share her food the weekend before. But now wasn’t the time. They were on the same team, and solidarity was necessary in times like these, with the real enemy breathing down their necks.

“Their boys are looking good this year,” Landry said.

---