Page 115 of The Puckable Playbook

Iz can barely keep a straight face, and Zaiah’s mom’s eyes light up.

“Well…” She walks forward, giving me a gigantic hug. “What you’ve done for Zaiah is incredible. I haven’t seen him skate like that in a long time.” Her words are muffled as she talks into my hair, but I close my eyes, soaking it in. “I’m sure he’s so thrilled to have you in his life. I know I am.”

When she backs away, tears well in her eyes. I swallow, keeping the emotion at bay that wants to bubble to the surface. Mr. James gives me a hug, too, patting me on the shoulder.

“Oh, I hope you two get married,” Mrs. James says, clapping her hands.

“Woah, Mom,” Iz says, giggling.

“What? You know you’ve thought about it, too.”

Iz leans down. “We’ve already picked out your house in the neighborhood.”

Nervous laughter bubbles over, a release of pent-up stress. Seeing Trish, the sheer panic I endured trying to get everything right tonight, keeping a secret from Zaiah—everything—it all washes away in a circus of laughter with Zaiah’s family.

I grin, and we all move into a big hug. Mostly, it’s a James family hug where I’m squished in the middle, but I’ll take it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Zaiah

Freshly showered,a staccato bass of exhilaration pumping through me, I emerge from the arena with Adam’s fist hitting me in the chest. He hasn’t stopped giving a play-by-play of our highlights. His rundown is a nice sort of chaos in my ears as I organize my own feelings. Happy. Excited. Exhilarated. Though, I wish Lenore had come, considering she set the whole thing up.

Plus, now I have to tell her that Trish showed up, and I’m really not looking forward to that. Despite those things, nothing could ruin this moment that’s four years in the making.

Adam cuts himself off. “There she is!”

He takes off, running in my path to the bus so I have to stop short. I don’t see who’s caught his attention until she’s hoisted in his arms and smiling down at him. Red-hot jealousy pierces my skin with the velocity of a blow dart, and I kind of want to punch him in the face.

A round of applause rolls through my teammates. Adam hikes her onto his shoulder, and they all start to chant, “Len! Len! Len!” Her smiling, happy face quickly dissolves intodiscomfort, and she bows awkwardly with a flourish of her arm. This only eggs my teammates on, and they reach up to high five her. I stand back, in awe of her and what she’s done. We have the momentum now like we’ve never had. Skills and gameplay were never the issue, it was the intangibles. It was getting eyes on us, and that’s exactly what she did.

She peers around, gaze flitting this way and that. I decide to put her out of her introverted misery, so I walk forward, the crowd parting for me.

“Relinquish the writer,” I tell Adam, reaching up for Len’s hand. “We might need her again.”

Adam drops her and then grabs her at the last second before her feet hit the ground. She blows out a breath, pulling her shirt down once she’s on her feet. The moment she meets my gaze, all of her unease melts away. “Relinquish, huh?”

“I thought my dictionary girlfriend might enjoy that one.”

“It was a bit Regency-era romance novel, too. ‘Unhand the fair maiden.’” She grins. “I loved it.”

My family moves in behind her as my teammates line up for the bus. My lips break into a smile. I hadn’t realized they’d all stayed.

Win or lose, I always receive proud statements from my parents, so it’s no different from before other than a fresh tinge of excitement in their voices, like they’re pleased to show off what they’ve always known. Or maybe those are my own thoughts cast onto them, but whatever it is, it feels amazing.

I squeeze all of them into a big hug, not letting go until my dad says they have to take off if they want to get home at a decent hour.

“Thank you for coming,” I tell them. “Always.”

Iz grins. “Just remember we were coming before it was cool.”

I muss up her hair, and if she could set me on fire with one look, I’d be burning right now. It makes me want to do it again, especially when she casts a sheepish gaze at my teammates.

Before I can tease her, Len says, “See you at home?”

I pull back on her arm. “Ride with us.”

She gives me a wary look. “Won’t Coach veto that?”

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