Page 55 of The Girlfriend Goal
"Thanks to your reward system. The sticker chart was genius."
"Thanks to your connection with him. He trusts you." She made a note, then hesitated. "Lance, about the scout thing."
"It's fine. My father is being handled. My lawyer sent a cease and desist letter this morning."
Her eyebrows shot up. "You have a lawyer?"
"My mom left me a trust fund. Part of it goes to legal fees for situations exactly like this." I watched Marcus successfully de-escalate a conflict over equipment. "She knew what he was. She made sure I'd be protected."
"Your mom sounds amazing."
"She was." I turned to face her. "You were pretty amazing too, at Thanksgiving. You were protective of me. No one's done that before."
"Well, someone should’ve." Her voice went soft. "You deserve people in your corner."
"As my project partner? I'm just trying to understand the rules here, Rachel. Because I know what I want. I've been clear about that. But you?"
"I'm scared, okay?" The admission burst out of her. "I'm terrified. Because this thing with you is not casual for me. It never was. And that's exactly why I can't risk it. I can't risk becoming someone who chooses a guy over her goals again."
"I'm not asking you to choose." I led her to the storage closet.
"But what happens when you get drafted? When you're traveling eight months out of the year? When I'm trying to build my career and you're building yours?" She clutched her clipboard like armor. "I've done the math, Lance. It doesn't work."
"Math?" I laughed, but it wasn't funny. "You've done math on us?"
"I've run projections. Statistical probability of long-distance relationships surviving professional sports careers."
"Stop." I pulled the clipboard from her hands, set it aside. "Stop reducing us to statistics. We're not a math problem."
"Everything's a math problem if you break it down enough."
"Fine. Then let me show you my calculations." I framed her face with my hands. "Number of times I think about you per day: constantly. Percentage of my future I can imagine without you: zero. Statistical probability that I'm falling for you: already happened."
Her breath caught. "You can't just say things like that."
"Why not? It's true."
"Because—" She stopped, eyes bright. "Because I don't know how to be brave enough for this."
"You defended me to my father. You're the bravest person I know."
"That was different. That was anger. This is hope, and hope is terrifying."
I pulled her into my arms, and she let me, burying her face in my chest. We stood there in the community center storage room, surrounded by soccer balls and jump ropes, holding each other like the world might end if we let go.
"We can figure it out," I murmured into her hair. "I know I want to try. Isn't that enough?"
She pulled back to look at me. "We should get back."
I kissed her. She melted into it, hands fisting in my shirt, and for a moment all her careful control disappeared. When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"Mr. Fletcher? Ms. Fox?" Marcus's voice from outside made us spring apart. "You guys coming? We're startingcapture the flag."
We emerged to find twenty kids waiting impatiently. Marcus took one look at our joined hands and grinned.
"Finally," he announced. "Me and the guys had a bet going. I said before Christmas. Tony thought you'd wait until Valentine's Day."
"You were betting on us?" Rachel asked, mortified.
