Page 57 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
“Very official,” Calahan said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Oh, very,” she agreed. Calahan met her gaze, and she laughed. This was obviously not the World Cup; it was just for fun. But Theo took it very seriously, and she knew that he loved whenever she came to watch him play.
Lavinia drew her attention away from Calahan to look for Theo, who was warming up with the other players on his team.They were all wearing black T-shirts and shorts, while the other team was wearing gray T-shirts and shorts.
She gave Theo a big smile and waved. His face lit up and he jogged toward her, smiling—until his gaze shifted to Calahan beside her. His brow knitted together, something dark coming over his expression.
Theo slowed his pace, walking over. “Hey,” he said, the word flat.
“Hiya!” she replied, going over to hug him with her coffee-free hand. He hugged her back with one light hand, his shoulders stiff. “Who are these guys?” Lavinia asked. “Have you played them before? Give me the rundown.”
Theo usually explained the other teams and their stats to her: which players were good, which were bad, how many games they had won, how many they had lost. Today, however, he was quieter than usual.
“They’re not bad,” Theo said. He looked over his shoulder. “I should probably get back.”
Her heart sank. “Oh. Okay.” She took a breath, forcing a smile. “Have fun!”
“Good luck,” Calahan added, and Theo jogged back onto the field.
Once the football match began, Lavinia’s attention was focused on the field. Calahan tried to chat with her, but she didn’t really respond; she was so invested in the match.
She loved watching Theo play. It was one of the few times he was wholly stress-free, similar to how he got when he was baking. He simply enjoyed himself without worrying or thinking too much.
Though something was off. Usually, Theo was pretty goodat the sport, but today, he was all over the place. As the game continued, Lavinia wondered if he was off his game because Calahan was here.
Maybe it had been a bad idea to invite him.
A little while later, Lavinia finished her mocha, and she walked over to the garbage can to throw out the to-go cup. As she was walking back, she saw Theo had the ball on the field, and he was running.
She cheered. “Go Theo!”
He weaved between players, growing closer to where she was standing by the opposite team’s net, and Lavinia’s heart rate picked up with excitement as she watched him play. She whistled with her fingers, hooting as he got closer and closer.
He took the shot—and scored!
“YES!” she screamed, jumping up and down. “WOO!”
For the first time since the game began, Theo smiled. He ran straight to her, and before she knew it, he had scooped her into his arms, hugging her.
“Ew, stop,” she shrieked, “you’re so sweaty!”
He hugged her tighter, his sticky skin pressing against hers as he picked her up off the ground. He spun her around, and she screamed, laughing. Theo whooped.
“Okay, okay, get back to your match,” she said, hitting his shoulders. He set her down and ran back to the field, looking over his shoulder to flash a crooked grin her way. She felt like she was floating, and she skipped back over to Calahan.
“He scored!” Lavinia said, smiling wide. Calahan furrowed his brows ever so slightly.
“I saw,” Calahan said. He looked a bit surprised by howshe’d reacted, and she calmed down a little bit, realizing how obnoxious that had probably been.
Calahan hadn’t seen her so hyper, especially since most of their dates took place at the university library. It was true that she could be loud with Saphira at the cafe, but that had been back when Calahan didn’t know her that well, and then Lavinia had started working less at the cafe anyway, and so had Saph.
Lavinia felt a little self-conscious, then, and she fussed with her hair, letting it fall out from behind her ears to cover her warmed cheeks.
They continued to watch the game, and a little while later, Theo scored again.
He immediately looked over to see her reaction, but this time, Lavinia didn’t jump up and down or yell. She just clapped, smiling widely at him.
Theo frowned, and she knew he had noticed her toned-down reaction. She willed him not to say anything about it. She couldn’t be that obnoxious with everyone, anyway.
