Page 31 of Meet Your Match
“Oh, we met Vince during rookie camp,” Lonnie answered for me. “He was walking back to his place after practice one day and we called him over, started chatting.”
“Yep. I told him how I set up outside of every home game with my bamboo roses for sale,” Mr. Pruitt said.
“And I told him how I play my bucket drums,” Lonnie added. “Before you knew it, Vince was inviting us up to his place.”
My jaw nearly hit the grass. “To… his place?”
“Oh, that was such a lovely day,” Nonna said all dreamy-eyed. “He let us all take showers, made us a hot meal, and even let us sleep in the air conditioning for a while. We made a big camp there in his living room.”
I blinked, sure I wasn’t hearing this right.
When I looked at Vince, he was chewing, silent, staring down at his sneakers with his cheeks a bit pink.
“I tried to convince him to give us a key, but…” Nonna said wistfully, a rascally grin on her face.
“Now, Nonna — if I would have done that, I would have woken up with you in my bed by now,” Vince said.
“And it would have been the best morning of your life,” she combatted.
He winked at her, and she pinched off a piece of her hashbrown and tossed it at him.
“Since then, we been friends, haven’t we, Vince?” Mr. Pruitt declared with a grin. “He comes by and says hello when he can, and Lonnie beats the drums extra loud when we win here at home.”
“I even painted his number on the side,” Lonnie said proudly. “Forty-one, baby.”
Vince looked at me then, lifting a brow.
He knew without me saying it.
He’d surprised me yet again.
“Excuse me?”
We all turned to look toward where the soft voice had come from, finding a woman with a young boy tucked into her side. She smiled shyly.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but my son is your biggest fan. He’d really love to take a picture with you, if that would be okay.”
Vince wiped the crumbs from his hands and stood from where we’d been sitting on a blanket. “Of course. What’s your name, little man?”
“I’m The Machine.”
Vince’s eyes shot up, and the boy’s mom let out a little laugh.
“His name is Matty.”
“But my teammates call me The Machine because I’m the best goalie, and no one ever scores on me.”
Vince bent down to Matty’s level. “Ever?”
Matty seemed a little unsure, looking at his mom, but then he smiled and shook his head. “Never.”
“Think you could come give Perry some lessons?”
Matty laughed at that, and suddenly he was shy, his cheeks a flaming red as he tucked behind his mom a little bit.
Vince took the photo with Matty alone before the mom handed her phone to Lonnie so she could get in, too. I took a video from behind them, scanning the whole park to show the clothes and food Vince had brought out.
But I didn’t post it, not yet, mostly for fear of fans swarming the park, but also a little because I didn’t want to.
