Page 32 of Stealing for Keeps
“Oh.” His dark brows slant. “Shit. Claire, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Wow. You’ve been skating competitively since…forever.”
“Since I was six,” I say, then try to smile through it. “The break has been kind of nice.”
No, that’s total bullshit. Aside from sleeping in and having a laxer schedule, which admittedly has been nice, I’ve been bored out of my mind.
I loved skating with all my heart. It was all I ever wanted to do. And sure, it ate up all my time, but there was nowhere I loved more than being on the ice. Now it’s gone.
I still wake up every morning thinking about my routines and what I need to work on, and then seconds later, it all comes crashing back. Technically I will be able to skate again when the boot comes off, but not like before. The doctor warned me that going back to that level of intensity would just cause more injuries that would eventually compromise my everyday activities like walking.
Brandon nods slowly, his lips pulling into a half smile. “Yeah, I can see how that might be kind of cool. And hey, now you’ve got time to do lots of other fun stuff.”
The cheerleaders start yelling from the center of the field, Lacey’s voice clear through the others. I turn my attention to them. “Yeah. Exactly.”
Yes, lots of other fun stuff. I just haven’t figured out what that should be yet.
* * *
By the time the second half starts, my foot is tired from sitting in one position. I get up and walk over onto the grassy area next to the bleachers where the self-professed Knights fan club stands and cheers and, during normal games, razzes the other team.
A group of senior girls are giggling and talking about one of the guys on the field, only I don’t realize it’s Austin until he runs by us.
“I heard he dated a college girl back in Arizona.”
“A girl in my physics class said he was on the cover of some soccer magazine.”
“Sexiest Soccer Player Alive?”
They all giggle.
The desire to roll my eyes is so large, but then the people around us erupt into cheers and drown the girls out. On the field, Vaughn holds one hand up as his teammates rush to congratulate him on the goal. My attention goes to Austin. The look of annoyance on his face as he glances up at the scoreboard makes me feel for him. Vaughn is hard to beat.
In the final minute of the game, the white team is up by one goal. Even the people in the bleachers are on their feet. Nervous energy has me tapping my thumb against my thigh. It’s been so long since I competed, but I can feel that last-minute surge that I’d get just before I’d step on the ice. For a moment, I’m lost in memories of skating. The lights, the music, the feeling as I let go of everything and just lived for those few minutes where nothing mattered except the routine.
I swallow around the lump of emotions as I push away the likely truth that I’ll never get to do that again.
Someone grabs my arm, and I glance over as Lacey comes to stand beside me.
“Hey, I was looking for you.” She holds out a cone of cotton candy toward me. “Want some? I made it myself.”
Her happy grin loosens the sadness, like it always does. I don’t know what I’d do without her.
I take a handful, and we turn back to the game. She yells, “Go, New Guy!”
I hear someone else around us say, “Pass it to Disco!”
People seem to know and like him despite him having only been in Frost Lake for five seconds.
On the blue team, Eddie has the ball stolen as he tries to go around Vaughn to the goal. The crowd lets out an “Oooo.”
“Looks like that’s it,” Lacey says.
The words have barely left her lips when Austin comes out of nowhere and steals the pass Vaughn sends to one of his teammates. Everyone in the crowd goes wild. Austin dribbles, fakes around a defender, then another. It’s impossible to look away from him as he weaves through opposing players. He’s far enough back, and there’s just enough time left on the clock that they could probably set up another play, but Austin is headed toward the goal, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to pass off to anyone.
Vaughn catches up to him, and it’s like no one else on the field exists. I hold my breath with the rest of the crowd as they battle. I’m pretty sure Austin takes an elbow to the jaw, but he doesn’t back down. He fights back, pushing around Vaughn until he finally gets a clear shot and kicks it toward the goal.
I want to close my eyes, but I can’t. There’s no way that’s going in. I haven’t seen anyone pull something like that off except maybe Vaughn. My ex-boyfriend might currently be on my shit list, but his talent on the soccer field is unmatched.
Barrett jumps to the left inside the goal, but the ball flies just beyond his fingertips.
