Chapter Eleven
Eryn
I was incredibly excited to be playing my first game as a starter for Florida State, but it was overshadowed with a bit of sadness and disappointment, too. The people I'd wanted most to be at this game to cheer me on weren't going to make it. Not through any fault of their own, of course, but the fact remained that their absence was noticeable.
My sister, with her family and demanding job, couldn't just fly across the country to come watch me play, and my mom had only just come out of the hospital and had to stay at home to recover.
The game was set to kick off in just under an hour, and I was warming up courtside when I heard my phone ringing in my gym bag. I went over to see who was calling, wanting to make sure Mom was fine and didn’t need anything.
It was my sister Anne, and I couldn't help but smile. “Hi, sis!” I said as I picked up the phone.
“Hey, Peanut!” she replied with her nickname for me.
“How are you?”
“I'm great, but more importantly, how are you?! Are you nervous?”
I couldn't help but smile; she sounded so happy and excited for me. “Umm. Yeah. A little,” I replied. “But more than anything, I'm stoked. I just wish that you and Mom were here to watch.”
“I know,” she replied. “I wish I was there, too. I just spoke to Mom, she said you'd been there earlier helping out. The timing sucks, and I'm really, really sorry I'm not there to help out with Mom. It's just with juggling the job, and the two little ones, and keeping up with the mortgage on the house, and all the bills-”
“I know, Annie, I know; you don't have to apologize.”
“But it shouldn't be all on your shoulders. I've been talking to my boss about getting a couple of days off soon. I told him about Mom, and he understands. Once I've finished up this major project we're working on, I'll be able to fly out there for a few days. Hopefully within a week or two.”
My face lit up. “That's great! I can't wait to see you! Just wish it could have been today.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Eryn.”
I spun around at the sound of Wade's voice and found him standing behind me. I hadn’t even heard him walk up.
“Is that your sister you're talking to?” he asked. “Don't worry, I wasn't eavesdropping or anything. I was just walking past and happened to hear part of your conversation.”
“Yeah, she just called to wish me luck,” I replied.
“I don't mean to intrude, but there is a way she can watch the game if she’d like.”
“There is?” I questioned.
“Does she have Skype?”
“Yeah, we talk on it all the time. But my laptop isn’t anywhere near good enough to capture the game in good enough quality for her to watch.”
Wade grinned. “Mine is, though. One of the perks of taking this job was a brand-new MacBook. We can stream the game to her in HD if she's near a computer.”
A huge smile took over my face. “Seriously?”
“Sure! Ask her.”
I turned my attention back to Anne. “Annie, are you near a computer now?”
“I am, yeah, why?”
“Turns out, you can watch the game on Skype! My coach said he'll set up his MacBook, and we can stream the game to you.”
“Oh my God! Yes! Yes! I'll get hubby and the kids; we'll all watch. And, I’ll try to get Mom linked in, too. Let me chat with your coach, and I'll give him my Skype details.”
I was super excited that my sister, and hopefully even Mom, would be able to watch my game. “Thanks, Wade; thank you so much!” I beamed as I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. I very quickly realized what I’d done, immediately released my grip, and took a few steps back awkwardly.
“No problem,” he replied with a smile as our eyes locked briefly before I looked away.
Staring at the phone, I handed it to him. “She’s going to give you her Skype info.”
Ten minutes later, he had his computer set up to stream the whole game live. That’s when the nervousness started kicking in; there were definitely a few butterflies in my stomach. I glanced over at Leena and saw the same anxiety on her face.
“Hey,” I said to her, “let's go for a jog around the court, try to clear our heads.”
“Sounds good,” she replied. We set off at a steady pace, breathing slowly and rhythmically.
“You nervous?” I asked.
“Uh…yeah,” she replied. “I didn't think there'd be such a big turnout.”
I glanced around at the stands, which were already pretty full. The crowd was bigger than I'd expected, too. I had thought only a handful of people would show up, but it looked like at least a couple hundred people, maybe more. I immediately wondered if our celebrity coach was part of the reason.
“Well, let's not worry about it too much,” I encouraged Leena, “and besides, most of them are here to cheer for us. With all this support, we're sure to do well.”
“I sure hope so. We need to win this game, we really do.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
Leena looked across the court at the girls by the bench, the ones who hadn't made the starting lineup. Tammy and Kelly looked especially upset. “Those two are definitely hoping we'll screw up,” she said, nodding her head subtly toward them.
“Well, let's not give them that satisfaction,” I replied.
“I don't intend to.”
We reached our side of the court, and the referee blew his whistle for the five-minute warning. The game was about to begin. Leena had been chosen to represent our team, and she walked across to the net to meet the Miami team member and the ref to flip a coin to see who would serve first. We lost the coin toss, so Miami elected to serve first.
My heart was hammering in my chest, and my mouth suddenly felt as though I could drink a gallon of water and it wouldn’t even quench my thirst. I couldn't believe how nervous I felt. I breathed in slowly and deeply as their server soared the ball across the net.
It was a good serve and could have been an ace if it weren’t for a pretty spectacular dive from Leena, who just scooped the ball up inches from the ground. The ball was passed across to me, and I jumped to attack it, sending it right to the back of their court.
Their captain dove for the save, but the player who received it fumbled, and it bounced out of the court. We scored! A surge of excitement rushed through me, and the cheers echoing around the hall from the crowd sent swells of exhilaration roaring through my veins.
Our players all high-fived each other, and the traces of nervousness seeped away. All it took was getting that first play out of the way. I was in the zone now.
We played hard and kept our intensity up throughout the first game, which we took very convincingly at 30 points to their 13. We took a quick break after the first game to have a breather and rehydrate. Leena got us in a huddle.
“We're kicking ass, girls; we're kicking ass,” she announced, and a murmur of agreement rippled around the circle. “Their defense is obviously their weak point. They lose points and are unable to defend every time we launch a strong attack. They're much better on offense, though, so we can't afford to let them get anything set up because, as good as our defense is, when they get a setup, they smash right through us. We have to keep the pressure on, and keep attacking.”
We all agreed, so for the next game, we arranged our positions in an attack formation. We'd weakened our defense, yes, and probably would lose a few points, but we'd win points far more quickly.
I was positioned on the net, and anything that came my way was spiked with merciless force right back over onto their side of the court. The roar of the crowd and the knowledge that my mom and sister were watching me and cheering was electricity in my veins.
Every time I would glance across at Wade to see that encouraging smile on his face, it added a whole new dimension. I could feel his eyes on me; feel his support and reassurance filling me with a new strength.
We took the second game by an even bigger margin. Our strategy was working.
Wade ran over to us as we dabbed at our sweat with towels and sipped on Gatorade.
“Girls, you are absolutely demolishing them! Yes! Hell, yes! Keep those attacks strong. You're breaking them under the pressure. You just need to take this game, and we'll all be able to go home early!”
I grinned; I couldn't remember when I'd last felt so charged, so exhilarated. We got back onto the court for the third game, and I had a strong feeling it would be the last one. I wanted to make this a totally decisive victory.
Again, we attacked with everything we had offensively, but I put just as much effort into defense. I dove and saved at least two strong shots from them, turning them into points for us. They were fighting back hard, though, and we lost a lot more points this time around. Eventually, it came to a match point; we were on 29, they were on 28.
They sent a strong serve over. Leena blocked it, and another team member set up an assist, bouncing the ball over to me for a spike.
I sprang into the air and made it seem like I was about to smash it with comet-like force across the net, which had their defense diving in anticipation…except I didn't. Instead, I merely brushed the ball with my left hand so that it just cleared the net and dropped softly to the floor. It was a perfect ruse – and it had just won us the game and the match.
“Game and match to Florida State University!” shouted the ref as she blew her whistle. The crowd went wild, and my team congregated into a big, excited group hug.
Wade ran over too, high-fiving all of us, with a huge smile beaming from his face. “You girls did it! You did it! Well done, well done, I'm so proud right now, so proud!”
I was proud, too – of my teammates, of my best friend, and, of course, of myself. It was an amazing moment, one that I knew I'd remember always.
“Girls, I'm taking you all out to lunch, right now, to celebrate. Go get showered and then we're going to get pizza!”
*****
I said goodbye to Leena and the rest of my teammates, and then walked over to my car, which happened to be parked next to Wade's. I was still on a high from winning the game. I got in, turned the key, and after a few seconds of what sounded like the motor whining at me, a series of clicks tapped over and over. I tried it again. Same result.
Still, I refused to let this put me in a bad mood. Not after the awesome day I’d had. Just as I was about to try it again, Wade came walking along to his car after having said his goodbyes to some other members of the team.
“Hey, Eryn, is something wrong?”
“Well, I think it’s dead,” I replied jokingly.
“Hmm, try it again. Let me take a listen.” I pushed forward on the key once more only to me met with another series of clicks.
“Yeah. Sounds like your battery died. We'll have to get a new one; without it, this car isn't going anywhere.”
“Well, crap,” I replied. “Is it too late to get one now?”
“I’m sure we can.” He glanced at his watch. “The auto parts place should still be open. Come on, we'll drive over and see.”
Thirty minutes later, we were pulling back into the parking lot of the pizza joint with a new battery in tow. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you missed your calling as a mechanic,” I told him teasingly.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about changing careers if this coaching thing doesn’t work out,” he retorted.
“Don’t you dare!” I exclaimed and bumped my shoulder into his as he tightened something around the new battery he’d just installed under the hood of my car.
“Thanks, by the way,” I said. “I really appreciate you coming to my rescue once again. I really wish there was some way I could repay you.”
I glanced over at him as he turned to look at me with the heart-stopping gaze that I kept getting caught up in. Our eyes locked with an intensity that coursed through every nerve of my being.
“A kiss would go a long way,” he said in a soft, velvety voice. “That’s how it’s done in the movies, right? Hero gets a kiss?”
He said it as a joke – except that it wasn't…and both of us knew it.
“I like the sound of that,” I whispered.
I felt his fingers wrapping themselves around my hand as he pulled me closer to him. My pulse quickened, and heat began spreading through my body. On some level, I knew this shouldn't be happening. I knew that he knew it, as well, but somehow, that didn’t stop the pull toward each other. It couldn't stop it.
His hand tangled itself in the hair at the base of my neck, and he pulled me to him. Seconds later, our lips were pressed together, and his tongue began to explore my mouth, slowly and gently at first, and then I felt fire and heat rushing through me as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as the kiss grew heavy and passionate. I ran my fingers through his hair and felt his strong arms pulling me tight against him.
I felt his hands run down my back as we kissed with more and more intensity. Waves of pleasure whistled through my body as I pressed myself up against his hard, muscled torso.
His hands moved further down to wrap around my waist, pulling my lower body against his and making me very aware of his member starting to throb as it hardened, pressing against my belly.
We parted from the passionate kiss, both panting softly. I didn’t know who stepped back first, but suddenly, we were standing apart.
“Wow,” he gasped. “That was...just wow. That was pretty damn amazing.”
“Yeah,” I replied, also trying to catch my breath. “It really, really was.”
“I’m sorry, Eryn,” he said, “I know I shouldn’t have done that. I was out of line.”
His words said one thing, but the way he was looking at me screamed that he wanted to do it again. And, I wanted him to. But I couldn’t say that. Could I?
“Yeah. Ummm…probably not a great idea. Was it?”
We both stood in silence for a while.
“I need to go see my mom,” I said suddenly, a nasty awkwardness creeping through me. “I'll talk to you later, okay? Thanks again for the ride to the store.” With that, I got into my car as quickly as I could and drove off, a huge storm of conflicting thoughts and emotions raging within me.