Veronica
The late summer sun warmed my skin as I kept my eyes trained on the field. Vinnie had coached football for as long as I could remember. Never had I been as excited to watch him in action as I was at that moment. Stella was balanced on the edge of her seat next to me, the excitement rolling off of her as well.
Out on the field, her daddy was strutting his stuff.
Vinnie had already given me the run down. Travis was good, but the scouts weren't sure about him yet. Whether or not he'd be able to get drafted before his senior year was yet to be seen. I was torn about it, myself. I'd follow Travis anywhere, but I had to admit that I'd developed a soft spot for Kelley. Wren and Travis were back for good now that we were so close to the semester starting. Laurel had loosened up a little—though her choice in clothes hadn't—and had managed to merge seamlessly into our little group.
I'd spent so many years struggling to make friends. It was a little ironic that the place I'd finally found my people was in a city known for being snooty and elite. Life was funny that way.
"The team looks really good, don't they?"
I turned to find Gabby walking down the stadium stairs to join me. She'd had a meeting about one of her books possibly getting turned into a movie. I hadn't been sure that she'd make it, even though Vinnie had adamantly told me she would.
"Your meeting is already over?"
"Not exactly." She laughed. "I told them I had somewhere to be, that they'd have to call me to hash everything else out. No way was I missing the entire first practice."
Technically, neither of us should have been there. Officially speaking, it was a closed practice. There were definite perks to being related to the head coach.
I'd gotten to meet John Kasey for the first time before the practice had started. When I'd introduced myself, there had been a knowing gleam in his eye that told me he already knew exactly who I was. He'd given Stella an equally warm welcome, baby-talking with her in a way that I hadn't expected from a grown man.
"The team looks good. I know Vin was worried about how they would feel about him coming in unexpectedly, but they all seem to like him."
"That's good." Gabby squinted out at the field. "I can't say I'm surprised, though. He mentioned none of the staff had many nice things to say about the last coach. I figured the players would feel about the same."
It was funny hearing Gabby be so knowledgeable about my brother's job. From the time I'd met her, I'd assumed she had no interest in what he did. I should never have judged her like that. Not only did she keep up with all the details of Vinnie's job, but she genuinely liked the sport, too. I wasn't sure if I'd ever met anyone who knew more about football than Gabby did. She probably could have coached the team herself if she'd wanted to.
"How was the first night in the new apartment?" My cheeks heated. "That good, huh?" She laughed.
"I missed you guys," I admitted softly.
"We missed you, too. I think it'll be good for the two of you to have some space. You can figure out your all's own way of doing things. It's hard to do that when you're stuck working around other people."
I knew exactly what she meant. It was something all of us had been doing. I'd been forcing Gabby and Vinnie to plan their lives around Stella and I. I'd been planning my life around them. Travis had been planning his life around the other guys in the football house. She was right, it was hard constantly having to figure out what other people's plans were.
That was why Travis and I had gotten an apartment together.
My parents hadn't been thrilled by the news that Travis was back around and moving in with me. Gabby had helped to smooth things over with them. She seemed to have a knack for it. In the end, my parents had offered to help us pay for the apartment. I think their guilt about rarely visiting had played a part in that.
"What did you decide about the art classes?"
I made a face. "I'm not gonna do it."
"Are you sure?" Gabby seemed surprised. I knew everyone had been guessing that I was going to cave and end up enrolling at the last minute.
"I'm gonna stick around at The Burgundy for a while. Hazel's been helping teach me to cook."
That time, Gabby made the face.
"I'm not that bad!" I protested with a laugh.
"If you tell me you're thinking about becoming a chef then I might have to stage an intervention."
"Gosh, no. I like working for Hazel, though. Much more than I like the idea of being strapped into a schedule of going to classes every day. I like art well enough, but I don't really want to make a career out of it. I'd like to go back to school at some point, but not until I've decided what I want to do. There's no use wasting money for me to get a degree that I don't even end up wanting in the end."
"I think that's smart. And hey, if you ever want to try your hand at writing romance novels…"
My cheeks flushed all over again. I'd gotten a sneak peek at the new book Gabby had been working on. It was absolutely filthy. There was no way I could sit and write something like that myself. It had given me some interesting bedroom ideas to try out, though.
"Wave! Wave!" Stella started shouting.
I glanced down at the field to find Travis and Vinnie side-by-side waving to us. Gabby and I both raised our hands to wave back. Stella had us both beat, waving both of her hands so excitedly that she nearly fell out of her seat.
My heart had never felt more full. I'd gotten everything I'd ever wanted.