Love on the Sidelines: A Small Town Sports Romcom

3. Ava

This week is not panning out how I thought it would. First Brooke called off her wedding and then I sliced open Charlie’s eyebrow with a plastic ball, followed by the news that Gran won’t be out of the rehab center as soon as we thought.

It’s killing her not to be in her own home and able to cook in her own kitchen, but I need her to be safe when I’m away at tournaments. I’ve already asked our neighbor if she can monitor her for the weekends I’m out of town.

But there are other things to worry about, like today’s lacrosse practice.

We can work on some plays we”ll need for the tournament this weekend, and there is always a healthy dose of running involved. I might even join them today to get my workout in and to challenge them. I”m not sure why, but every girl likes the chance to one up me as her coach.

”Ava,” a familiar voice says. I turn to see Marsha, mom to one of my more talented players, Sarah.

”Hey Marsha. How are you?” I”ve been so involved in all the things lately, mostly the implosion of my college roomie”s relationship, that I”ve been a little behind on keeping up with minor details. Which is another reason Marsha is the one who keeps all the balls in the air for this team.

”I”m good. I hope you will be too after this conversation.”

Sometimes I forget that I”m old enough to be an adult. All the responsibility should just be with the actual adults, not the ones like me who still haven”t adjusted to the fact that I have to be an adult. I live with my grandma, who is on a fixed income, so I pay most of the bills, but that eats up my paycheck really quickly. That’s enough adulting for me.

Marsha has been a great asset, because she gathers up all the fees and pays for the tournaments. One less thing I have to do and it allows me a lot more time to help the girls.

”What”s wrong?” I ask. I scan the field for Sarah, hoping something didn”t happen to her. Marsha”s daughter is my best player right now. With the competition we”ll face this summer, I”m going to need her in the best shape possible.

”Okay, hear me out,” Marsha says, placing her hand gently on my arm. It”s like she thinks I”m going to turn into a feral animal with whatever she”s about to reveal.

”I”m good. Just tell me what you need.” I”m not the best with surprises. I once accidentally whacked my dad in the face with my hand because I was so startled by a surprise birthday party. He ended up with a broken nose.

I still wonder if that was the tipping point for why they took off and left me at Gran’s. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but the brain likes to spin theories at random times, and that’s a suspicion I’ve considered a lot over the years.

Marsha takes a breath and says, ”I got an email from a guy who just moved to town and he has a daughter who”s this age. He”s hoping you”ll give her a chance.”

”That”s a relief. I thought you were going to say you”d set up a date for me. As far as the player goes, that”s a no. We already have our team. We”ve been working hard the past few weeks and it wouldn”t be right to add someone this late.”

Marsha bites her lip and I know there”s more.

”So, I figured you”d say that. I”ve already chatted with the rest of the parents and they agree we should give the girl a chance.”

I”m not really sure how to deal with that information. ”You went behind my back?” I should be furious, but I”m slightly impressed by her negotiation skills. “What would make them okay with adding one more to the roster, taking playing time away from their daughters?”

”Well, he”s offered to cover all the tournament fees, as well as the accommodations for the girls. It”s an offer we can”t refuse.”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I think about this. Some guy comes in and throws money around and expects to get the royal treatment. He’s definitely not someone I can trust.

In college, I’d dated a guy who came from a wealthy family. I thought it would be great until I realized that the money controlled them. His parents would dictate what he could and couldn’t do, and they treated me the same, after they got over the fact that I was on scholarship. Money was the way to get anyone to do anything in their eyes.

Add that to my parents coming into a large sum of money and then taking off to travel the world without me. I still don’t quite get it. I was only a few years away from adulthood. Why didn’t they wait until then?

They sent money to Gran and Grandad every month until I turned eighteen, which helped. But now abandonment is one of my traumas.

Money changes, people, and I do my best to avoid those with a large bank account. It usually ends with less heartache for me.

”I thought we had a bunch of fundraisers lined up to help with costs.”

Marsha blows out a breath. ”Yeah, we have those, but let”s be honest, the families will purchase most of the items, anyway.”

I hate that she”s right. Fundraising is fine until the family still has to help reach the goals to get whatever discount or cashback is worth it. I”m all too familiar with that scene, as it”s the only way I played lacrosse at a higher level.

”Do I get any say in this?” I finally ask, sighing.

Marsha gives me a sad smile. ”You get to decide how much she plays.”

I raise an eyebrow. ”He didn”t add that in as a stipulation for donating the money?”

”No, I didn”t,” a deeper voice says from behind me. I turn to see Pickleball Charlie. ”Sorry, I didn’t realize you’d be the coach. Marsha told me to bring Emily here for a tryout practice.” Recognition hits him and he frowns. “You coach lacrosse?”

I try to order my thoughts as I”m still surprised at the ambush here.

”Yes,” I say, trying to decide which emotion to feel. Everything is making sense. The “daughter” must be his niece.

“So you”re willing to give a ton of money to our team without the guarantee that your niece plays?”

Marsha shakes her head. “No, it’s his dau–”

“We know each other,” Charlie says, giving Marsha a mischievous smile.

He’s an attractive guy, but I have a strict rule that I don”t date people related to my players, even if they”re a distant second cousin, six times removed. Especially if he’s my brother’s friend.

And that Charlie is just throwing money around to get in everyone”s good graces makes him the enemy in my mind. I just wish my brain wouldn’t glitch when he’s around, thinking that maybe there could be a future. I wanted a date, but not with this guy. Maybe I need to be more specific next time when I’m putting my goals out to the universe.

“It seems I’ve been ambushed into this,” I say, my gaze bouncing from Marsha (the traitor), to Charlie, to the young woman standing behind him watching with intense interest.

“We’d appreciate a tryout. Emily has been playing for?—”

”Okay, Emily,” I say, cutting Charlie off. I don’t want to hear his praise for her. Usually that means the player is terrible, and I just want to get back to my practice right now. ”Scoop the ball and throw it into the net over there.”

It”s not a far distance, but it will be enough to show me how much work we”ll have to put into her by this weekend.

Emily, with almost perfect technique, bends over to scoop the ball and launches it toward the goal, hitting the top right corner as it lands against the net.

I almost have to use my hand to close my mouth. I”ve been working with my team for several months and most of them still aren”t able to do that with as much ease as Emily did.

”Again,” I say, wondering if it”s a fluke.

This time, Emily scoops it and cradles the ball until she”s about twenty yards in front of the net. She takes a step to one side and then spins to the other, letting the ball fly into the other corner.

Okay, so what are the chances that we actually landed a phenom?

I can”t show how amazed I am without hurting my pride so I say, ”Where did you play before this?”

“Michigan,” Emily says, looking proud.

With a quick nod, I say, “That’s awesome. We”ll have you work with Sarah throughout practice.”

Emily gives me a smile and I can see how nervous she is behind it. Being the new girl on a team is always a struggle. I”ll have to talk to the team and make sure they include her. She”ll definitely be an asset.

”I”ve got a check here,” Charlie says, trying to hand it to me.

Instead of taking it, I take a giant step back. A check made out with more zeros than I”ve ever had in my bank account would definitely be lost if I took care of it.

”Marsha is in charge of all team fees. You can give it to her. I”m going to get practice started.” I’ll have to avoid him at all costs to make sure I don’t do anything stupid.

Not the smoothest conversation I”ve ever had, but I”m not always the best at keeping my cool around awkward situations. I wish Marsha had given me a heads up about the whole thing, but I can see why she had to get everything in place before I could say no.

No matter what happens, as long as the girls get the chance to play with little financial burden to their families, that”s a win.

I just don”t want Charlie Danielson inserting himself because of it.