Love on the Sidelines: A Small Town Sports Romcom

21. Ava

I”m pacing in the room we”re staying in. Now that all the pieces are fitting together, I wonder if this is even a friend”s house or if it”s just Charlie”s and he”s trying to be modest.

The lies hurt the most. Sure, mine to Marsha and Whitney about my feelings for Charlie are little white lies, mostly to ward off their teasing for the duration of this trip. But Charlie’s lies of omission bring up all the red flags I’d missed with Terrell.

Are Charlie’s as bad as Terrell’s? No, but I don’t want things to get worse. I’m already attached, but I’ve got to protect my heart from falling further.

There are several girls who are hoping I”ll be able to help them get a scholarship, to get seen by several coaches over this summer and future years, and I need to focus on helping them achieve that. Me getting all mushy about an attractive guy only pulls me away from that purpose.

Time flew by today, and I”m already back in the van driving us to the house after our games.

Emily sits in the front seat and I almost wish she”d gone in back with the rest of the girls. I don”t need a reminder of her uncle right now.

”How was it?” I ask, glancing in the rearview mirror at the other girls. They”re kind of smiling, but they look exhausted.

”Good,” Sarah says, giving me a thumbs up. ”I could sleep for an entire week right now.”

There”s a mumble of agreement and I turn on some music to just let them chill on the way back.

”What can I work on?” Emily asks. “I know in the camp they said I need to get better footwork. Is there something I can do for that?”

I give her a broad smile and nod. “If you’re willing to work on it, I’ve got some drills we can use to fix it.”

“Are you okay? You seem different from the past few days.” Emily is staring at me and I have to keep my focus on the road so I don’t blab everything I’m feeling.

How do I say I found out her uncle is a lying jerk? Why it’s affecting me so deeply, I’m not sure.

”Just a lot of lacrosse,” I say, giving a forced smile.

”How”s it going with Uncle Charlie?”

Her question throws me off and while the rest of the group is practically comatose in the back couple of rows, I still would rather avoid this subject now and in the future. This is why I don”t get involved with people related to the players. Then I”m off my game and it”s awkward for the next seventy years.

I turn up the music a bit, hoping that the girls with their nose in their phones won’t overhear.

”What do you mean?” I ask, turning on my blinker and changing lanes. I might as well dig for any information she’s got.

”Do you like him?”

My heart beats faster as if to shout yes, while my brain is trying to be logical and smother that answer.

”He seems like he”s got a lot on his plate,” I say, trying to be evasive.

”Yeah, he definitely does. I know he likes you, though.”

I snort, actually snort, and wish I could crawl into a hole and die. I”m supposed to be a cool example of what could happen in their future and here I am looking like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality pre-transformation.

”I doubt that.”

Emily shakes her head. ”I”ve seen him with a lot of women over the past few years.”

That makes me feel even worse. Am I falling for a playboy type? He”s done all the right things, but is it because he”s got a routine down for how to reel a gal in and then cast her back out to sea?

”And he”s never paid attention to any of them but you.”

Shaking my head, I say, ”I”m your coach, Emily. I try not to date anyone”s relatives.”

”I was hesitant at first for you to be together, but I think you might be good for him.”

”Yeah, him and his gajillions of dollars. Is the house we”re staying at his?”

She tightens her lips into an almost imperceptible line before she gives a quick nod. ”I knew it!” I say, louder than I should”ve.

”Don”t tell him I told you.”

”Well, I already overheard him say he”s basically the owner of the new hockey team coming to town. It”s kind of hard to wrap my head around that.”

”He had a plan with my grandpa that they would own a team one day. Charlie”s been so focused on it he almost forgets about missing Grandpa.”

And now I’m the complete jerk. He wasn’t lying about that, he just wasn’t upfront either.

What would that be like? I”ve learned to not miss my parents, to not expect them to come back into my life after all these years. But to hear of a family who worked together, who was going to do something great together, is completely foreign.

We pull into the drive of the house and I let the girls all go in before I even turn off the van.

It”s fine and noble that Charlie has donated so much money to this team, that he’s let us stay at one of his houses (he probably has more than this), but that just means something is going to pull him away once I let the walls around my heart come tumbling down.

There’s a knock on the window that makes me jump. Charlie is standing there, giving me a half-smile that sends my insides twisting.

I twist the key to roll down the window, trying not to look into his eyes again.

“We should probably talk,” he says, running a hand through his short hair.

“What’s there to talk about? I’m grateful for your help with this team so far. And letting us use your house.” I take that moment to look right at him, enjoying the look of dismay on his face.

“I didn’t lie about it. I mean, I am my own close friend, right?”

I roll my eyes and lay my head down on the wheel. It honks for a few seconds and then stops, leaving us in an eerie silence.

“Ava, I’m sorry. I promise I wasn’t trying to lie to you about it. I just like the idea of having a moment of anonymity. That doesn’t happen often.”

“Well, we all thank you for your contributions to this team. I should probably go in and make sure no one is killing each other.” Not that I need to worry about this group of girls that much, but I need some distraction.

He takes a step back from the door so I can open it and step out. Before I can get too far away, he reaches out to hold my hand–the traitor. It reminds me of the last few nights we’ve ended up out on the porch chatting about life.

“I’m sorry, Ava. I care about you and I don’t want you to think that I go around lying all the time.”

Shaking my hands, I say, “That’s your business. I will do everything I can to make sure that Emily gets recommended to some of the top schools, but I can’t do this.”

“Don’t say that,” Charlie says, and his tone causes me to glance up at him.

“You said it yourself, that you’re everywhere. You’ve lived in dozens of places and I will probably live in my grandmother’s house after she dies just to keep the memory of someone I love alive.” Tears have entered the chat and I don’t want him to see me this emotional.

“I’m working on settling down and I’d love to see where this can go.”

“You’re a couple of years too late. The jaded Ava is all that’s left.”

I turn and walk away, my insides ready to combust from the different emotions flowing through me. When I enter the house, I can tell the girls have probably been spying on us, but I can’t face them now. So I do what I do best when things don’t go how I think they will. I hole up in the room and pretend the conversation didn’t happen.