Chapter 33
Logan
When Ava and Macie walked away at the field, I won’t lie, my heart hurt a little. Becca assured me they were meeting us at the party, but I wasn’t convinced.
“Shit, you stink, Logan,” Becca whined.
“I know I do, I hate that we don’t take showers after our games.”
She slid closer to Ty on the bench seat, getting further away from me. I bet she wished she had sat in the back.
“Maybe this is why so many of the guys get naked at the parties, because the uniforms all smell like urinals,” she chided.
I couldn’t disagree with her. That was a good way to describe the odor.
It wasn’t so much the uniforms as it was the cleats and our socks.
That was one thing I did change. Clean socks and my slides went on before heading inside.
And I made sure to put the smelly shoes in the bed of my truck until after the party.
“Alright, let’s head in,” Ty said, also anxious to get out of the truck.
The three of us entered the house that had become like a second home to me lately.
I’d been spending more and more time here with the guys to avoid running into Ava at the townhouse.
Considering it was Friday, it was more crowded than the first after-party.
The first floor was full of players crowding around the kitchen trying to get their share of pizza.
“I need food,” I told Becca and Ty. “Want some?”
“No,” Ty said. “We had dinner at the game. You go eat, we’ll make our way downstairs.”
The pangs of hunger in my stomach forced me to navigate through the people between me and the pizza more aggressively than I wanted. But when I finally put that first cheesy bite in my mouth, it was worth it.
“Here’s another slice, Somers, it’s going quick.” Looking to my side, Sutton held a plate out for me.
“Thanks, man,” I said and added it to the two I already had. “That was a great game tonight. Didn’t think we were gonna pull it out, but we did.”
“Yeah, right?” he said. Then a petite blonde appeared at his side, his arm going around her. “Somers, this is Amber. Amber, this is our newest beast Somers.”
After wiping my hand on my shorts since I didn’t have a napkin, I extended it to her. “Nice to meet you, Amber.”
“Hi,” she said, shaking my hand. “What’s your real name?” She laughed after asking.
“I’m Logan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Logan.”
Sutton lost interest in me, and I didn’t blame him. She was beautiful and seemed nice. As they went on their way, I turned to head to the basement to find Becca and Ty.
“Hey, it’s Somers, right?” A thin brunette was right behind me once I turned around and stopped my progress. “I’m Dee, and this is my roommate Allie.”
The smaller girl at her side seemed shy as she stood in the shadow of Dee.
This happened a few times at the first party. A lot of the girls come here looking to become the players’ WAG, or girlfriend. It’s apparently an honor to be a rugby players WAG here at brU. I had no idea.
“Hi, girls,” I said. “Did you enjoy the game?” While trying to be nice by asking a question, I was also walking away from them toward the basement door.
Dee, the more aggressive one, grabbed me by the arm, stopping me.
“Where are you going?”
It was a challenge to thwart their attention but still be nice to the girls at these parties.
“I’ve got some friends downstairs waiting for me, maybe we’ll catch up later.”
As I said that, my eye caught sight of a particular fiery vixen with emerald-green eyes who had just walked in the front door. She grabbed the attention of many as she made her entrance.
She had on a short plaid skirt that showed off her powerful thighs. Her knee-high socks were paired with those ass-kicking black boots I loved so much. Her hair was smooth today, curled behind her ears, hanging low on her forehead.
Her shirt was what caught my attention the most. Mine and, I was sure, everyone else’s.
I think it was one of my plain white T-shirts and she’d cut at the waist and ripped off the sleeves. Written or painted in orange on the front were the words brU Rugby. In big numbers, across her chest, was the number 14.
She stood still once we saw each other. Her teeth bit at her lip ring as her fingers nervously played with the hem of her skirt. Her feet edged toward me, but something inside her kept changing her mind, keeping her where she was.
So I went to her.
As soon as I stood in front of her, my hands instinctively went to her face.
“Hi,” she said quietly, covering my hands with hers.
I looked into those bright eyes as she stared back at me, hoping this was what I thought it was.
“Ava,” I whispered as I bent my forehead to hers. “What is this?”
“This is me not caring anymore about anyone but us.”
Pulling back, I felt the tension that had built up in my body this past week dissipate and literally fall from my shoulders.
“Are you sure, Ava?”
“She’s sure, she’s more than sure,” Macie said as she walked by us and giggled.
It was then I realized we were still doing this out in the open, for everyone to witness. Looking around, most had gone back to their own conversations, but Ava and I needed privacy.
“I know this house doesn’t bring back good memories for you,” I told her as I took her by the hand. “But there’s a room on this floor, in the back, we can go to for privacy. Let me just ask Carter.”
I dragged her with me as I looked for him. There was no way I was letting go of her now that I had her back. I found Carter in the basement, and he gave me the key to his room once I explained.
“C’mon,” I said to Ava.
She followed willingly, and for that, I was thankful. We made it to Carter’s room without any interruption and once I closed the door, the chaos of the party disappeared. It was quiet and we had a private, clean space for us to…
I had no idea what we were going to do. But whatever it was, it needed to be in private.
“All of this because you like my shirt?” she quipped as she pulled it out, looking down at her chest. “Personally, I think it’s rather grade school looking myself, but it was the best I could do on short notice.”
I stood off to the side of the room, admiring her as she joked about it, happy to hear her sarcastic comments flowing from her mouth once again.
“Ava…” I started, but she put her hand up to stop me.
“Logan, let me talk, please. Everything I’ve done, almost from the start, has been wrong. I should have listened to my heart from the get-go and not worried about anything else.”
She paused, her eyes getting watery.
“I choose you, Logan. I will always choose you, over everyone else.” A single tear slid down her cheek.
“I’ve made more mistakes than I can count on both hands since meeting you, but seeing you at your game today, with the number fourteen on your back.
Well, it made me realize that I need to wake up. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Then her eyes went wide with horror.
“Unless I’m wrong about the number…shit, were you just assigned that number?”
She started twisting her hands together and bouncing from foot to foot.
“Relax, beautiful, I chose it.”
“You did?” she asked.
“I did,” I confirmed.
She jumped, and I caught her, pulling her into my arms. Our hearts beat wildly in our chests as they pressed against each other. Our mouths connected as she held my face. A long overdue kiss, which started healing the cracks in my heart.
Our kiss slowed, and she motioned to get down and stand before me. We moved to sit on the bed, facing each other.
“I’m not here to take you away from your celebration, I’d like for us to go back downstairs.
But I needed to tell you that I’m all in, Logan.
I’ve been miserable this past week without us talking, not seeing each other at all.
It made me realize that wasn’t how I wanted my life to be.
It was better with you in it.” She reached out, taking my hand in hers.
Her words filled my heart. I had myself convinced that she had walked away from me for good.
I’d forever love the number fourteen.
“You’ve made me so happy, Ava.”
“Not before almost destroying you, and us. I’m sorry for how I’ve been.”
“Hey,” I said, stroking her cheek. “There are always growing pains in a relationship worth working for. And we’re working through them.”
She gripped my hand and kissed that back of it.
“C’mon, let’s get downstairs. You deserve to be with your team after that win today. The game was awesome, and I loved watching you out there.”
We walked, hand in hand, to the door.
“You know you kinda stink, right?” she asked, then laughed.
“I more than stink, I reek. I really do love the shirt. You’ll have to wear it to every game now.”
She chuckled again.
“I think I can handle that.”