Chapter Seventeen
Keely
As I approach the city soccer league fields during the after-work hours, the smell of rain from earlier today, freshly cut grass, and the sound of whistles blowing, balls being kicked, and children playing, flood my senses.
The multi-soccer fields are packed with players and spectators who seem eager to start the games.
I scan all the teams across the vast soccer park, each with players in various colored jerseys stretching or warming up, preparing for their matches.
Finally, I spot the field with the familiar Tornados jerseys and notice the metal bleachers off to the side. I head for them, walking to take a seat before the game starts, when a tall figure in blue catches my eye, running straight towards me.
It's Jaxson.
His face breaks into a wide grin as he jogs up to me, his dark blue eyes twinkling. "You made it," he says, slightly out of breath. "I wasn't sure if you'd come."
Honestly, until going to the Hawkeyes home game with Reeve a few days ago and remembering the thrill of being part of a team again, while doing something that you love, I wasn't so sure if I would come either.
I'm glad that Reeve convinced me to come.
"I figured I should check it out," I look around at all the fields. That has to be at least a dozen games all prepping to take place simultaneously. "There's a lot of games going on today."
Jaxson nods, gesturing to the bustling fields around them. "Tuesday nights are always packed. It's great to see so many people out here enjoying the game."
"I can see that," I say, taking in the lively scene.
Jaxson's expression suddenly turns hopeful. "Listen, I hate to put you on the spot, but we're short a player today. One of our guys – his wife just went into labor."
"Oh, whoa…" I say, looking over the team out in front of me and seeing that they are, in fact, short a player.
"And it leaves us in a bit of a bind. Any chance you'd want to jump in? No pressure, of course, but we'd love to have you."
I hesitate, glancing down at my jeans. It's not that I couldn't wear jeans—I've done it before, but it does limit my range of motion more than I'd like and I will stick out like a sore thumb since by the looks of it, everyone else wore athletic shorts. "I'm not exactly dressed for it..."
Jaxson waves my comment off. "Don't worry about that. We've got extra jerseys in the team bag. What do you say? Want to give it a shot?"
I know I can't keep living under a rock. At some point in my life, I'll have to take a chance and put myself out there. If I don't, then someday, I'll wake up without a life at all.
I moved here for a new chance—a new life. How many more times will I say no before I finally say yes? How many more opportunities will I miss out on?
"You know what? Why not? It's been a while since I played, but I'll give it a shot."
Jaxson's face lit up. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the team and we'll get you geared up."
As Jaxson leads me toward the team's bench, the excitement on the field of people getting ready to start the game is contagious. Players in blue Tornados jerseys and the opposing team in orange, are all stretching or passing balls back and forth. There's a mixture of pre-game jitters that you can feel all around, and for once today, it seems that the rain might hold up for the game, though I'm sure everyone would play through it anyway.
"Hey everyone," Jaxson called out, catching the team's attention. "This is Keely. She's going to fill in for Mike tonight. Say, "Hi Keely"."
"Hi Keely," a chorus of welcoming voices greet me as I give a small wave back to everyone. Everyone sends me a warm smile and then quickly gets back to their pre-game regime.
A tall woman with short brown hair steps forward, offering her hand. "I'm Sarah. Welcome aboard, and thanks for jumping in. We would have had to ask Arnold from a few fields over to fill in for us or else we would have had to forfeit… but he's the worst ball hog. No one, including his current team, likes playing with him."
"Thanks," I say, "I'm not a ball hog, but I should warn you that I'm probably a little rusty. I haven't played in a while. I hope I don't let you all down."
"Don't worry about that. We're just here to have some fun. There are a few intense players like Jaxson on the team but I'm sure that you're used to him being like that," she teases, "We're just glad to have a full team. Here, come with me. I have a duffle bag with extra jerseys in it. What do you think you'll fit… a man's extra small?"
I blink for a second, still processing her comment about me being used to Jaxson being like that before I can even think to answer her about my sizing.
"Umm yeah, an extra small is fine, or whatever the smallest jersey you have will work. But what did you mean by me being used to Jaxson being like that?" I ask.
She leads me to a large duffel bag on the sideline and bends down on one knee to rummage through it.
"I just figured that you two are dating?" she says, digging deeper into the bag. "I've never seen him so excited to see someone coming to watch us play. And I've definitely never seen him leave the field to greet anyone before a game. He usually gets in this zone when he gets out on the field, prepping for the game," she says, and then pulls out a blue jersey. "These should fit, yeah? Sorry, I don't have cleats for you."
"It's fine," I say. "So, you know Jaxson well?"
I'm curious about Jaxson a little, and I'm wondering what kind of info she'd be willing to share.
"Yeah, I'd say. I work as a surgical assistant for another surgeon on the same floor. My husband is an anesthesiologist and works with Jaxson in surgery quite a bit."
"Oh, really? Is your husband here playing?" I ask.
She points to the stands where a man is passing out snacks to twin girls. "No, but he shows up to support me and brings our girls out to watch mommy play."
She waves when the twins notice us staring.
Seeing Sarah with her family makes me slightly envious of that kind of support. Besides my uncle, my mom, Paula and a few friends from college that I mostly only keep up with on social media, I don't have someone like that who shows up for me. Someone I can be a team with and share life experiences.
"Well, you have a beautiful family," I tell her.
She smiles over at them. "Thank you. And I'm glad to see Jaxson invited you. It's been a long time since I've seen him date anyone. He's sort of a workaholic, which can come with his line of work, but he's such a good guy. I'd like to see him with a better work/life balance."
"Oh, we're not dating. We met… Well actually, it's a funny story, but basically, my uncle owns Oakley's. He just invited me to come because he knew I'm from out of town," I tell her.
"Really? That's too bad. I was hopeful…"
"I'm sure he doesn't have a difficult time meeting women," I say, trying to cheer her up for some reason.
It's not as if I haven't noticed that Jaxson is good-looking, but I'm still trying to navigate through moving here and my feelings for Reeve. Dating a workaholic doctor who is also Reeve's surgeon sounds complicated. But then again, things between Reeve and I will never change. He and I can't ever date. Not unless he no longer plays a sport professionally.
And I want what Sarah has.
Maybe I need to start putting myself out there more.
I pull off my jacket and pull on the jersey over the t-shirt I have underneath. Sarah gives me an approving nod that the jersey looks good, and then I follow her back out onto the field.
As we rejoin the team, Jaxson's eyes find me again and his eyes sweep down over the jersey I have on.
A soft smile plays on his lips. "Looks good on you. How do you feel?"
Excited, confused, hopeful, anxious… also, wondering if you invited me here for more than because my uncle has been hounding you to get me to play.
"A little nervous but excited. It's been a while since I played. I only came to watch so I wasn't expecting to get thrown into the game."
Jaxson placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. His touch feels natural—something I wasn't expecting.
"You'll do great. Just have fun out there," he says.
I can feel my nerves kick in, the adrenaline surges and starts to course through my body as I walk onto the field with the team to take our positions. As soon as the referee's whistle pierces through the air, signaling the start of the game, everything else is a blur, and my body takes over like it remembers everything it has to do without me thinking too hard.
It takes a second to find my rhythm with the team, but over the next hour, I lose myself in the match – the thud of the ball, the shouts of the players around me, the rush of sprinting down the field. But most of all… I lose myself in being a part of a team again.
By the time the final whistle blows, I'm breathless and exhilarated. The Tornados won 3-2, with me managing to assist on one of the goals. Jaxson catches my eye as the team gathers to shake hands with our opponents and grins.
"So, what did you think? Ready to join the league for real?"
I laugh, wiping sweat from my brow. "You know what? I just might be."