Chapter 13
Levi watched the clock run out after the final goal was scored.
He clapped four times, his jaw tight before he called out, “Good game, Muskies! Good game!” to no one in particular.
The two teams did their high five/handshake thing as they walked off the field, and then Levi led his team to an empty section of the already mostly empty bleachers as their few spectators filed out.
“You too, McMannus!” Levi called over his shoulder to his one benchwarmer who hadn’t left the bench with the others.
One full week of school, and as predicted, the guy was already on academic probation. Levi wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but he was forced to bench his best player for their first game, and it hadn’t gone well. For any of them.
He kept his eyes on Billy McMannus until the kid slowly rose from the bench and moved even more slowly toward the section of the bleachers Levi had deemed their postgame meeting spot.
“Thanks for joining us, McMannus,” Levi told him.
Billy mumbled something under his breath and joined the rest of the team on the bleachers.
Levi sighed and adjusted his visor, which was no longer necessary considering the sky full of stars blanketing them from overhead. But not wearing his lucky visor? Yeah, that was never going to happen, even if the luck was still catching up to him from the college circuit.
“Listen up, team!” Levi began. “This was our first game and—”
“We ate shit,” Teddy Kostas interrupted.
“Watch it, Kostas,” Levi warned.
“Sorry, Coach,” Teddy replied with a sigh.
“All right,” Levi continued, addressing the entirety of his team. “We did eat shit tonight, but does anyone know why?”
Billy McMannus’s name rose in a shallow murmur among the team members.
Levi nodded appraisingly. “Yes,” he agreed. “We were missing our best player tonight. But…what if there were no Billy McMannus on this team to begin with?”
“Uh… Thanks, Coach?” Billy replied drily, and the rest of the team chuckled softly.
Levi narrowed his eyes at his star player who was so far living up to his not-so-stellar academic reputation, and Billy held up his hands in defense but said nothing else.
“You all have your talents,” Levi continued, addressing the entire team.
And he meant it. Even the players who weren’t starters could be with the right discipline, the right coach.
But was he that guy? Levi didn’t know. And he still had a hard time wrapping his head around trying to become that guy when he knew after this year it wouldn’t even matter.
But they don’t know that, a voice in his head whispered, one that sounded a lot like a roommate he knew who was finally warming back up to the two of them being friends.
Levi sighed. “It was a rough start, and you all need your rest, so I’m going to let you all head home.
But I’m giving you an assignment to work on before Monday afternoon’s practice.
” This earned him a chorus of grumbles. He lifted his whistle to his lips in warning, and the grumbling died down.
“If I have to work this weekend to figure out where we need help, then so do you. So, come Monday afternoon, I want one page, handwritten, with what you think you could have done differently in tonight’s game.
The focus is on you, meaning I don’t want one page telling me how you think one of your teammates could have made your life easier.
The only person you can control out there is yourself.
So that’s who I want to hear about, okay? ”
Murmurs of “Yes, Coach” bubbled up from the stands from all except one player. For the first time that night, Billy McMannus was smiling as he leaned back on his elbows like he was kicking back in on a chaise at an all-inclusive resort.
“What’s with the face, McMannus?” Levi asked, and Billy let loose a soft laugh.
“What’s the matter, Coach? Can’t the one guy who has ‘no homework’ this weekend take a second to gloat?” He put air quotes around no homework.
Levi shrugged. “He could, if such a guy existed. But last I checked, you’re still a part of this team, and if you had done something differently, you would have been out on that field tonight. So there is no way you’re off the hook for this, my friend. One page. What could you have done?”
Billy’s smile fell, and though Levi knew the others were probably dying to taunt him about the shutdown, he was happy to see that the tone of his voice was enough to warn them not to.
“Grab your kits and get out of here,” Levi told them after several moments of silence. “I’ll see you on the track for warm-ups after school on Monday.”
“Yes, Coach!” they responded in unison but with far less enthusiasm than he’d have liked. For tonight he’d let it go. They’d all been through enough.
They jogged to the sideline, packing up their kits and then heading off the field. Before he left, Billy McMannus glanced back at Levi with his jaw set and his eyes dark and narrowed.
Levi responded with a single nod.
Don’t let other people tell his story, Haddie’s voice reminded him as the advice crept back to the front of his thoughts, and Levi tried to shake the sound of it away. One stupid text almost a week ago, to which she of course did not respond, and now his inner monologue belonged to her.
That didn’t mean he’d been thinking about her all week and what her nonresponse meant.
Or that he’d been thinking about the fact that exactly zero late-night texts had appeared since.
All it meant, Levi reasoned, was that Haddie gave some good advice when it came to soccer and getting to know his students.
His admitting to her—like a complete idiot—that she was basically the best thing he’d ever tasted had nothing to do with it.
Who was he kidding? Of course what he’d said had everything to do with it. And now, as his team trailed off the field, he found himself wondering not just how her game went or if she was having a similar talk with her team but instead if he’d royally fucked their friendship beyond repair.
She’d acted perfectly roommatey the whole week. She’d simply never broached the subject of the ill-fated text, and he had certainly followed suit.
***
Levi startled the second he walked through his apartment door when he found Haddie literally standing just on the other side of their doormat, hands behind her back.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “How long have you been waiting there like a freaking horror-movie creeper.”
Haddie beamed. “Actually, I was sitting. Then I was pacing. Then I heard your key in the door, and—as you know—I’m a runner and pretty fast, so…”
Levi kicked off his shoes, but he was basically trapped against the door because Haddie still hadn’t moved.
“We won!” she finally blurted. “And I don’t just mean won.
We owned Middleton. Three to zero. It was amazing, Levi.
I can’t even explain it. I mean, I’ve played the sport.
I’ve watched it all my life. But coaching it?
Do you know what it’s like to coach a sport that you love with your whole heart and watch your players succeed? ”
After a beat of silence, Haddie’s words seemed to catch up with her brain, and her smile faltered.
“Sorry,” she added with a wince. “Of course you know, and I’m an asshole.
I just… It’s the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had, and I couldn’t wait to share it with…
” She hesitated and bit her bottom lip. “I couldn’t wait to tell you.
” She rocked back and forth on her heels, then produced two opened bottles of beer from behind her back, offering one up to him. “How did your game go?”
“Holy shit,” he said again, taking the offered beer. “You really are fast.”
Levi’s chest tightened as he took a swig, the cool, hoppy beverage somehow warming him from the inside out.
He wasn’t sure if it was because of how he felt about the night he’d had or because Haddie had come straight home after what he knew was her best night in a long time because she wanted to share her win with him.
Had he really not messed it all up?
Levi forced a smile and huffed out a laugh. “We got owned,” he admitted. “But I’m really happy your team won.” He meant it too. There was something about seeing Haddie smile like that, with her whole body, that made the bitter taste in his mouth sweeten.
Haddie finally backed up into the main living area, allowing him to move.
Levi strode to the couch and collapsed into the far corner, leaving room for Haddie on the other side.
She followed his lead and dropped down opposite him, lips pressed together like they were a dam, the words behind them begging to be set free.
He bit back a grin and gave her a single nod. “It’s okay,” he told her, and he meant it. “Tell me everything.”
And she did. The dam burst, and Haddie told him everything from the kickoff to the final goal, to Sarah Ramirez not letting one ball past her goal line.
To Middleton’s defense being run ragged as Haddie’s offense kept them running from one fakeout to another, kept them diving toward their own goal in an attempt to stop the unstoppable.
He’d never seen her like this before, and her complete and utter glee was infectious.
Levi found his disappointment fading behind the smile taking over his features.
Maybe this program wouldn’t mean anything to him a year from now, but it would mean something to Haddie. It meant something to her now.
“We should do that car-wash thing,” he said. The words rushed out of his mouth before he realized they were coming.
Haddie halted mid-sip, her eyes wide. “Are you serious?” she asked. “You… You want to do a fundraiser for the soccer program?”