Jacob
and getting one more kiss from Rory for good luck, he’d sprinted the whole way, which was really saying something considering
he had to bypass the baseball diamond and the football field to get there. The team was just finishing up stretching behind
the goal when he arrived, stopping with his hands on his hips right next to his coach.
chest and nod toward him, and within seconds the entire team was aware that he’d arrived. “Glad you could make it.”
“Glad to be here, Coach,” Jacob said between breaths.
“Get out there and stretch your hammies. We’re going to need to put you to good use tonight.” Coach bleated his whistle and shouted, “Frankensteins!”
Jacob fell in next to Cody, who had finally been medically cleared to play. Cody slapped his hand. “The dream team together
again,” Cody said as they kicked their legs up straight and walked forward. “Heard you guys won the whole thing earlier.”
“Yeah. It was pretty crazy,” Jacob told him. He wasn’t sure how Cody felt about Jacob being on the cheerleading squad. They
hadn’t exactly talked about it. “First time Woodmont won regionals.”
“That’s awesome, man,” Cody said, clapping him once on the back and almost knocking him over. “Keep up those winning ways,
okay? We gotta ice these assholes to keep our playoff hopes alive, ya heard?”
“I heard,” Jacob replied. “And I’m ready.”
“Good.”
The whistle bleated again. The entire team huddled up around Coach, bouncing up and down on their toes, staying warm and keeping
the adrenaline high.
“All right, gentleman, as you can see, we’ve got Reilly back as striker. He’ll be starting tonight.” The team whooped and
cheered, and one of the guys reached over to tousle Jacob’s hair and basically shove his head down. “And Cody will be back
in goal. We also have scouts here from UConn, Tampa, and Rutgers, so—no pressure.”
Everyone laughed nervously and shuffled their feet.
They knew the scouts were here for the juniors and the couple of sophomores on the team, but they would all want to perform their best, just in case.
And, of course, because Cody wasn’t wrong.
Woodmont hadn’t missed the playoffs in ten years, and no one wanted to be on the team that broke that particular streak.
You’ve got this, Rory’s voice said in Jacob’s mind. Go kick ass.
“Woodmont on three!” Coach shouted, and for the second time that day, Jacob put his hand in the middle of a team circle, his
nerves swirling in his chest. “One, two, three, Woodmont!”
It was go time.
At the half, Woodmont was winning 1–0 thanks to the first goal Jacob had scored in weeks. It was a beauty, too—he juked out
the opposing goalie, and the ball sailed right over the guy’s outstretched legs as he flung himself in the opposite direction.
He gave Rory a wave as the team jogged off to the locker room for the customary halftime pep talk and bathroom break, and
everything was great. But by the time halftime was over, Jacob was starting to feel it.
He chugged some Powerade. He went through a new series of stretches. He even dunked his head in cold water. Nothing worked.
It had been a long day of nonstop activity and emotional upheaval, and it had all caught up to him. He was crashing.
“Dude, you all right?” Kai asked as they strode back out of the locker room toward the field. Well, the rest of the team strode. Jacob dragged while trying to look like he wasn’t dragging. “You look like death.”
“Appreciate you, man,” Jacob said with a sarcastic nod.
“No, sorry, I mean . . . you’re good, right? For the second half?” Kai looked nervous, and Jacob understood that if he started
to tank, that meant Kai would have to step up, and he wasn’t sure whether or not he could step up. Kai was relying on him.
The whole team was. He had to try to get his ass back in gear.
“I’ll do what I can,” he said, wondering what that actually meant at this point. They were coming up behind the away stands
now and trailing the rest of the team. It looked like there were more people in the bleachers for the second half than there
had been for the first, and a lot of them were students, from what Jacob could tell.
“Go! Hey, here we go! Woodmont! Go!” the fans chanted. Kai and Jacob looked at each other quizzically. Soccer fans at their
school didn’t normally chant.
Then they came around the corner and saw that Rory and the entire varsity cheer squad, minus Jacob, of course, was lined up
on the sidelines in full uniform. They were leading the crowd in the cheer, thrusting their poms overhead on each “Go!” Jacob
laughed when he saw that Stuart was even there with his crutches, attempting the arm motions and shouting.
“What the . . . ?” Kai said. “Were they supposed to cheer tonight?”
“Um, no. The school doesn’t pay for a bus for the squad to go to away soccer games.”
“So how . . . ?”
Rory looked over at Jacob and grinned. Then she elbowed Layla, who shouted, “Let’s go, Jacob!”
Instantly, the squad shifted into chanting “Let’s go, Jacob!” moving their arms in unison and clapping five times between
each chant. The crowd barely hesitated before joining in, and Jacob’s heart swelled. He couldn’t have wiped the smile off
his face if he’d tried.
Rory jogged over and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. Her face was warm against his cold skin, and she smelled like pumpkin
spice and the slightest bit of sweat. “Thought you could use a little boost for the second half.”
“You’re all out of your minds,” Jacob replied. “How did everyone get here?”
“I texted them from the car on the way down asking if they were up for it, and every one of them said yes,” Rory replied.
“Carlos organized carpools, and voilà! Instant cheer squad.”
“This is insane. They should all be out celebrating the regionals win,” Jacob said. “Not standing out here in the freezing
cold.”
“We can’t celebrate without you,” Rory said, pushing her pom into his shoulder. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without
you.”
Even though it seemed impossible, Jacob’s smile widened. Suddenly he felt warm all over. Ready to take on anything.
“Thank you.” Jacob slipped his arms around her waist and brought his forehead to hers, even though he knew the rest of the
team was watching, that the fans were watching, that the scouts were watching. “This is incredible. You’re incredible.”
“Eh, I’m aware,” Rory replied. “Now get out there and win this thing!”
She backed out of his arms and rejoined the team, which was still chanting his name.
“So, what?” Tucker said, coming up behind him, speaking to him for the first time all night. “They’re your own personal cheerleaders
now?”
Jacob turned his grin on Tucker. His captain’s jaw was set, his brow low. He looked like he wanted to punch someone. But Jacob
knew he wouldn’t pick a fight. Not here and not now. This game was too important to him. Jacob lifted his shoulders. “Looks
that way.”
And somehow, as he jogged over to the sidelines, his exhaustion had all but evaporated.