Rory
but her mom had saved Jacob’s soccer game, the soccer team had kicked butt, and now her dad was reserving her the party room
during restaurant week? This had turned into the best weekend ever.
“I would,” Jacob put in after taking a sip from his glass. “If it wasn’t for you inviting the entire squad to cheer at the
soccer game, there’s no way I would have scored that second goal.”
“Hear, hear!” Stuart cheered, lifting his glass.
“And if you hadn’t convinced Jacob to come back and cheer with us today, we never would have won regionals,” Gwen put in.
“Hear, hear!” Stuart shouted again.
“Of course, if Stuart hadn’t idiotically participated in a motorcross race in the middle of cheer season and landed himself
in a cast, we wouldn’t have had to bring Jacob onto the team in the first place and probably would have won anyway, so.” Layla
lifted a shoulder and chugged some of her soda.
“Hear . . . hear . . . ?” Stuart said.
Everyone laughed.
“No, seriously, though. Everything we’ve done these past few weeks . . . it’s taken all of us,” Rory said, and lifted her
own glass. “So I say, here’s to all of you . . . to all of us!” she said, and this cheer was the biggest of all.
“Very late dinner is served!” Rory’s dad announced, entering the room with a huge bowl of steaming hot pasta.
He was followed by a few members of his waitstaff carrying bowls of salad and baskets of bread and plates of meatballs and sausages.
Rory saw her friends’ eyes widen at the feast and felt proud of her father and of this place.
Her dad paused near her chair on his way out.
“Anything else I can get for you, miss?” he asked formally, his eyes merry.
“That will be all, kind sir,” she replied. Her dad laughed as he left them to it.
“Rory, do you get to eat like this all the time?” Carlos asked, serving himself some pasta. His eyes were wide, and he was
practically drooling out the side of his mouth.
“Maybe not all the time,” she replied.
“Well, even if it’s once a week, I’m moving in,” Dahlia joked.
Rory waited until everyone else had food before serving herself. Jacob draped his arm over the back of her chair and leaned
in toward her ear. “Has anyone told you lately how incredible you are?”
“Yes, in fact. Some soccer player told me that earlier tonight,” she replied. “It feels like it happens all the time, if I’m
honest.”
“As it should,” he said, and kissed her cheek.
“Awwwwwww!” the entire squad chorused.
“You two better not break up before nationals,” Layla said. “I cannot take any more drama on this team.”
“Don’t worry,” Jacob said, and crunched into a piece of bread. “I have no intention of messing this up anytime soon.”
“Neither do I,” Rory said, smiling at him.
“Wait, I’m gonna be back before nationals,” Stuart said.
The room went quiet as everyone froze. Rory looked from Stuart to Jacob and back again. This was a bit of a pickle. Or was
it . . . an opportunity?
“Three guys on the team?” Rory crowed. “We’re going to need to rework the routine again, people!”
Groans and laughter filled the room as everyone went back to eating. Jacob leaned toward Rory and whispered in her ear. “You
sure you’re still going to want me around in January?”
She pulled back to look into those green eyes. It was incredible how fast she’d gone from loathing that mischievous sparkle
to relishing it.
“You’re on my team now, Reilly. Get used to it.”
He smiled slowly and leaned in for a nice, long kiss.