Double Score

I threw my bag on top of my cubby and sat on the bench. As usual, the equipment guys had laid everything out for me and the rest of the team. All I had to do was suit up for the game. But sitting here, staring at my name, I wasn’t sure if my head was in the game. I pressed my palms to my forehead.

I needed a few minutes to get my shit together, because once I took the field everyone in the stadium counted on me. Wes counted on me. Coach counted on me. But right now, I wasn’t sure I could count on myself.

26

Natalia

I walked through the door and threw my bag on the floor. My body ached all over. Four hours of dancing and I was ready to crawl into a hot, steamy shower. I was headed to the bathroom when I saw Sam’s number pop up on the screen.

“Hey, how was the game?” I asked. I turned on the hot water and added a bit of cold.

“Natalia…” He sounded upset.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” I turned off the water so I could give him my full attention.

“We lost.” His voice was low and deep.

“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Sam. You’re having such a great season.”

“Were having a great season,” he corrected me.

“It’s only one game.” I paced in my bathroom. I was out of my element. I didn’t know how to console him. I thought everyone took the sport too seriously, anyway.

“You don’t understand.”

“Did something else happen?” I was confused. His voice didn’t sound fun and flirty like usual.

“I dropped the game-winning pass.” He sounded anguished, and I suddenly understood why.

“Oh, God. That’s terrible.”

“It was a disaster. It was a perfect pass. Right at me. And I couldn’t hold on to it.”

I grasped at something to say. “There will be other games. Other chances. It’s okay, Sam. It’s okay.”

“There’s nothing okay about it.”

The silence fell between us. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you can see me tonight.”

“What?” I was exhausted. He had to be exhausted from the game.

“That place you mentioned. Canyon Lake. I’ll get a cabin and we can meet. It’s only forty-five minutes for both of us. Meet me.”

“Sam, I don’t know.” There wasn’t anything keeping me here. My Monday was free. “Okay, yeah, I can pack and be there in an hour, I guess.”

He sounded relieved. “I’ll text you the cabin. See you there.”

He hung up and I wondered what he had planned.

I parked under a scrub oak and looked at the little cabin Sam had rented for us. It was only a few yards from the lake. His car was already here.

I stepped from the car as he opened the front door to Cottage 11.

“You made it.” He jogged down the stairs and picked me up in his arms.

“It’s beautiful here.” The moon was bright on the lake. It didn’t look as if any of the other cabins were being rented.