“Hike!” Jacob yelled out.
I snapped the ball to him and then jogged forward. We had eight players on each team and half of them were kids. Jacob lobbed the ball to Zachary, who juggled it as he ran. He nearly dropped it, but managed to hang on. The adults on the other team chased him down, but were unable to catch him. In the first throw of the game, our team scored.
“Yes!” I said, giving Jacob a high five.
“Good job, as always, Hannah,” he said.
It was of course just a football game meant for fun, but it was still nice to score some points, especially with Abigail's husband as the quarterback for the other team.
We played football all afternoon until the sun began to slide downward toward the horizon. By then, we were all exhausted. The adults were anyway. The kids had just as much energy as they did when I first got there.
After winning the last game 21 to 14, Jacob and I walked toward the picnic table. We sat down next to each other, facing outward toward the yard. We watched the kids run around for a bit. It seemed they were still hyped up from the football. The mass amount of fruit punch they'd drank probably didn't hurt their energy level either.
“That was fun,” I said.
I sat close to Jacob, but not too close so that it was weird.
“Yeah, it was.” He glanced over at me and smiled. “Thanks again for inviting me. It's nice to get out once in a while. Seems like most of my life is spent at the office and when I have any free time, I'm usually just trying to keep my house in order.”
“Do you live by yourself?” I asked casually.
“I do,” he said. He glanced over at me. “You seem surprised.”
My eyes had widened and it must have been clear how shocked I was.
“I guess I kind of am,” I admitted.
“I'm surprised that you didn't know that,” he said. “Yeah, I live by myself. Well, it's me and my dog, Wilfred.”
“I just didn't know,” I said. “I guess I never asked. It's really none of my business, though. I just thought you were probably seeing someone.”
“You mean like Katie?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” I replied, feeling a little silly. “I heard that you were practically engaged.”
He sighed and picked a discarded piece of corn from the table, tossing it to the ground for the ants. His face was dark and eyes somber.
“Practically engaged. My mom seems to think she needs to help out with my love life. Katie and I are friends. Not even friends, really. Acquaintances. We went on one date and neither of us wanted a second. But, that's not what my mother wants.” He shook his head. “So she's told the whole town we're 'practically engaged.'”
“So not much has changed there,” I said quietly. “Same as high school.”
“Nope. Some things change and some stay the same. I just wish we got to pick which things changed.” He leaned back and the warm night air ruffled his dark hair. I wanted to run my fingers through it, so I played with the fabric of my skirt instead.
“It's hard to believe we met in high school.” My curly hair had fallen across my forehead and I reached up, pushing it back over my ear.
“It feels like a different life, doesn't it?” he said, leaning his head back to look at the sky. He let out a slow, contemplative breath. “Time sure does slip by. I still remember when we graduated.”
“Me too,” I said, wondering if he was going to bring up the kiss. My heart sped up. “If I recall, you were late for the ceremony. They were just about to start when I saw you sprinting across the field to get in line.”
Jacob laughed. “Yep. I remember the principle saying something to me that day. Something along the lines of, “Son, you're going to be late to your own funeral.”
“Yeah, well, you obviously aren't like that any more,” I said. “I don't think you would have made it through medical school otherwise. I think you're one of the things that's changed.”
“I was a completely different person then.” He lowered his gaze and faced me. “We both were.”
I nodded, hanging onto his every word. There was a fleeting moment of silence. In that moment, Jacob and I just looked into each others eyes. They were dark blue like deep ocean water. It was like a magnet drawing me toward him, drowning me in them. The attraction in the air was palpable and electric.
I thought about that last kiss behind the bleachers and wondered if I should be the one to kiss him tonight. I wanted to. He had just a hint of scruff on his chin and his lips were right there. It would be easy if I could just build up t