Out for the Holidays and Out for Gold (Out in College 8.5)

Jimenez kept up with his man, spreading his arms wide before swatting the weak pass and sprinting back to our goal. He pulled himself into position in front of the goalie and faked a shot to his right, sending a rocket into the right upper corner of the net. Score!

Yes! I reined in a celebratory fist pump and schooled my features into something close to neutral as I rounded the perimeter of the pool to exchange post-game high fives with the opposing team’s coaches. Then I spent a few minutes giving my boys a quick “good job” speech. I kept it short and sweet—we all wanted to go home.

I pulled out my cell from my pocket on the way to my car and winced at the screen. Five missed calls from Derek. Uh-oh.

I pushed Call, setting my equipment bag on the ground as I opened the trunk.

“Hey, babe. I was coaching my club team. I didn’t have a chance to look at my phone till now. You okay?”

“No. We’re doomed, and it’s my fault.”

I furrowed my brow. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m having a panic attack. Shortness of breath, racing heart, sweaty palms. All brought on by guilt. I felt bad that I hadn’t filled my parents in on our news, so in a moment of weakness, I called my mother and told her everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah. I told her we signed the contract, secured the business loan, hired a contractor, and that we planned to open before the holidays. She didn’t act surprised at all. In fact, she just asked a lot of questions about hiring staff and how much money we plan to spend on marketing. Long story short, it became a financial conversation. She insisted on investing in our venture. And that’s what she called it. Our venture. Like we’re a couple of kids setting up a lemonade stand. I should have said no. I should have—”

“Hey, stop. You didn’t do anything wrong. Quit beating yourself up.” I high-fived one of my players and acknowledged his mom’s “Good game, coach” with a nod as I closed the trunk. “I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll see you when I’m done here. The contractor is still taking measurements.”

“I’ll start dinner. Something easy, like pasta. Does that sound good?”

“Perfect. Thank you.” He sighed heavily. “Damn, she stresses me out.”

I hopped into the car and revved the engine to life. My Bluetooth kicked in as I eased out of my parking space and headed for the exit. “I know. Enough about parents. Ask me how awesome I am. Then ask me if my team won. Spoiler alert…they did,” I singsonged playfully.

Derek chuckled. The sound moved along my spine like a magic wand, lighting me up from the inside out. I turned right on 7th Street, grinning like a fool ’cause apparently this was what happened when you were in love. His happiness made me happy. If he was sad or upset, I wanted to fix it. And I knew he felt the same about me.

We complemented each other. I tended to talk around problems before I addressed them. That didn’t work with Derek. He was a type-A personality who wanted details and order in his life. A laid-back approach would make him nuts, but too many rules made me crazy. After three years together, I liked to think we’d learned the art of compromise. We were a good team.

He was my favorite human. He literally made everything seem possible. Coaching a rowdy bunch of teenagers on an elite club team, no problem. Assisting my college coach, easy. Practicing with the national team and going to the freaking Olympics, bring it on. I never doubted myself or my future when I was with Derek. I tried to offer him the same kind of support. I wanted him to know I was always in his corner…no doubts. I wished his parents did too.

They loved him for sure. They were just…difficult. Especially his mom.

I set aside my angst and regaled him with the play-by-play from the game I’d just coached, stretching a five-second goal to last the duration of my drive home. By the time we hung up, he was laughing and everything felt right in my world again.

Later that night, Derek and I sat on opposite ends of the sofa with our legs entwined, watching Sports Center and chatting about our respective days as we passed a pint of ice cream between us.

“I looked at tile samples for the bistro today and narrowed it down to two. One is bright and cheery, and the other is very understated. I think we should go with simple but sharp. I don’t want to be in fashion now, then wish we could redo everything in a year. Although I have to say, the bold blue tile would look nice in our bathroom,” Derek said, licking the spoon like a cat.