Sidelined (Game On 3)

“Okay. I’ll think of a different way to welcome her to Los Angeles.” I glanced down at my watch. “Crap! I need to get going or I’ll be late.”

I picked up my purse and quickly checked I had everything. Weird habit. I hadn’t taken anything out, and Jesse was unlikely to have robbed me. Some habits are hard to break.

“Say hey to the girls for me,” Jesse said as I leaned over to give him a hug.

“I will. You take care of yourself and I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Bye, sunshine.”

I poked my tongue out, and laughed at my new nickname. “Bye!”

Chapter 2 – A Real Life Cinderella

Girly lunches didn’t usually mean eating at the diner across from the Warriors’ training ground, but Freya had to work so we couldn’t go too far. We were cool with it, though. The food was good, and waiting until the next weekend before getting together was not an option. The three day wait almost killed us.

Leah and Freya were already at the diner when I arrived, chatting in one of the booths. I sped across the room towards them. Leah stepped out of the booth and I flung my arms around her.

“Welcome home!”

I took a step backwards, grinning at my best friend. When she came over right before Christmas, Leah was the happiest she’d ever been. She looked even happier now than she had a couple months ago. Her eyes sparkled; a million miles from the Leah I hung out with in London. The one who pretended to be okay when she wanted to hide away. Don’t get me wrong, Leah would have coped without Radleigh, but there would always have been a part of her that wasn’t complete.

Urgh, you sound like a total sap.

I was a sap. A real-life Cinderella. I wanted my friends to get the same happy ending I got.

I shook my head to clear the usual mess of never-ending, galloping thoughts. Maybe I did suffer from some kind of attention disorder.

“Bree!”

I jolted at the sound of Leah’s voice. She and Freya laughed, completely used to my dizziness. I slid into the seat beside Freya, giving her a hug too. We took a few minutes to order our food before getting down to the important business of filling each other in on what we’d been up to. Stupid, really. We spoke at least once a week, often more. We’d had more than the occasional night of webcam silliness and group chats with Jesse, Miguel and Will, too. Wasn’t as good as this, though. Being together.

“Before we get started,” I said, “Jesse says ‘hey’.”

“How is he?” Freya asked, placing the menu back in its holder.

“Bored. Real bored. He’s about one more of his mom’s homemade cookies away from jumping out the window.”

“Yeah, he was the same way yesterday,” Leah said. “Radleigh and I stayed for a few hours to keep her at bay but she’s a sweetheart and it’s hard to be annoyed by her when she cares so much.”

I nodded, a pang of long-buried jealousy shooting through me. Jealousy probably wasn’t the right word. I didn’t want Jesse not to be part of a caring family, I just missed having one of my own. I hadn’t been fussed over by my own parents for a long time.

“We should go over together sometime.” I smiled to hide my inner discomfort. “I still haven’t heard enough about his Isabelle.”

Leah laughed. “Leave the guy alone, hasn’t he told you enough already?”

“Maybe. Meeting a girl in another country and falling in love is so damn cute.”

“Radleigh met her when we were in England. He said she’s a cutie pie.”

Freya laughed. “Radleigh ‘Macho Man’ McCoy used the term ‘cutie pie’? What have you done to him?”

A blush coloured Leah’s cheeks. “He’s still a macho man, thank you very much! Anyway, enough of the Jesse talk.” She turned her attention to Freya. “I want to hear about you and Will!”

Honestly, the Westberg Warriors should have had their own reality show. How cool would that be? Seeing our hot guys on television, not just playing soccer, doing normal stuff too. Hmm, scratch that. My life was fairly boring away from the pitch. Nobody would want to see Jude reminding me to make the bed, and me puttering around our house until my friends finished work. There’s only so much shopping a girl can do.

Where was I? Right. Freya and Will. Romantic stuff. Those guys took forever to admit they were in love. I knew from the first time I met them, and I’m positive everyone else did too. They were best friends as well as a couple. Pretty neat, right?

“We’re really good,” Freya said. “I have some news.”