If I hadn’t been so caught up in the notion of Adalyn teasing me, I would have probably barked out a laugh. “Are you saying you’ll protect me from her?”
“Don’t look so smug,” Adalyn huffed, not even looking at me. “You’re my only employee, Coach.”
With a snort I let her have this one and faced forward. Soon after, the referee finally whistled, indicating the start of the game.
I took a step forward, clapping my hands a few times at the girls. “All right. Soldier on, Green Warriors!”
Every Warrior on the grass turned her head toward me. The ball rolled. They all blinked at me.
“Oh God,” Adalyn whispered from my side. “What did you do? Why aren’t they moving?”
“Gaze forward,” I instructed the girls, signaling the other side with my hand. “Don’t look at me,” I barked, pointing in the direction of the ball. But by the time the Green Warriors reacted, they were too late to stop the other team from stealing and making their way across the field with the ball.
María frowned from her position at the net. But—Why was María at the net? Juniper was our goalkeeper. Where the hell was Juniper? Shit. Fuck. I’d been so caught up with Adalyn that I—
The forward for the Bears jerked her leg back to kick. María turned, distractedly waving in my direction. No. In Adalyn’s direction.
I started to warn her, “Watch out for the—”
But the ball hit the back of the net, passing effortlessly over a smiling María.
“Goal,” I finished.
The stands erupted in cheers. The humble scoreboard changed. GREEN WARRIORS: 0 – GROVESVILLE BEARS: 1.
I looked over my shoulder quickly, shocked by the enthusiastic crowd from out of town. The Green Warriors were playing home and the only faces I recognized besides a few of the parents were Josie, Diane, and Gabriel. Granted, I wasn’t exactly going around town making friends, but there was barely any green in the stands. It was all red and white.
A woman met my gaze, eyes flashing with something I hoped wasn’t recognition. I whirled around, pulling my cap lower.
“Let’s not worry,” Adalyn said when the crowd quieted down and the game restarted. “This is just one goal. There’s plenty of game ahead. There’s more—”
Adalyn’s words came to an abrupt stop when Chelsea stole the ball from one of the Bears and ran. We both gawked at the kid, who was moving as fast as I’d ever seen a kid in a tutu move.
Chelsea neared the Green Warriors’ penalty area and Adalyn whispered, “What is she doing?”
But I couldn’t answer. I could only watch as Juniper shouted something in the distance, and when Chelsea didn’t stop, she raced after her. Undeterred, our tutu-wearing midfielder didn’t seem to care.
Adalyn mumbled something, then she said more clearly, “Oh my God, do something, Cameron. She’s going in the wrong direction.”
“There’s nothing to do, darling,” I answered with a gulp of air just as Chelsea kicked the ball with a flourish. “Nothing would have stopped that kid from scoring that onside goal.”
The crowd from Grovesville broke into a loud cheer again. Even if they hadn’t technically scored, a goal was a goal. I kept my gaze forward and my cap low, that familiar buzz at the back of my neck getting louder with every clap from the stands. That hadn’t been just an own goal, it had been complete and utter chaos.
I’d spent all week dismissing Adalyn’s attempts to create a strategy, truly believing everything she suggested was overkill. I still believed it. But somehow, all I could think about, as the game restarted again and the girls shuffled across the grass, was the red binder. The other one, too.
I wondered if there had been anything in there that would have warned me of this. For better or worse, I was the team’s coach, and I… well, I clearly hadn’t done a good job when my keeper was in the middle of the field and my midfielder had just scored an OG.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the Bears’ coach. She was looking straight at me with a smug look I didn’t like. Holding my gaze, she lifted her fists, bringing them under her eyes and pretending to wipe tears that weren’t there.
I stared blankly at her. That woman couldn’t know that during my career I’d put up with things that would probably make her pale. I—
Watched Adalyn shoot forward.
“Ref!” she hollered. Hollered. Getting more than a few heads to turn. “Unsportsmanlike conduct is not a nice look on a kids’ coach.”