“What the…” I trail off, my heart in my throat. No way…
The crowd cheers. And then I hear a wave of high-pitched squeals cut through the noise.
“Coach Maya! You’re here!”
I whip my head back to where the kids are sitting. And then I lose all the air in my lungs. Because there’s Maya, standing next to them, wearing a shirt that says, “I <3 #11,” my jersey number.
For a few seconds, I just stand there and stare. My hearing goes fuzzy. So does everything and everyone around me. Except for Maya. All I see is her.
I take in the sight of her beautiful face, how she’s smiling at me, but her eyes…she looks nervous and heartbroken all at once as she looks at me.
Heartbroken
“Shit, man. What are you waiting for?” Xander shoves my shoulder. “Go talk to your girl.”
I hesitate for a second, suddenly aware that my entire team and this whole arena full of fans are watching this go down. Nerves crackle at the pit of my stomach.
I glance over at Coach Porter, who’s frowning in Maya’s direction. Shit. I need to explain things before he thinks this is some dramatic bullshit from my personal life that’s bleeding into my job.
“She’s my…we are…I mean, weweretogether, but some stuff happened and…we were trying to navigate our long-term relationship and I…it’s just…she broke up with me…but now I guess…” I huff out a breath, mortified at how I’m rambling. “It’s complicated.”
Coach Porter’s steely poker face holds steady. I hold my breath and brace myself for him to go off on me.
But to my total shock, he doesn’t. He just looks at me and says, “You were in a relationship? Like an actual relationship?” His voice hitches up, like he’s surprised.
“I…Yeah. I was.”
“Huh.” He pauses for a moment. “Well, color me shocked, Thompson. I didn’t think you had it in you to do something so grown-up.” He juts his chin in Maya’s direction. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to work it out. Good luck.”
I’m stunned as he and the team walk to the locker room. I hurry over to Maya. She runs to the partition in front of me and presses her hands against it.
“Did I get you in trouble?” she asks, breathless.
I shake my head. “Nah.” My gaze falls to her shirt. My heart is in my throat. “Nice shirt.”
Her big brown eyes are glassy with tears. She flashes a shaky smile. “I love you, Theo. So much.”
I nearly topple over. I close my eyes and let out a breath. My forehead falls against the partition, I’m bowled over at hearing her speak those words.
“You love me?”
She nods. “I know you must be so angry with me right now. You have every right to be. You were right. I ended things between us because I was scared. I was scared that we’d end up breaking each other’s hearts. My whole life I’ve been a jaded cynic when it comes to love and relationships. I was convinced that if I ever let myself fall for someone, it would end up with my heart getting shredded.”
As I gaze at Maya, I take in the pain and pleading in her eyes, the conviction in her tone.
“I gave up on us before we even started out as a couple. I didn’t even try. And now I realize how messed up that was—what a huge mistake that was.” Her lips tremble. She stops to swallow. “I miss you so much, Theo. I miss you every minute of every day. I’ve never been happier than when I was with you. And now the only thing I’m scared of is losing you forever.”
She pauses to take a breath.
“I know being together won’t be easy,” she says. “But I don’t care. I don’t want easy. I want you.”
Her words knock me on my ass. I lock my knees so they don’t buckle. I close my eyes and soak in everything she’s said.
I take in how Maya’s looking at me like I’m the only person in this entire arena. How she’s put her feelings, raw and unfiltered, out there for me.
Emotion crashes through me like a tidal wave. I start to feel shaky on my skates, so I plant my free hand on the glass, right up against her palm. I glance up at the scoreboard and read those three words over again.
Maya loves Theo
