Chapter 24

I’m nervous, although I’m not sure why. My leg is bouncing and my fingers won’t stop fiddling with anything they can find. The end of my shirt, my hands, the wires on my headphones. I’m filled with so much nervous energy that I’m afraid I’ll explode. I turn my attention to making sure I’m fully ready to head out onto the pitch, from making sure my hair is completely secure to double checking that my cleats are tied.

I feel a presence sit beside me on the bench as I finish lacing up my cleats. I know who it is due to the intoxicating scent that follows her everywhere, one that is quickly becoming my favourite smell in the whole world. I glance to my right and see her grey eyes boring into my own, a smirk pulling at those kissable, bee stung lips of hers that I can’t seem to get enough of.

We’re sat in the changing rooms at our school ten minutes before we’re due out on the field, the room bustling with apprehensive energy that’s being transferred into movement. People are bouncing on their toes, stretching their arms, anything that means they don’t keep still.

This is our first home game of the season and I’m feeling the pressure to win. Whilst it’s not all on my shoulders, being captain comes with certain expectations and one of them is to carry the team to a win, especially in front of the home fans. All of our friends and family, probably not my parents, are going to be watching as our fixture is taking the place of Friday night football because Clay’s team has a bye week.

It’s a big crowd, and because our team has been so successful over recent years in comparison to the boy’s soccer team we do pull in pretty big crowds to games, especially when any of the boys teams aren’t playing because we pull their crowd in too.

I’m in ‘my zone’, or at least I’m trying to get there, as all the girls on the team have started to call it. Nobody bothers trying to talk to me, knowing that I like to listen to music and do my own thing in a build up to going and playing soccer. Mackenzie is the only person who has come within ten feet of me since we stopped getting changed and started waiting for coach, the rest of the team opting to standing at the opposite end of the changing rooms and talking quietly amongst one another.

I let my eyes wander over her appearance. Her white blonde hair is up in a tight knot, secured by grips and hairspray that I can smell slightly; her baby hairs scraped away only enhancing the sculpture and strength of the bones in her face, which makes her strikingly beautiful in my eyes and no doubt beautiful in many others. Her soccer shirt is tight over her skin, her shorts ridden up to reveal the strong muscles in her thighs contract as she bounces her feet against the tiles of the changing room floor.

But she interrupted my attempts to get into my zone and I can’t see past that whilst the fog in my concentration starts to clear.

I tear my gaze away and look back down at my own boots. “Don’t forget to take your nose ring out.” I say pointedly once I’ve finished knotting my laces, my right hand slipping my headphones from my ears. I don’t even let her get a word out before I point at the helix piercing I haven’t ever noticed before that under other circumstances would make her even hotter than before. “That too. The referee will book you if you don’t and I don’t want to go into the game instantly disadvantaged.”

I’m also capable of being a massive bitch if I’m broken away from my zone before I’m fully ready. Unfortunately for Mackenzie, she’s put herself in the line of fire. April did it last year and I nearly chewed her ear off, and she’s my best friend. It’s the only time I’ll ever be nasty to a teammate when I’m in my soccer uniform. Luckily, she barely looks phased, she simply removes her jewellery and holds it in the palm of her hand, her eyebrows raised and the teasing look still on her face. “Better?”

I stare at her and try to remain stoic, but with her constantly moving her eyebrows and the smirk on her face becoming a grin, I can feel myself quickly slipping into a happier mood. Her chin is resting in her hand, her eyes searching my face for something, and I’m not quite sure why it’s making my skin feel hot. I replace my stony mask when I realise where we are, and who’s watching. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“What am I looking at you like?” She says with a teasing innocence, knocking her shoulder against mine jovially, her eyes softening as she sees a smile tug at my lips, my body unable to fake annoyance with the gorgeous blonde sat beside me. I watch with a small blush as I see her gaze linger on my lips for a second longer than they should when we’re in a room full of people.

“You know what you’re looking at me like.” I roll my eyes as she stares at me through her thick lashes, the grey in her eyes darkening at the gruffness of my voice. I cough at the way my feelings altered my voice, my mouth becoming dry when I see her swallow slightly, the tips of her ears going pink as her gaze wanders over my face again, her tongue darting out to flick over her lips.

I watch her curiously as I see her mentally debate something, the hand not holding her jewellery going to the back of her head and pulling out her hair grips as her eyes quickly dart around the changing room to see if anyone is looking. I can’t help but copy her, seeing many of our teammates shuffling through their stuff or not looking at us as all. I see Gemma glancing our way, her gaze watchful until April tears her attention from us and onto her.

For once I don’t mind her meddling.

“Come and help me fix the back of my hair.” She says loudly, gripping my forearm and dragging me to my feet, my studs causing my feet to slip slightly at the unexpected movement. I doubt I’m able to hide the confusion from my facial expression considering I have no idea what Mackenzie is planning as she drags me towards the girls toilets.

“You’re the one who pulled your hair out, you fix it.” I grumble as I’m ushered through the door, only to have my breath knocked out of my lungs as I’m slammed against the wall. Mackenzie throws the door shut, my body caged in by her toned and tanned arms. “Jesus!”

I bark out the curse which only has Mackenzie smirking, her head dipping down so that her lips can press against the base of my neck. My eyes widen in shock and I release an involuntary sigh when her mouth latches onto the skin on my throat, her hands holding mine captive somewhere above my head. Her touch ignites my skin like she’s holding a lighter up to it, burning with a heat that makes goosebumps dance across my skin. Her perfume is consuming my thoughts, the sweet smell of vanilla and coconut intoxicating me like it usually does; paired with the kisses she’s trailing up my neck and jaw she has me feeling dizzy and unfocused.

“What are you doing?” I ask breathlessly, my heartbeat pounding in my ears as one of her hands drops to my waist, her fingertips dancing underneath my soccer jersey and digging into my skin. It feels like she’s setting my skin alight with her touches and her kisses, my shaky exhales turning into pants as she makes my knees weak and my eyes shut.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for days.” Mackenzie mutters as her kisses move higher to my cheeks, the corner of my mouth, until her lips are a breath away from mine. All I’d need to do is tilt my head slightly and I’d be finally kissing her. “This week has just been so hectic that I haven’t had the time to message you.”

I can see the guilt in her eyes and it makes me smile, my expression no doubt softening as I reach to cup her jaw in my hands, her grip on my wrists loosening enough for me to shimmy them free from her grasp. “Mackenzie it’s fine, honest. We’ve both been so busy, and as much as I want to spend every minute with you, we both have lives.”

“Every minute, huh?” Mackenzie’s face looks smug as I realise what I said. I roll my eyes and drop my hands, jutting out my bottom lip in fake annoyance. After that comment I’m definitely not going to be the one who makes the first move now, no matter how desperate I am to kiss her. I feel her hand grab mine and lace our fingers together, her forehead dropping to touch mine. “I know exactly what you mean.”

I look up and find myself getting lost in the grey depths of her eyes, noticing how the colour is darkening with every passing second, the thin ring of light silver quickly disappearing. I can’t take the distance any longer, and find myself pulling her face down to meet mine, her lips eagerly pressing against my own despite telling myself I wasn’t going to instigate.

The kiss is sweet and gentle, her tongue tasting of raspberries and mint. I can’t help but smile, looping my arms around her neck as she tugs my body closer to hers until we’re pressed flush together, her chest rising with my own as my back is forced into the wall behind me. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the way I feel when I kiss her, my body hooked on it like a drug. Mackenzie starts to kiss me harder, her teeth grazing over my bottom lip and forcing a shiver from my body.

I pull away when I need air, my face flushed and my breathing uneven. “I should probably fix your hair before coach calls us.” I mumble as I hold my shaky hand out for her hair grips. She closes her eyes and chuckles at me, shaking her head as she slots the grips back into her hair and securing it all back in place whilst I watch on with a dumb expression on my face.

“All sorted.” Mackenzie smirks, leaning down to press a hard kiss against my mouth. “You better be hanging out with me after the game, I don’t care what your friends want you to do.”

I laugh and let her open the door beside me and follow her out, just as coach appears in the doorway of the changing room. She tosses the captain armband my way and I catch it with ease, holding the elasticated material to Mackenzie for her to slide it up my arm. I try and ignore the butterflies fighting in my chest when I watch her concentrate on the small task at hand, the way her tongue is sticking out whilst she concentrates, her fingers brushing against my bare skin. She’s wearing no makeup so I can see the hundreds of freckles that are splashed over her nose and cheeks, a feature of hers that I wish she wouldn’t try to cover up with concealer so much.

I let my gaze settle back onto her grey eyes which are latched onto mine as she forces the band on my arm. She has another smirk tugging at the corners of her reddened lips when she sees the blush dust over my cheeks. I realise she was no doubt watching me staring at her, and I don’t think I could tell you how long she watched me ogle her like a creep.

“You’re cute when you blush.” She mumbles teasingly as we turn around to listen to what coach has to say, her hand lingering slightly on my forearm before dropping it to her side. I miss the contact but find it much easier to breathe without it, my body releasing a shaky exhale when I finally stop feeling the way my skin burnt at her touch.

“Shut up.” I mumble in embarrassment, my eyes glued to Coach’s figure as she paces, trying to stop the heat from spreading upwards from my chest and into my face. Mackenzie’s deep chuckle and discreet contact has my concentration wavering, annoyance coursing through my veins at the fact I can’t listen to what Coach is saying in regards to tactics and how we’re supposed to approach this game, because all I seem to be able to hear is my blood rushing in my ears and Mackenzie’s steady breathing from beside me.

“…so go out there and kick their asses for me. Pretty please with a cherry on top.” I snap back into the real world at the end of Coach Sanders’ speech and curse under my breath when I realise I didn’t catch any of it. I stand up quickly and lead my team out of the changing rooms, trying to act like I know what the hell is going on.

~•~

I release a loud cheer when I watch Mackenzie slot the ball into the back of the net for the second time tonight. Our team has been dominant from start to finish, our opposition barely having any time on the ball what with us controlling possession. I’ve been really impressed with the girls, myself and the rest of the defence having barely anything to do in this second half as we cruise on to no doubt win five nil comfortably.

“At least we’ve put on a good show for the crowd.” Raven fake yawns beside me as we drop back and set up for the opponent kick off, the screaming and cheering of the fans almost drowning her voice out. I let my eyes wander around the crowd, grinning at the way they look hooked on the game, the sight of purple foam fingers and school shirts drowning out the mediocre see of green the opposition are wearing. I see Faye on the sidelines in her cheer uniform, April’s number painted on her right cheek as she leads a team cheer. Devon has Mackenzie’s number and Kiera has mine. Speaking of the devil, I catch her eye just as the opposition kick off and she smiles widely, jumping in rhythm with the rest of the squad, her hand lifting to wave at me which puts her out of time with the dance which I can’t help but laugh at.

“It’s putting girls sports on the map, that’s for sure.” I grin as I let my eyes fall back onto the game. There isn’t long left now, maybe ten minutes, and you can see the fight has left most of the players on the opposition. I watch the girl on the ball cautiously, her face the poster girl for frustration and determination as she pushes her loose, dark curls out of her eyes. She’s been the only person on their team that has shown the slightest bit of threat, and her eyes have been glued to me for the last fifteen minutes. She hasn’t really been much of an issue, her team not really giving her the support she needs and she can’t do everything by herself.

The ball goes out for a throw-in and she jogs near me, her tall and strong frame limiting my vision of her teammate throwing the ball in. I can see her eyes scanning the pitch, her fingers pointing in directions and moving her players into position. I can feel my soccer senses tingling, my instincts telling me a play is coming up that we haven’t defended against yet. I send a look to Raven and she noticed the brunette’s strange actions, and she calls out to Sophia on the right to keep an eye on her player.

And then it happens.

A girl on the touchline breaks free from Elise’s marking and the ball is thrown to her feet. She takes it right into the corner and aims her ball into the box. My eyes narrow and I drop into the box, keeping the strong brunette in the corner of my eye whilst I mainly watch the ball so I can attack it when it comes in. The ball is whipped in at pace and I see the dark haired girl sprint to the front post so I follow, knowing that I’m going to have to really throw myself up into the air if I have a chance of reaching the ball before her, when she stands a good half a foot taller than me.

So I force myself to jump higher than before, managing to tip the ball just out of her reach with my forehead. I grin as I hear her grunt with frustration as Raven clears the ball outfield, the ball rolling out of play at our halfway line.

“Damn you’re good.” She huffs in frustration as the referree blows his whistle to halt play. I look at her to see her smirking as she wipes the sweat from her brow with her sleeve. I grin as my gaze sweep over her face, noticing the slit in her eyebrow and the fact she has one brown eye and one green eye. “What I’d give to have you in my defence.”

“You can’t win them all.” I chuckle as her smirk widens, my eyes falling to look at my coach who is calling me over, realising that I’m getting subbed for the last ten minutes of the game. Usually that would bother me, but seen as though we are winning by a large number of goals and I doubt we’ll lose, I don’t mind giving some of the other girls a chance to play, especially with them needing to get used to varsity soccer by the time Raven and I graduate at the end of this year.

I jog over to April and slide my captain’s armband up onto her bicep before running off the pitch, my chest swelling at the sound of people cheering as I come off. I slap my replacement on the shoulder and walk over to the bench to grab a drink. Coach Sanders intercepts me on the way to the bench and slides her arm around my shoulder jovially and shoves a gatorade into my hands. “Nice work, cap. Proud of how you led our line today.”

I grin widely, my cheeks flushing at her praise as I pull my school hoodie over my head, ripping the cap of my drink off with my teeth and taking a long swig. I’m grateful for the hydration and find myself guzzling the whole bottle as quickly as possible and ignoring the fact I’m spilling half of it down my chin and front.

“Wow, could you miss your mouth anymore than you already have?” I hear a familiar voice call out to me, a laugh escaping past my lips as I look her way. Kiera is leaning against the wall that separates the dugouts and the bleachers, a smile pulling at her painted lips. Her arms are held daintily over her chest, her legs crossed at the ankles as she stares on at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Pass me another bottle and I’ll give it a try.” I grin, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand before extending it to Kiera, wiggling my fingers at her to throw me another gatorade. Kiera rolls her eyes at me but smiles nonetheless, arching her back slightly as she pushes away from the wall. The movement forces the top half of her two piece cheer outfit to ride slightly, exposing a large strip of her tanned skin that I quickly look away from. I don’t want to be the type of creep that stares at every girl that flashes a bit of skin, and I feel like Keira would feel a bit weird catching me staring, plus it would kind of out me. I swallow and look to the pitch to try and find Mackenzie, only to be smacked in the head with a bottle. “Ow!”

“Oh my God, I thought you were still looking at me!” Kiera rushes up to me and drops down to her knees, taking my face in her hands, her grip on my chin allowing her to tilt for any damage whilst I start to laugh. “What’re you laughing at?”

“You.” I giggle, picking up the bottle from the floor and popping the lid off. I look down at her, her near black hair tucked behind her ears and her makeup done in the school colours. I see that she’s painted freckles shaped like hearts on her face in purple and black, making her look younger than her seventeen years in a cute way.

Kiera smiles, her teeth bared as she continues to hold onto my face, her index finger tapping against my cheek. I grin back at her and remember I still have the bottle she launched at my head in hands. I lift it up and spray it in her face, a surprised shriek slipping past her lips as she launches herself backwards to get away from the spray whilst I cackle like a mad woman. I throw myself towards her and continue spraying water at her, only stopping when Coach sends me a look so icy that I feel my blood start to chill.

“Sit your ass back on the bench, now.” She seethes, my face warming with embarrassment as I drop into my spot on the bench, the rest of my teammates snickering beside me, Kiera looking at me whilst she tries to smother her smug grin with her hand. I glare jokingly at her and slide my thumb across my neck much to her amusement, having the decency to look sheepish when Coach Sanders glares at me again.

“Ooh, looks like someone isn’t in their coach’s good books any more, skipper.” I turn to look at the person sitting next to me and roll my eyes at the fact it’s Freya. I roll my eyes at her and look away, letting my attention return to the game that I should’ve been watching the second I came off the field.

Freya and I have been butting heads more often nowadays, especially after I snapped at her during lunch. By that I mean she’s been headbutting me whilst I try and remain calm and composed for the sake of Mackenzie and my friends. I know that Mackenzie is pretty close to her, and I don’t want to be falling out with her closest friend because it will just make life difficult for us further down the line.

Trust me when I say my tether is getting really close to snapping. It’s looking like a frayed rope that has been burnt to the point that the chord is about a featherweight away from splitting in half.

I find my eyes drawn to my favourite blonde, her existence the epitome of beauty and grace. Even in her soccer kit she’s gorgeous, the material clinging to all the right places as she stands with her hands placed on her hips, her eyes analysing the game whilst remaining poised for a counter attack.

“You’re staring.” Freya’s annoying voice chimes in my ear and I grit my teeth, clenching my jaw tightly as I try and sigh away my frustration. I don’t want to say something when Coach is so close. I know the risks that come with not getting on with your teammates, and despite coach liking me she won’t hesitate to strip my captaincy the second I stop setting a good example.

So no matter how badly I want to hit her or call her out, I say nothing and continue to watch the game (or girl) like I was before. I can hear her rustling in her seat and I almost feel in my chest that she’s just waiting for the right time to saying something else annoying.

“You know,” She says, and I turn around to face her. “You two have gotten pretty close recently. A lot of people have started to notice it.”

“Do you have a point?” I grind out, my heart rate spiking at the thought of this conversation and which direction she could take this. I look at her and hate how smug she looks, like she knows everything about what we’ve been doing and what we mean to each other. The thought that Freya, a girl I despise more than my parent’s absense, knows about us terrifies the crap out of me because I really wouldn’t put it past her to hold this over my head to get what she wants.

“Oh no. I’m just stating my observations.” She shrugs, mock innocence all over her features. “One thing I did notice is that you both seem to have a taste for Japanese food.”

I can’t help but tense, my gaze hardening as she looks on with obvious glee. I don’t know where she’s going with this, and frankly I don’t want to find out so I decide to put an end to this conversation. “Oh píss off Freya, I’m done talking about this.”

“Okay.” She says and spins around in her seat so she’s no longer facing me. “But I wonder if Clay would like to hear me out.”

“About what?” I laugh out sarcastically. “That I go to Japanese restaurants with my friends? Do you know how deranged you sound?”

Freya turns around angrily, all smug composure gone from her face. Her eyes are narrowed into slits as she jabs a finger roughly into my chest. “No but I wonder how he’d feel about you going to a Japanese restaurant with your friend and then kissing them in your car outside.”

My face pales at her words, the blood quickly draining from my cheeks as my eyes whip around to see if anyone heard her hissing. We didn’t actually kiss in my car, Mackenzie’s teasing ending before I got close, but if Freya was to glance our way quickly I could understand why she’d think we did. Oh and regardless of whether we did or not, it definitely looks like cheating. Luckily everyone else on the bench is too engrossed in the game to hear her, and the volume of the crowd seems to have smothered our conversation.

“I’m not going to out you. I’m not that disgusting.” Freya snaps, fury evident in her delicate facial features. “But I’d start treating me with more respect considering I know you’re cheating on your boyfriend.”

“Oh so you’re not going to out me but you’re not against blackmailing me to get what you want?” I fume, my fists clenching by my sides as the whistle goes to signal full time. I stand and tower over Freya, my body shaking uncontrollably with the fear and fury that’s coursing through my veins. Freya holds my secrets in the palm of her hand and I know she’s not opposed to using information to get what she wants. I shake my head and storm away, not bothering to wait for the team or congratulate them.

Because I know that if I look into the manipulative eyes of Freya for a second longer, I’ll end up punching her in the face.

And my actions will cost me everything.

~•~

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I just wanted to give you a quick update about what’s going to happen to my update schedule over the next month or so.

I’m a keyworker so at the moment I’m being worked off my feet so I’m really struggling to find time to write at the moment. I’ve got a few chapter that are written and ready to go after this one, but I might have to change the update schedule to once every ten days or so. I don’t necessarily want to keep pushing back when I give you new chapters, but I’m doing this so I don’t leave you guys high and dry without chapters because I physically don’t have the time to write them.

I hope you guys understand and I hope you stick around the read the next chapter because things are starting to heat up aren’t they 😉

Lots of love guys, thanks for being patient,

Lauryn xoxo