Gimme Everything You Got - Iva-Marie Palmer Page 0,133

wanted to celebrate my goal and Mom’s job. Dad said I should get to pick where we went after how hard I’d played, and they began again to recount highlights from the game. I let their talk about how great the team was and how great I was wash over me, and a few feet away, I saw Tina being hugged by her parents as, on the edge of her circle, Todd took a tentative step toward her. She stretched out her hand and took his. She peered at me over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow, as if to say, “I’m so nervous.”

I gave her a thumbs-up. She was brave. I made the signal with my hand to indicate she should call me later and she nodded. I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but from Tina’s mom’s open expression, I thought Tina and Todd were going to be okay.

Wendy’s face was covered in dirt, but I could see her beaming as both her parents hugged her. Clearly, they at least agreed on how proud they were of her.

Dawn was talking to a man with a clipboard—the scout?—and she had the expression of a lottery winner who couldn’t believe her luck. She pointed at me and mouthed, You’re next, and my heart flipped.

Franchesa’s brothers were carrying her on their shoulders and only put her down so that she could accept congratulations from a few of the girls on the badminton team, who’d shown up to watch. Lynn Bandis was tenderly examining Marie’s wrist, as Len Tenley stood to one side, perhaps realizing that he was being ignored by both girls. Marie beamed at me.

“So what’s it going to be, Susan?” my dad asked.

“Pizza?” I suggested, and saying the name of a food out loud made my stomach growl.

People were leaving the field in groups. Dana, who was talking to the cross-country captain, called to me, “Are you taking the bus back?”

I shook my head. “I think I’m going home with my family.”

“Got it,” she said. “See you on Monday. Captain.”

Walking toward the chain-link gate that separated the field from the school grounds were Joe and his sister. “Can you give me one minute?” I asked my family. Not waiting for an answer, I jogged toward Joe.

“Hey.” I tapped him on the shoulder. He and Rachel spun around.

“Susan, you were way cool out there,” Rachel said. She was looking at me so worshipfully, I almost forgot why I’d come over.

“I love your shirt,” I said to her.

“Thanks. Joe’s idea,” she said. “I’ll wait in the car,” she added with a knowing smirk. Joe handed her the keys, then turned to me.

“I didn’t see you at first,” I said.

Joe shrugged and glanced down at his feet almost like he was shy. Shy was not a quality I associated with him. “We wouldn’t miss it,” he said, and then, lifting his head so he looked right into my eyes. “And I heard you told off Ken in front of the whole team. About that . . . thing he did. Thanks for that.”

I smiled. “It was no big deal,” I said. “He deserved it.” Where were my funny comments and replies? Had I sweated out the amusing portion of my personality? The blood was pumping in my veins harder than it had during the game. I’d always been at ease around Joe before, and I’d been putting off thinking about him—or him and me—until after this game was over. But now I knew something for sure. I really liked him. I wanted to see what could happen between us, even if I was a little scared.

“So, um, I wanted to ask you something,” he said.

“Sure,” I said.

I was not sure. I braced myself for a question about the night at the wedding. I thought I’d covered that when I went to his house. He grinned, though, and his mischievous smile put me at ease.

“Why did you go for the direct kick on Ken? Not that I didn’t enjoy it.”

I gave him a long, appreciative look. God, he was cute. Like, ridiculously cute to the point where I couldn’t believe I hadn’t filled my skull with thoughts of him from the first second I met him. “Someone really smart told me to go for a goalie’s weak spot, and since he’s a huge dick, I figured it was his balls.”

Joe laughed, his grateful, unrestrained laugh. “Solid thinking, Pelé,” he said. He cocked his head to the side and pointed to my shoulder. “You’ve