Cheers, whistles, boos, shouts—the whole stadium was a cacophony of noise. I found myself actually getting into the game, my eyes glued to the action. When Carter passed the ball to Kian, who sent it flying to Preston in a perfect arc, I held my breath. The ball seemed to hang in mid-air for a moment, before Preston booted it straight into the goal. I flew out of my seat with a scream, along with the other Alstone High students and supporters in the stands, jumping and cheering. Anastasia turned to me and actually pulled me into a hug, all breathless excitement, and I froze for a minute, then hugged her back, shocked.
At half-time, both teams disappeared, and I sat back in my seat.
“How are you enjoying your first school football game?” Imogen smiled at me as she opened a bottle of Coke.
“I’m… It’s fun. I want to do it again.” I was surprised to find that I meant it. Even though everything had gone wrong with Carter, I still wanted to come back. The atmosphere, the feel of being part of something—everyone around me all on the same side, willing our team to score a goal, all of us experiencing the highs and lows together—it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
“The players are good to look at, too. Aren’t they?” She smirked at me. “Got your eye on any one in particular?”
“No.” Both she and Anastasia laughed at my emphatic denial, clearly not believing me. Thankfully they decided to stop tormenting me, and the conversation turned to Anastasia’s upcoming birthday.
The second half was tense as Highnam Academy scored a goal almost as soon as the whistle blew, making the score 1-1. We had to win this. When did I start thinking of the team as a “we”? Guess I’d found my school spirit.
The clock seemed to count down so slowly as the game neared the end. Time slowed to a crawl. The referee blew the whistle, and the voice over the speakers announced there would be two minute
s of added time. This was it. The whole ground was silent as Carter took up position on the side of the pitch for a free kick. I held my breath as he stepped back, then ran and sent the ball flying in a perfect arc, straight towards Kian. Kian seemed to leap into the air and headed it straight into the goal.
The stadium erupted in cheers and whistles, and as the team celebrated, I found myself cheering along with them, standing, clapping until my hands hurt. We just had to get through another forty seconds, and then we would have the win.
Three blasts of the whistle sounded, signalling the end of the game. Alstone High had done it.
I couldn’t stop smiling. Then Imogen elbowed me, hard, and my head shot around to her in surprise.
Carter, she mouthed.
I turned back to the pitch, and there he was. Now he was looking at me.
Only me.
34
I watched, trapped by his gaze as he left his teammates celebrating on the pitch and jogged towards me, right to the edge of the stands. Imogen gave me a small push forwards, until I was right in front of him, just the low barrier separating us. He was all sweaty, breathing hard, his dark hair wet and tousled, his eyes sparking with triumph at the team’s win.
“Nice shirt.” His eyes raked over me, heating my body. “Enjoy the match?” His voice was raspy, probably from shouting instructions to his teammates all game.
I nodded, momentarily unable to speak.
“Good.”
We stood, staring at one another, and I started to feel uncomfortable, aware of people’s attention turning towards us as their team captain stood in front of me. What was this?
“Fuck it,” he muttered, then reached out and lifted me up, over the barrier, and into his arms. My arms and legs automatically went around him, but he held me effortlessly.
“Carter? What—”
His lips were suddenly on mine, and I was gone. I wound my arms more tightly around his neck, kissing him back with everything I had.
“I’m sorry. So sorry. I want you. I want to be with you. Only you.” His words were quiet but spoken with so much intensity that I had no doubt he meant them.
“You want me?”
“So fucking much. If you can forgive me. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m shamelessly hoping you feel the same way about me and want to give me another chance.”
“You’re not ashamed to be seen with me?” I probed, just to make sure.
“I’ve never been ashamed of you. I want you to get any of those thoughts out of your head.” He looked at me intently, the kaleidoscope of browns and golds in his eyes holding me captive. “My… Fuck, Rai. My head was a mess. It took a while for us to be on the same page. That’s if we are still on the same page?”
I let out a shaky breath. “Is this real? Are-are you serious?”