"No one's as good as you in my eyes, J." She gave his hand a pat, which made Jovonte grin. But then she added with a hint of mischief, "Though my eyesight's not what it used to be."
Estelle and I held back laughs while Jovonte frowned, and Dare let out a chuckle.
"Have I told you lately how much I love your grandmother?" he asked and placed a hand on Jovonte's shoulder. "Because it's a lot."
The other boy shoved him away good-naturedly. "You two play too much," he said on a laugh.
"Seriously, you're the best, Gigi." Dare placed a kiss against her cheek.
"Ah, you're just saying that because I'm old." She waved him off, but I could see the joy in her face. "That was quite the game, young man."
"Thank you."
Dare's eyes fell on me.
"What'd you think, Vi?" he asked and then waited. As if he really cared about the answer.
"I thought you were amazing," I said. It was the truth. "Everyone was awesome, but to me, you stood out."
Dare arched a brow. "So, you liked the match?"
I thought about downplaying my feelings but couldn't. "I enjoyed it a lot actually. Much more than I thought I would. I'm glad I came."
"Me, too," he said quietly, almost as if he didn't mean for anyone to hear.
"Seeing you play was…"
I struggled to find the right word.
"You're just so impressive," I finished, feeling my cheeks fill with heat as he stared at me. But he deserved to hear this. "I can tell you love soccer. And it definitely loves you."
Dare's smile reached his eyes. "Thanks, flower."
He'd opened his mouth, but Tyson interrupted whatever he was about to say.
"Man," Tyson said, the smile never leaving his face as he dropped an arm over Dare's shoulders. "I hope you had as much fun as I did. Not gonna lie, it felt nice to get that first win."
The two fist-bumped, and Dare grinned. "Any win is a good win."
"Ain't it the truth," Jovonte said.
"My aunt's around here somewhere. I need to find her, but I came by to let you know Coach wants us back in the locker room before we head out," Tyson went on. "Something about mindset and using this win to drive us to more." His gaze moved to mine. "Oh, and Viola, Coach also wanted me to say he was so glad to see you, and that he can't wait to hear what you thought of the game."
"She loved it," Dare said.
"Naturally," Tyson said.
"Who wouldn't?" Jovonte supplied, and once again, the three took turns giving each other guy hugs and pats on the back. "We rock hard."
Estelle rolled her eyes. "Okay, well, we'll just leave you three to bask in your glory," she said, linking arms with me and Gigi. "Catch you all later."
"Bye," I said over my shoulder to Dare as she began leading us away.
"Thanks again, flower," he said.
Once we were out of earshot, Gigi laughed. "Not sure I've ever seen Dare smile so much before or after a game."
"Yeah, me either," Estelle said.
"But I thought he and the team win all the time," I said.
"They do." Jovonte's grandmother threw me a wink. "But I think that reaction was all for you."
Estelle grinned. "I agree."
"Oh come on," I said. "It's normal to be happy when you win."
"I'm just saying," she laughed, "he never gets that excited to see me and Gigi."
A sudden thought entered my mind.
"Aren't his parents here?" I asked as we walked from the field out to the parking lot.
"No, they don't come," Estelle said. "Never have from what I understand."
Her answer surprised me.
"But that's crazy," I said.
"I haven't seen them at a match," Gigi confirmed. "Which is a crying shame. Not only because they're adults who should support their child. But the boy is just so dang gifted."
Estelle and I hummed in response.
"That is a shame," I mumbled, wondering how in the world his parents could stay home when Dare was so incredible.
On and off the field, my mind supplied, a thought I tried my best to ignore.
But it was getting harder.
Thoughts like that kept popping up out of the blue over the next few days. Between driving and talking with Dare in the mornings to him doing nice things like opening my door and carrying my cello to inviting me to his games, I could feel the shift in my feelings toward him. Especially when he sent me random texts like this.
Secret Boyfriend: Hey, flower. Just wanted to check-in and see how you're doing.
Or this.
Secret Boyfriend: Heard a song last night, made me think of you. Cello's not so bad—especially when you play it ;).
Or this.
Secret Boyfriend: How you doing? Need me to come save the day?
I'd received that one as I was waiting in line to get lunch on Friday. Penn Cavendish, his buddies, Whitney and Ingrid had cued up behind me. It worried me at first. I didn't like them being at my back, so I'd turned around, prepared for anything. But all Whitney did was roll her eyes, say "ugh, must you take up so much room?" and reach past me to grab a bottle of water. They left shortly after. I was surprised she hadn't said more—or quite frankly that Penn and his crew hadn't barked or something. The reason behind that was cleared up later when I was discussing the strange encounter with Estelle.
"I just don't understand why Whitney held back," I said. "She hasn't before."
"I heard Dare threatened to break Penn's nose," Estelle said.
My eyes widened. "No…he confronted him, told him to cut it out or he'd tell my dad. But that was a while ago."
"This was
