Match Pointe

by Amélie S. Duncan

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Be together,” he answered. “That’s what I want.”

  “I want that, and all that we have. My family, the ballet—I need them all.”

  He ran his hand up and down my back. “We’ll find a way to work it out together.”

  I wanted to believe him, and I also knew him being a part of my life meant he would need to be a part of building it. We’d work to find a way.

  We ate our takeout and I gave him the shortest apartment tour ever. Though I had more empty space than furnishings, I was enthusiastic in that it gave me the independence I craved, though admittedly, us being together made it even better. I truly missed him. He agreed to stay the night and we settled down in my bed. When he had me wrapped up in his arms, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

  We got up early and I ran over to the bathroom. My period! I took out a tampon from my bag then strolled back in and told Tyler.

  He laughed. “Is your period a cause for celebration? You see? Being with me and having sex took away all your worries,” he joked. “You need me.”

  I went over and took his hands. “I do need you, Tyler, but I’d like to keep dancing right now. I haven’t reached where I want to be yet.”

  “I haven’t either,” he said before pecking my lips. “So, we’ve got that to work on together.” He was so certain and confident in our future, and I wanted to get caught up in his dream too.

  Now that our suspension was done, I didn’t see any reason why we had to hide anymore. So, when Tyler offered me a ride, I said, “Thanks.”

  “Good,” he said.

  “Is there a press event today?” he asked. There was a crowd of photographers and news vans at the entrance.

  “Not sure,” I said slowly. Once I was out of the car, I heard someone in the crowd call out, “Oh, there’s Tyler Wilson.”

  A few photographers and a couple with microphones rushed over to me. I motioned for Tyler to go, but he didn’t pull away from the curb. I moved quickly toward the door.

  “That’s Tyler Wilson,” someone announced. They turned and looked at me. “You’re the dancer who was suspended from Le Parc, aren’t you?”

  I tightened my hand on my bag and my heartbeat raced. Somehow the news had been leaked to the press, though late. “If I’m suspended, what am I doing here?”

  “You don’t deny you’re the one with Tyler Wilson?”

  “I hear the affair has heated up so much they are planning to suspend the joint program!”

  “Is your relationship real or an attempt to salvage the failed event?”

  My mouth went dry. They can’t do that. Priscilla’s warning about a sensational story overshadowing the press of the ballet, the soccer team, and the foundation haunted me. Guilt caused my stomach to lurch as I pressed forward to the door that had now a security officer standing outside, requesting ID badges to get in.

  Reaching in my bag, I fumbled for my ID amidst the flashes of the cameras. A tug on my sleeve and flop! My bag finally gave way and dropped open, leaving me to scramble to collect my leotard, shirt, and bottle of water. I should go to Tyler. I turned to try to find him.

  A hand appeared in front of me—Zoey. She shouldered and pushed us through the door. I would have laughed, but I was more concerned about how Tyler had faired. “He texted me to help you and now he’s off to Yankee Stadium.”

  Relief washed through me as I quickly searched my bag to check for what was missing. I couldn’t find my liquid skin or muscle ointment, so I went back to the door and let my eyes dart over the ground as other dancers came in. I zeroed in on the lost items, but also saw one of the pregnancy test boxes. I must have taken one of them out of the box and left it in my bag. My stomach muscles twisted. Had anyone noticed it? A few other dancers came in, forcing me to step aside to avoid blocking the path.

  “You all right?” Zoey asked.

  I waved her ahead. “Yeah, I just need a minute.” Or ten.

  “Scarlet.”

  I looked up to find Christophe at the top of the stairs. “You have five minutes until the start of practice. Don’t be late.” His expression was pensive, but still caused a lift in my spirits. Word was out and there was nothing to stop it. I put aside my panic in a rush to dance.

  “AND I THOUGHT I WAS the drama queen.” Eve held up one of the gossip mags in the locker room. “Woohoo, this is hot. I’m getting the T-shirt.”

  I gave her an eye roll. “Rehab didn’t fix your head I see.” It was a low jab, but Eve laughed heartily. She was in good humor after leaving the facility. That made one of us.

  The article she gleefully thrust in my face had my head on the body of Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing alongside a photograph of Scarlet digging through her bag at the New York Ballet entrance. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was a small circle around a pregnancy test on the ground. Details inside was scrawled along the bottom in large print. We had been expecting something to come out, and this one must have been a rush to print. Somehow the story of my getting kicked out of the program and Scarlet’s suspension had been leaked to the press and the gossiping public was eating it up.

  “Thought you came over to support me, not gloat,” I pointed out as I went over to collect my kit to gear up for another Coach Frost-imposed bench ride.

  “Testy,” she mused.

  A little. Scarlet and I had a hard enough time coordinating our schedules, and it was even worse with the news breaking and the paps thirsty for a follow-up. Since social media can be hacked, we had been careful in the messages we sent by phone and careful about meeting up. Scarlet had been working extra hard in practice—the time off had her needing to catch up—and I was just as driven. She was still fighting, and so would I, for whatever was to come. My phone alerted me of a text from Scarlet.

  Scarlet.Ricci: Don’t let them keep you down. You’re a winner. XOXOXO

  I grinned. She was getting into motivational quotes, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her they were annoying. They made her happy, and she wanted to share her happy with me. I would never stop that, or all the extra hugs and kisses. I let myself think about every part of her body I was going to kiss and had to adjust my jeans. That left me open to more cackling laughter from Eve.

  “You’re probably horny as all fuck too.”

  “Speak for yourself,” she huffed. “I get mine.”

  That had me laughing heartily. She was crazy.

  She stared down at the article again. “I must say, she’s a beauty.”

  “She’s more than that,” I responded as we slipped out the back to get in the town car I’d ordered. Scarlet was going through a lot, training and working every day, and I followed her lead. I studied the opposing teams’ past matches, watched our replays, offered up suggestions to Javier. Some he even used, and the rumor mill said the owner had been demanding I be put back in. That was where my head should have been, but Eve was back on the article.

  “You should capitalize on it—hell, that public relations firm you hired should be milking this shit.”

  That made me pause, but then the two of us weren’t in the show. I pointed out as much to Eve.

  “I know that,” she replied. “But I still thought it looked hot and could see why the heat might have turned up there, enough to make that baby.”

  “You keep that crap up and I’ll uninvite you,” I said, but of course I wouldn’t. The elite skybox had a lot of casual opportunities to network. I usually didn’t involve my dad, but I’d asked him to help organize a few sports medicine contacts from his accident to help Eve out and stay up on her recovery.

  After a quick stop to set Eve up in the suite, I went into the locker room. The team was quiet, until I got to my locker and saw the article taped up to it. Fuck me.

  Lance hit my shoulder. “Oh, if it isn’t lover boy. My daughter getting a new friend? Kayla’s already planning your first baby date,” he said in a high-pitched Brooklyn accent. I was fighting to hold in my laughter before r
esponding. Out of everyone on the team, I was most happy to have Lance talking to me again.

  “There’s no baby, so shut it.” I didn’t really care, and he knew it.

  “Not yet,” he mused. “What do you think, guys? We give it a month.”

  The rest decided to join in for an earsplitting version of “The Time of My Life.”

  I guffawed and they laughed. “Maybe after I marry her.”

  That got them roaring.

  Ace slapped his hot hand on my forehead to mock checking for illness. “Please don’t let that shit be contagious.”

  Lance laughed. “It’ll come for you too, bad boy.”

  Ace rolled his eyes. “Oh God, so lame.”

  Lance smirked. “Hey, Tyler, we still using lame?”

  “Probably tweens still say that shit.”

  Everyone started laughing again.

  “Don’t worry,” Lance replied. “They will eventually move on to something more interesting.”

  “Yeah,” Ace said, putting out his chin toward me. “You ain’t no Hollywood star. They’re only covering you because it’s a slow week.”

  “I’m the one who should be getting the press anyway,” Javier said above everyone. “Only here in New York do you become a star for fucking up.”

  “Get over yourself,” Lance retorted. “He got in trouble and did his time. We gave him shit, now we get past it and work together. Now, get game ready so we can win today. We can still finish second in the league.”

  I looked away from them as I put my uniform on. I hated that the team was down this season. Every team has ebb and flow, a good and bad season. I mostly regretted that I had not tried harder to stay in the game and work through whatever opposition I had with Coach Frost, but that was the past and all I could do was focus on the present. I’d go in and do my part, continue to keep my head down and support them so we could come back next year stronger than ever.

  My phone went off with a message from Zoey, including a photo attachment of her with her hands behind her head and her feet up on my table, smiling.

  Zoey.Wilson: There’s nothing in the fridge. Go shopping, will you?

  She was back eating up my food and rampaging through my things, and I liked that. Maybe she could take over my place and Scarlet and I could move uptown.

  Coach Frost’s appearance had me putting the rest of my things away and paying attention to his rundown of important plays. We were battling it out for second with the Seattle Sounders, and all of us were antsy for a win.

  “Wilson, you’re on Tillerman,” he announced, and the team looked as surprised as I felt. Guess it wasn’t just a rumor that the club wanted me back to playing in the first eleven. I didn’t care; I was getting to play and that was all that mattered. Still, it didn’t keep my excitement down, and I thanked him on my way out of the tunnel with the rest of the team. He didn’t respond, but I didn’t need him to. I was just grateful to be back in the game.

  “Come on, let’s do this!” I shouted.

  Lance and Erik slapped my back on our way out. “Hell yeah.”

  My heart warmed as I looked around at the crowd. The stadium was packed and the crowd was chanting for us. I may have been biased, but we had the best fans in the league. They came out for us even if we struggled, and I was grateful for them.

  When play started, I had kickoff. I dribbled the ball before sending it down the right side of the field then down the center. The return cross only found their goalkeeper, who punted the ball to their forward. He dribbled it toward our goal area as I raced back to help mark a player.

  Lance and Erik got stuck and tackled their center forward then Lance got the ball back with a neat left foot and got it sent my way. I got tangled up in a tackle by one of their new players, his cleats scraping hard across my shin and ankle. Even through my shin guards, I felt the force of his challenge. It made me wobble, but instead of going down, I maintained my balance on my left foot before bringing my right to the ball. I was grabbed by the back of my shirt and instead of fighting the hold, I kept my eye on the ball and moved ahead, like Scarlet when she danced. She was singularly focused, no matter what shit came her way. I would be that too. No drama, no fights. I’d work with my team to win.

  Their defense had Javier walled in and he hadn’t found his way out of it yet. I passed to Lance, who quickly delivered it to Erik upfield while I stayed close to their goal area. Lance was running down my way when I spotted an opening behind one of their defenders and made space for myself. I was rewarded when Erik spotted my run and sent the ball over my way with a high pass. Unfortunately, the pass was a bit long, even for me, and ended up too close to their goalie, who mopped it up into his hands.

  The rest of the first half was a game of half chances and hard tackles, and as the referee blew the whistle, I was ready for a rest period. It seemed we were evenly matched, but that just meant we’d have to work together and try even harder to win the game.

  They kicked off the second half and immediately went on the attack. I saw my chance and went in for the tackle, only to miss out on the ball and end up sitting on the pitch with the game racing down toward our goal area. I quickly got back up and raced to catch up. We were fortunate enough that with my challenge, their player had punted it too far in front of himself and Ace got to it first. He calmly passed the ball sideways over to Javier. We worked the ball in defense for a while as I made my way back forward again. Lance spotted my run and sent a perfect pass in front of me. I took the ball in my stride and raced toward their penalty box. Their goalkeeper ran toward me to try to close me down, but I waited just long enough for him to get close before I sent a deft chip from my right boot over his head. The ball hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity then dipped just below the bar and bounced into their open goal. The crowd burst into celebrations as I did my own by sliding along on my knees, arms held aloft, and I ended up on my back with my teammates piling on top.

  The referee got play back underway once we settled down and they kicked off again. The ball went down to their goal area and their goalie sent it over the halfway line with a huge kick, but our team was right there to collect it. I ran forward into their half and we were able to get the ball over to Javier. I positioned myself in a good area and made myself open to take a shot, and he surprised me by sending it in my direction. I took one quick glance over at the goal and noted where their goalie was standing. As the ball came down toward me, I lashed out with my left foot and hit the ball on the volley. I felt it leave my boot and knew I had hit it perfectly. The ball soared past the helpless keeper at full stretch and buried itself into the top corner. I had scored one of the best goals of my career, and the crowd erupted with life once again. I ran over and jumped in the air right in front of Javier, who grabbed me in midair and held me up. He was the one who had made it happen and at that moment, he was the perfect person to celebrate with. But, the game wasn’t over, and the Sounders were more determined than ever.

  Coach Frost put us all on defense for the rest of the game. We were going to set up shop and make sure they didn’t score, and that was exactly what we did, ending the game at 2-0 New York F.C. The crowd lost it, like we had won the championship. We all shook hands with the opposing team. On the touchline, I watched Coach Frost and Javier doing press interviews. Good for them. It didn’t matter who did it as long as we were getting the exposure and support.

  I was moving to pass by when one of the reporters called out to me. “Good to see you play, Tyler. Will we be seeing more of you the rest of the season?”

  “It was a team performance today and I am proud of them all,” Coach Frost said, avoiding the question.

  “Tyler?” The camera and microphone were thrust into my face.

  “Coach Frost is right,” I answered smoothly. “The important thing was the win, and we proved today that when we play well as a team, anything is possible. It was a team effort led by Coach Frost. Thank you, New York F.C., and our wonderful fans for supporting us.”r />
  This time, they let me pass, but not before I heard their next question.

  “Coach Frost, I hear New York F.C.’s previous coach has been approached about a possible comeback to the team. What is your take on that?”

  Sounded like he’d gambled and lost, but I didn’t hang around to gloat. I signed kits and shook hands with the fans and sponsors with the rest of my team then went off into the locker room. Someone had the classic Black Eyed Peas song “Boom Boom Pow” blaring. I looked around and smiled, loving being back in the game and back with my team family.

  “Who’s going out tonight?” Ace asked. “Come on, Tyler?”

  “He’s got the pixie,” Erik said. “He’s not going out.”

  “Got plans,” I said, but not with Scarlet. I would be spending time with Zoey. After a quick goodbye to my team and making plans to get Eve and Scarlet in together, I left for the grocery store then went back to my place. Zoey got up from the couch to help me carry things inside.

  “Hey, where are the almond bars?” she said, looking through the bag.

  I dug in the one in my arm. “Here it is, spoiled brat.”

  We laughed.

  “Congrats on winning today,” she said before biting into the bar. It was gone in three bites.

  “Hey, it’s not going anywhere, you can chew it,” I teased.

  She let out a giggle.

  “So, I see you got the new Forza game—ready to lose?” she asked.

  I got the snacks together and went to sit down on the couch to beat her ass. After we played for a while, she was ready to talk about what had happened.

  “Scarlet is my best friend and I didn’t want you with her because I was scared you’d fuck her and dump her like you always do and it would hurt her, kind of like you didn’t want me with any of your teammates.”

  “True,” I admitted. “It just…well, happened. We got along. It was just so easy. I don’t know how to explain it better than that.” It was obvious that Scarlet hadn’t mentioned the sex lessons, so neither would I.