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“He’s our best striker,” Doyle said, glancing at Elias, whose sweat drenched his shirt. “But... if you want to try?—”
“No. I gotta look good.” Elias gestured to the donors, some seated on a bench, others on folding chairs. “Just in case they want me.”
And right there, Doyle’s heart opened up and bled. None of the potential parents had spoken up for Elias. Or Rohan. Considered the kids too old, maybe, but teenagers longed for parents too.
Doyle barely refrained from reaching out to pull the kid into his embrace.Not here.He needed to tame his emotions. They got him into trouble.
What if the Jamesons and even the Marquezes and the Tuckers didn’t want the kids they’d made relationships with? Lionel had already started to pray for his “new mom and dad.” Doyle had set them all up for heartache.
“We can’t let the red team win,” Gabriella said. “I’ll be goalie.”
Oh.Last time he’d let her play that position, she’d gotten hit, smack in the face, nearly broken her nose. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t have anyone here cheering for me,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t have to be a star.”
“I’m cheering for you,” he said quietly, “and you’re a star to me.”
She looked away, her jaw suddenly tight.
Aw. Okay.He looked at the team, so many sweet, eager faces, big eyes, staring at him, and the moment just fell upon him.
Maybe he wasn’t so far from the guy he wanted to be. The guy Juliet had seen in him. The missionary calling he’d tried to forget.
“Okay, Lucia, you throw it in to Rohan, and, buddy, you bring it down, shoot it to Elias. We’re two goals down, and it’s time we showed everyone what you can do.” He put his hand in the center, a fist. “Blue on three!”
The team offered the cheer and ran out onto the field. Lucia ran to the corner, where Taj handed her the ball.
Doyle stepped back onto the sidelines and felt a gaze burning the back of his neck. That’s when he spotted Tia standing on the opposite side, arms akimbo and staring hard at him.
He lifted a hand in a wave and she nodded. Turned away.
But not before giving him the smallest of smiles.
And he was right back on the dance floor last night, his hand on the curve of her back, moving with the music, her arm around his shoulder. And she was staring up at him with those beautiful hazel-green eyes. Gold gathered near the irises, adding a spark of hidden treasure into her gaze, and with the citrus scent of her hair twining around him, it was all he could do not to fall right into her smile.
To pull her back into the shadows, maybe surrender to the spark, the what-if between them.
Or maybe he was the only one feeling it, but shehadheld on to him today, just as hard as he’d held on to her.
So, yes,partners.
But what if...
The day had turned gorgeous, with the blue of the ocean translucent and stretching into the horizon under an unblemished sky. A mountain breeze tumbled down, reaped the lush redolence of the jungle, and stirred it into the valley. He wore a baseball hat, sunglasses, a sleeveless shirt, and shorts and longed for a dip in the ocean.
Rosa had planned a cookout on the beach for tonight, and maybe, if the mood was right, he’d ask Tia for a walk through the salty waves. Take her hand.
And then what? They ran the orphanage together, the lives of these children between them, more than a job.
The sense of it thickened his throat, and his cheer hiccupped a second when, indeed, Elias kicked it in for a goal.
Bam!
Doyle looked over and noticed the Scotts cheering on Lucia, andhuh,he hadn’t realized they were interested in adopting.
Or maybe hope had just taken hold of him.
Jaden kicked the ball out of the goal, and Jamal picked it up. The Jamesons hit their feet, and even Doyle recognized the effect it had on him. Jamal raced down the field, dodged Lucia and Elias, and kicked.