Page 130 of Racing Heat

Chapter Forty-Six

~CASSIE~

Coach Watts call out that I’m supposed to take the penalty kick. I turn to Mac.

“You’ve got this,” she tells me, patting me on the head. “It’s going to be fine. Just remember to send that ball hard and fast. You can do this.”

“You good?” Kelsey asks me, putting her arm around my shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m good. I can do this,” I say.

A few other members of my team cheer me on as I take my position at the penalty mark, watching the ref give last-minute instructions to the keeper for the Dash. He then moves over to me.

“On my whistle, you’ll take the kick. If you miss, it becomes a goal kick. If you make it, we’ll start from the top again. Got it?”

I nod. I know this already, and he knows that I do. He’s just doing his job.

“On my whistle,” he calls to both teams.

I look behind me to see all the Dash and the Blaze players are lined up on the eighteen watching me. There’s a chance that if this ball gets deflected, we’ll be fighting to get it back into the net.

If I miss.

I can’t miss.

The whistle blows and the ref nods at me.

I nod back and fire the ball.

It flies up and into the top corner of the net. My team is mobbing me and hugging me. Now the Blaze is on top.

Coach Watts yells, “That’s what I’m talking about!” from the sidelines.

I hug my teammates, and we exchange high fives as I make my way to my starting spot.

Hendrix comes out of the goal and gives me a tight squeeze. “I freaking knew you’d nail it.”

“Get back in goal!” Jase screams at her.

She just giggles and waves at him as she jogs back to her spot in the box. Jase is over there, mouth moving and shaking his head. We can’t hear his words, but I can tell he’s not happy with her.

The game is restarted, and we manage to hold on to our one-goal lead. When the final whistle blows, the Blaze players jump on one another, hugging and high-fiving. This game was closer than it should have been. But it feels good to win.

I look over at Jase and he shoots a big grin in my direction. I want to go to him, but I know we can’t. Professional at all times.

“That was an awesome game!” Mac exclaims when we’re back on the Blaze sideline. “Closer than it should have been, though.”

I nod in agreement. “I know they said it was winnable, but damn, I didn’t think they’d put up as much of a fight as they did.”

“We are so celebrating that tonight!” Amelia exclaims as she joins us, along with Hendrix.

I embrace the girls and smile happily. I can’t believe I almost missed this. He’s worth it, that’s for sure, but living my dream is important to me too, and I don’t want to miss outon opportunities because of him. Not that Jase is the kind of man who would stand in my way. He’s one who wants to see me shine, because he knows what it takes to be here and how important this dream is to me.

Back in the locker room, Coach Watts and Mac say a few words before releasing us out into the stadium. There are a few fans hanging out waiting for autographs and pictures.

I make my way to the railing and sign a few things for those who ask me to. Mac is right beside me, grinning away as she signs too. This was the dream all those years ago, when we first started in college. To have little girls holding up posters and whatever else they could find, asking for our autograph.

“Can I get a picture of you two?” One of the little girls points between Mac and me.