Chapter 13

Thirteen

“G ood game, bud,” Chance was telling Emmett.

She noticed he didn’t ruffle his hair anymore and assumed Emmett had said something to him about it. The best part was that he listened.

This morning Chance had woken her up early so she could go home before Emmett woke up. She hated sneaking around, but she wasn’t ready for Emmett to know that she had a boyfriend.

Hell, she was still trying to wrap her own head around it. Unlike Isaac, she wanted to be sure that they were going to be together for a while before Emmett knew anything romantic was going on. She knew her fanciful son, and he’d be planning a wedding before anyone realized it.

Even having him around Emmett this much now was a risk. If things didn’t work out between them, then he’d be confused and hurt. Soccer was his life, and she worried more that he would lose his love for it if his idol were to be a part of his life and then suddenly stop.

“Hey, Tori. I was thinking maybe you both would like to come have a tour of the facilities?” Chance asked.

Emmett had run off to grab his snack from the parent that brought it this week. Chance had waited to ask until he was out of earshot and she didn’t miss that nice gesture.

“That could be fun,” she answered.

Emmett would enjoy it, sure. She would probably enjoy it just as much. It would be neat to see everything without all the crowds packed in.

Chance grinned back at her like he’d just been given a gift. “This is going to be amazing. Emmett will love it.”

“He will,” she confirmed.

“I think his mom will find a few interesting things there, too,” he said.

Tori laughed. “I bet she’s a little excited, too.”

“Emmett,” Chance called him over. “You want to go see where we practice?”

His eyes practically popped out of his head as he turned his head, looking between her and Chance. “Now?”

“Yep,” Tori told him.

“Let’s go get your seat. I’ll drive.” Chance looked to her to confirm that was okay.

“Why not?” She’d ridden with him the other night and he seemed like a safe driver.

They quickly got Emmett’s seat switched over to his car and were off. She left her car in the parking lot and they’d pick it up when they got back.

Emmett asked Chance question after question as he drove. Patiently, Chance answered each one and laughed at a few.

Tori looked out the window and wondered how a random encounter in the grocery store had led her here. It was such a strange turn of events. Despite how great it all was going, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing in her life ever went that great for long.

“Here we are,” Chance said, parking the car. “There’s only two rules, you have to stay with me unless me or your mom tell you otherwise and you have to listen to everything we say. We don’t want to get in the way.”

“Okay,” Emmett quickly agreed.

She was certain he had no idea what Chance said. “We’ll have to keep a close eye on him,” she told Chance.

“Already on it.” He opened the door and walked around to meet her and Emmett. “Come on,” he told them.

“We get to go down the tunnel?” Emmett asked.

Chance nodded. “We will go in and out of it as long as you behave.” He crouched down to Emmett before they reached the door. “If your mom or I have to ask you to behave at any point, we will leave. Got it?”

Emmett nodded. He was still wide-eyed and while she appreciated the attempt at reinforcing what he said before, it was still likely that he’d find some mischief.

Chance led them into the team entrance and through halls of trophies and offices before they reached the gym. He explained what everything was and she and Emmett were awestruck.

The gym was pretty full, guys working out everywhere, shirtless. She was in some sort of twilight zone where every man was perfectly built and staring at her.

“Don’t go forgetting about me,” Chance whispered.

She ducked her head to cover the blush.

“Guys, this is Tori and her son Emmett. Mind if I give them a tour?” Chance announced.

Lots of deep voices gave their approval and Chance led them around the room. The first person they encountered was Maddox.

“I see you really liked this one better than me,” he teased.

“Mom always watches Chance play,” Emmett informed them.

The men chuckled as she wished for the floor to swallow her whole. The kid was telling everyone that she had the hots for Chance even before now.

“Lawrence.” Aaron Keene patted Chance on the back. “What say we take them out on the pitch?”

“Please?” Emmett begged.

The tour an introductions cut short, they followed all the players out on to the pitch, via the tunnel of course. Emmett was silent as he took it all in.

They guys brought a few balls out, and Emmett was suddenly off. They passed with him and showed off a few of their own tricks. He was one of them in a matter of a few seconds.

“They will watch him,” Chance told her.

“I would never have believed that until today.” She looked out as all these men tried to get his attention.

“They love kids,” he told her.

“Well, Emmett loves them, so I’d say it’s a good fit,” she joked.

Chance led her over to the seats the team usually waited on and took a seat next to her.

“You aren’t going to go play with them?”

“Not right now. I think I’ll enjoy the view with my soccer mom.” He reached between them and squeezed her hand. “Is there anything you’d like to see?”

She never imagined seeing behind the scenes. “I hadn’t even considered it. I think just being down here, looking at the stands is enough. It’s so weird to imagine it they way you see it.”

“It used to be surreal. Now it’s a bit more like just a normal thing. In a big game all of these seats fill up and listening to the crowd scream when you score is the best feeling in the world.”

“I can imagine,” she whispered as she did.

“Mom,” Emmett yelled. “Come see.”

Tori laughed and stood. “I’m beckoned.”

He let go of her hand as they stood but stayed close. All at once, she wished that Emmett knew so she could hold his hand or feel his arm wrapped around her as they walked out onto the pitch.

She watched as Emmett did the trick with the ball and kept Maddox from stealing it. “Good job,” she praised him.

“Want to learn?” Maddox asked.

“No, thanks. I’m more of a fan than a player. I have perfected my part in this.”

A few of the guys laughed with her. Chance was pulled away by two players she recognized, and they were talking. She focused on Emmett learning his next skill trick instead.

“You did a good job turning your image around, man,” someone was saying.

“For real. A single mom? You couldn’t have done more of a turnaround than that from your old life,” another man said.

“I bet if you asked, they’d let you play now. This was a genius move,” the first man said.

She held her breath, waiting for Chance to tell them they were wrong or for someone to give her more information. The denial from Chance never came and when she turned to look, they were all three further away from her now.

It took her a minute to get herself under control, standing there in the middle of the pitch, surrounded by players, she’d never felt more lost and alone.

Tori took a few calming breaths as she watched Emmett continue to play with Maddox. The other shoe had fallen and she really wished it hadn’t.

For her son’s sake alone, she continued their day as though nothing had happened. It would be the last time that she and him were here like this and she wasn’t going to take it from him. It would hurt enough when Chance stopped coming around.

It was her worst fears realized about him. It had all been an act and Chance wasn’t interested in her.