“What do you mean, not like that? What am I doing wrong?”
He should just show her, like he would one of his players. Of course that would involve touching her, which would be bad. Or good. Or—oh, what the hell. He came up behind her and adjusted her arm position. “Like that, see? Much better. Now turn your upper body. Keep your eyes downfield. Good!”
Alex let himself enjoy the contact for just a moment before he took a step back. “Okay, now, let it fly. Concentrate on your mechanics.” He watched critically as she made her first attempt. “All right, kid! Not bad!” He reached up for a high five and she slapped his hand in triumph as her pass made it close to where Will was, so that by running forward he could catch it easily.
“Hey, this is fun!” she said incredulously, smiling radiantly at Alex.
“You’re adorable,” he said before he could stop himself, and she blushed, but he hadn’t messed anything up because she was still grinning over her success when Will trotted back to them. The next few hours passed in a happy blur of running, passing and kicking, until the three of them threw themselves down under a maple tree to rest, staring up at the patterns of branches and flaming leaves against the azure sky.
“I feel so happy right now,” Will said after several minutes of companionable silence. “It almost hurts in my chest, I’m so happy. Has that ever happened to you?”
Holly laughed. “Once or twice in my long life. How about you, Alex?”
“Once or twice.” He fell silent, looking up at the leaves fluttering in the breeze, the restful quiet all around punctuated by bird calls, sharp and sweet. “I’m on Will’s side about today,” he said after a few minutes. “This is pretty perfect.”
“Can we stay here forever?” Will asked.
Yes, Alex wanted to say.
“Well, not forever,” Holly said, and when Alex turned his head he saw her scrambling to her feet, brushing leaves off her jeans. She wasn’t looking at him. “In fact, I should get to the gym if I want to work out today.”
She smiled goodbye and walked back toward the house, leaving Will and Alex in the exact same positions they’d been in, under the exact same tree and the exact same sky, except that some of the golden sparkle seemed to have gone out of the afternoon.
Chapter Eight
On Tuesday, Will came to a decision.
He couldn’t figure out why his mom and Alex were taking so long to get together, until it occurred to him that he might be a factor. After all, they were all living here, and his mom could be kind of old-fashioned. Chances were, she wouldn’t feel comfortable letting anything happen with Alex while he was around.
Well, okay. He could fix that.
Tom mentioned that he and his dad were going on a fishing trip over the weekend, and Will asked if he could go along.
He decided to announce his plans Friday morning, so his mom wouldn’t have any time to adjust or come up with a counter plan. Not only was she old-fashioned, but when it came to anything emotional—her own emotions, anyway—she wasn’t exactly brave. He didn’t want her to find a way to duck out of a weekend alone with Alex.
In the meantime, the days were falling into a familiar pattern: school, football and dinners at home.
The dinners were fun. So fun, in fact, that Will started to wonder if maybe his mom and his coach had the right idea. Maybe friendship was the way to go, after all.
Then he caught Alex looking at his mom one night when the three of them were watching a football film.
“I like this,” Holly said suddenly, causing Alex to jump guiltily.
“What?” he asked, trying to sound as if he hadn’t been staring at her for the last ten minutes.
“Football,” she said, her eyes on the screen. “It’s like financial planning. Lots of strategy and taking the long view, but also reacting to what’s happening in the present moment. Making a game plan and sticking to the broader goals you want to achieve, but being willing to explore different ways to achieve them if what you’re doing isn’t working.”
Alex looked surprised. “That’s exactly how I look at football. At least the game-planning part.” He paused for a moment. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but you’ve been such a good sport about all this football stuff I feel like it’s only fair to show a little interest in what you do. Tell me about financial planning. If anyone could make it sound interesting, you could.”
Holly turned to look at him, and there was a glint in her eye that Will recognized.
“What?” Alex asked warily.
“That pit of chaos you call an office. You’ll notice I haven’t so much as crossed the threshold on one of my ‘cleaning sprees’ as you call them. I’ve stuck to the common areas and respected your right to live like a college student in your bedroom and your office.”