It's a Match! (19 page)

It was the third quarter and the Burlington Mountaineers had a 24-17 lead. Cole was at the top of his game. The team was working perfectly together. They were more in sync than they had ever been and the energy on the field was electric.
 

Hut-hut-hike.
The center snapped the ball and Cole and dropped back into the pocket. He immediately observed the defensive line blitzing, feeling the pressure of the swarm of players. He scrambled, cutting back to avoid a fast-approaching lineman from the opposing team. Suddenly he felt a pop in his knee, and he immediately crumbled under his own weight. He hit the ground as he began to get lightheaded. He heard the crowd gasp, and everything went dark.

COLE SAT IN
a wheelchair in the hospital waiting room trying to forget about the pain he was in. Claire had gone to grab him a bottle of water from the vending machine, and he decided to text Sutton.
 

Hey, Sutt.

About five minutes later, Claire had not yet returned and Sutton texted back:

Hey.

You’ll never guess where I am.

Oh yeah? Where?

The hospital.

Oh no. What happened?

Well, I started in the game today. I was doing great until I cut back and collapsed. The team physician thinks I may have torn my ACL.

Are you okay?

Yes and no. I won’t be able to play for the rest of the season.

I’m sorry, Cole.

It’s okay. I’ll survive. I just thought I should tell you about it, even though things are weird between us right now.

I appreciate you letting me know. Keep me posted, okay?

Cole debated whether or not to tell Sutton about Claire, but he decided it wasn’t the right time.

Will do. Take care, Sutton.

You too.

Cole put his phone down on the table next to him just as Claire returned. She walked over and took a seat next to him, handing him a bottle of water and a bag of chips. She grabbed his hand as she wore a worried expression on her face. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. Still in a lot of pain.”

“Can I get you anything else?” Claire asked.
 

“All I need is your company.”

“Well, I’m all yours.”

SUTTON PUT HER
phone in her purse and sighed. Her heart ached for Cole. Football was his life. And it had been taken away from him, in an instant.
 

“Hello? Earth to Sutton,” Ava said, interrupting Sutton’s train of thought. They were at a French bistro downtown, just to get away from campus food for a change.

“Sorry. I just got a text from Cole. He had a big game today and he may have torn his ACL. He may not be able to play for the rest of the season.”

“Oh no! Is he okay?”

“As okay as he can be, I guess,” Sutton replied, sipping her iced tea.
 

“Was it weird hearing from him?”

“A bit.”

Ava took a bite of her Caesar salad. “On a brighter note, Jesse will be joining us this weekend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound too excited.”

“I am, I just … I feel bad for Cole.”

“Well, snap out of it. This trip is just what we need.”

Ava and Sutton were going to Mountain Rock, a campsite a few hours away, for the weekend. They were going to be spending two nights in a cabin by the tiny excuse for a lake, where students often camped. It was going to be Sutton’s first overnight trip with Jesse. She was nervous. What if they didn’t get along? What if he drove her crazy, or worse—if she drove
him
crazy?

“I hope so.”

“Snap out of it, hun. It’s time to get to packing. Let’s get the check.”

“Okay.”

Thirty minutes later, Sutton was packing the world’s largest bag. She didn’t know what the weather would be like and she wanted to be prepared. She probably wouldn’t even use a quarter of the stuff, but over-packing was sure to be a better option than not bringing something she could end up needing.

Ava must have had the same idea, because her bag was even bigger than Sutton’s. “You’re bringing a swimsuit, right?”

“Ava, it’s going to be freezing.”

“I’m for sure going swimming, no matter how cold it is. And you will be joining me.”

“I’m not too sure about that, but I’ll bring a swimsuit anyway,” Sutton caved.
 

“Thatta girl. When is Jesse meeting us?”

“In a couple of hours. He has a soccer game right now.”
 

“He’s still driving, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay good. Now, finish packing. Then we’ll stop by Jesse’s game.”

“Sounds good.” Sutton packed the rest of her stuff and zipped up her bag. She sat on her bed and thought about Cole sitting in a hospital bed all alone. She wished she could be there, more than anything. Instead, she was running off with her new boyfriend.

Jesse was great, but Sutton often felt like there was something missing. She wanted to trust him, but a part of her was still scared. What if she never trusted anyone again? What if she ended up ruining this great thing?

No, she wouldn’t let that happen. Ava was right. This vacation was exactly what Sutton needed.

COLE WAS FINALLY
being released from the hospital. It had only been four days, but it had felt like an eternity. He hated just sitting around, but Claire barely left his side. She brought him food, and they had some great conversations. She truly was the perfect girlfriend.

It turned out Cole was lucky enough to only partially tear his ACL, so it wasn’t going to require surgery and there would be much less recovery time. All in all, the injury could have been much worse.
 

Claire handed Cole his crutches and he stood up.
 

“You’re going to be so sexy with these.”

Cole laughed. “I highly doubt that, but thanks.”

“Are you ready? We need to get you home to rest.”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then, let’s go babe,” Claire replied, smiling. “My car is downstairs.”

Cole struggled to make it to the elevator. This was going to be hard to get used to. He was extremely coordinated on the football field, but these crutches were going to be a challenge.

“I’m not exactly skilled with these.”

“I’m sure you’ll be a crutch pro in no time.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

Claire put her arm around Cole as they exited the hospital and began the rough walk to her car.
 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here for you.”

“You’re an angel.” Cole was still pumped with pain meds and was dreading the moment they would wear off.

“I’m no angel. I’m just an extremely amazing girlfriend.”

“Yes, you most certainly are.”

Cole slept through the whole drive back to campus. He was exhausted. Though the drive was short, he had vivid dreams about what life was going to be like now. Football was everything to him. Now it had been taken away. And he had pretty much lost his best friend. He was grateful for Claire, but his heart still ached. Two of the most important things in his life were now gone. Things were going to be so different now.
 

Cole awoke, startled, as they pulled into the parking lot.
 

“Hey, sleepy head.”

“Hey. Sorry, I’m just so tired,” Cole said, groggily.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get you straight to your bed.”

“Bed.”

Claire laughed her sweet little laugh. “Yes, bed.”

SUTTON AWOKE ON
Sunday morning to an extremely caffeinated Ava bouncing around the room. “Finally! I thought you were going to sleep forever. Are you ready to go swimming?”

“It’s literally Antarctica outside.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, frostbite isn’t exactly my thing.”

“Jesse is already at the lake. So, get up and let’s go.”

“Geez … okay. I’m getting up.”

Sutton peeled herself out of bed and shivered as she changed into her swimsuit. She threw on her soft blue hoodie and matching yoga pants.
 

“You can’t be serious. You’re not swimming in that ensemble.”

“I’m not swimming, period. But I will join you guys.”

Ava did a twirl in her suit, checking herself out in the bathroom mirror. She looked over her shoulder toward Sutton. “So, how are you feeling about Jesse? Has it been weird spending so much time with him?”

Sutton thought about it for a moment. “Not really. He’s great.”

“That doesn’t sound very convincing.”

“He is. I’m just … getting used to it all.”

“Used to what?” Ava asked, while applying red lip gloss in the mirror.
 

“Moving on and all that. Being in a relationship again. I didn’t plan on getting involved in one so soon.”

“Soon? It’s been months. He’s good for you.”

“Yeah, I guess he is,” Sutton replied.

“Don’t guess. Guessing is for the weak. Just know.” Ava walked from the bathroom over to Sutton, who was standing nervously near the bed. “Ready?”
 

Sutton took one last look down at her outfit and nodded.
 

As the two girls approached the lake, Sutton saw a glistening, shirtless Jesse. He truly was a thing of beauty.
 

“Hey guys. I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” Jesse called over when he spotted Sutton and Ava. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and shook it a bit. Sutton was mesmerized as she watched the droplets of water coming off of his head. He looked like he had come straight out of a Calvin Klein ad.
 

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world. We have to leave in a few hours, so we should make the best with the time we have left,” Ava said, walking toward the lake in her skimpy suit.

“Good.” Jesse walked over to Sutton. “You look like a cute little blue marshmallow. Are you swimming?”

“I don’t think so. It’s so cold,” Sutton replied, shivering.
 

“Come on … you got this.” Jesse put his strong hands on her shoulders and began to rub them. “Plus, you know I’ll keep you warm.”
 

As Sutton saw Jesse’s beautiful smile and felt the warmth from his masculine touch, she caved. “Okay, fine. Just for you.”