Soccer ~˜… Bxb Romance Novel ˜…~ Chapter 9 ~ Max’s POV

It was another Friday night. Jake was over at my apartment. We were cuddling in my bed with the door closed. His body was warm and comforting against my perpetually sore muscles. I decided that now was a good time to finally talk about us.

“Jake?” I asked timidly.

“What’s up babe?”

The pet name made me melt. Jake’s brunette curls and his exposed chest against the white bed sheets sent a ripple of desire through my core. I resisted the urge to kiss him and sat up straighter.

“I think we need to talk about us,” I spoke.

“You’re right. Do you wanna start?” He proposed and then shifted his position so he sat cross-legged facing me, all of his attention on me.

“I really like you. But I get worried about where we’re going, in this… It’s been fine as we are so far, but I think we have to decide now.”

Jake nodded and smiled.

 “I really like you too. And if it’s what you want… will you be my boyfriend now?”
A wide smile spread over my face and I pulled Jake in for a long embrace.

Having a boyfriend wasn’t so different from what we were already doing. There were no more secrets, no was no more hiding. Sammy and Ken supported us. We went out on dates all over the city, studied together, kissed and held hands whenever we wanted…

It was amazing. We had gotten together just in time for the Summer break and when I wasn’t training, we were laying by the cool ocean water or fooling around with Sammy, Jenna and Ken in the sand.

It was really amazing. For a while.

School started up at the end of Summer. Study material piled up and our conjoined soccer team training separated in preparation for the matches that began in Winter.

Jake barely had any time to spend with me, and though we tried to make it work, it didn’t.

I was walking on a thin line. We barely went out together, because I was tired from training and he was preoccupied by school. I desperately avoided the ending because I had fallen in love. Yes. I had fallen in love. 

At night when I laid my head on my pillow, his eyes, brightened by the sunlight, whirled through my mind. When I touched myself, his body was the only one I could think of. His laugh had imprinted itself in my mind.

I could read right through Jake, and I knew, we both knew, he wasn’t there for me anymore.

Our relationship gradually turned bitter as the weather became colder and the leaves turned brown and fell to the ground.

Mid-May, It was an icy Friday afternoon, our date night.

I was walking out to the courtyard, on the way to the front gate to meet him, when I heard his voice, on my right, around the corner of the school’s main building.

I tuned in, and walked closer to where his voice came from, fully prepared to wrap my arms around his shoulders and plant a kiss on his cheek.

“… I don’t think we’re working anymore. I love him but… And there’s this guy, a friend, I’ve been talking to and I just- there’s no time for us anymore. We could try to make it work but I just don’t think it will. I think Max and I have run our course together”

My eyes glazed over with tears. I pressed myself against the wall, still listening. This time someone else spoke, it was Sammy.

“You have to tell him, Jake. The new guy you were talking about? I don’t think you should mention him to Max.” Sammy advised.

I exposed myself from my hiding spot, not caring how obvious it was that I was eavesdropping.

“Jake?” My voice broke.

A panicked look raced over Jake’s face, before he rushed off. Sammy grasped my arm but I shook him off and ran off somewhere quiet. 

I withdrew myself from socialising for a while. I went to school, did my homework and trained. I talked to Ken for when I needed it. I cried a lot. But soon enough matches were starting, and I was distracted constantly, my body was exhausted. I lived and breathed soccer.

And we made it to the finals.

I spoke to myself in the mirror on the morning of the final match.

“Whatever happens, you’re going to be proud of yourself. The first boy you’ve ever loved broke up with you a month ago. You’ve made it to the finals as captain for four years in a row now. After this, you are going to celebrate life like it’s your last day on earth. You’re going to make that field your bitch.”

My own pep-talk got me into the game mindset. I remembered all of the things I had improved from training, down to the angle of my foot when I kicked the ball to my teammates in other positions.

When we got to the field, I held an impromptu pep-talk for my team to get us hyped. We were all doing our own rituals to help us align into the zone. We were so ready. Even the proximity of James Kendrick’s sweating, panting body against my own didn’t affect me as I stole the ball from his grasp. We were so prepared, so well rehearsed and practiced and connected.

But we lost. To our arch-enemies. To James Kendrick.

While I was extremely disappointed, my pep-talk that morning helped me cope. I was disheartened, but it was outweighed by my optimism and eagerness to replay the game and analyse our mistakes.

I knew there were scouts watching, and they saw me play. They saw how well I took the loss. It sucked, but it was going to be okay.

I walked into the shared change room with the asshole winners, pitying myself briefly, eyes on the ground.

I showered, changed and finally looked up to find both our team’s coaches making an announcement about the Spring formal. We had never had conjoined dance before.

I turned to Sammy and Ken, at the sound of the semi-formal their spirits and peaked and subtle smiles crept up onto their faces. We all agreed to go, Ken planned to invite a guy he was tuning with that I couldn’t remember the name of and Sammy was of course bringing Jenna, they had been dating for more than six months now- and they were absolutely adorable together. A few weeks after the breakup I forgave Sammy for being involved. I knew he was just being a good friend, but I had needed someone to blame. Slowly but surely we managed to find our rhythm as friends again and our trio was going strong.

From the other side of the room, James Kendrick’s voice travelled. He said he was going to the semi-formal alone.

A flutter of something whipped through my stomach. Why did I still have feelings for him?

We hadn’t spoken for months. And yet part of me knew, I was single now. The finals were over. He was going alone to the semi-formal, I was going alone too. And if there was ever a time for anything, it was now. I looked up from my phone to look at him as he listened to his friends, Nic and Cole, intently. Fuck he was gorgeous. His hair was still wet from the shower and his cheeks were slightly sunburnt. His entire face lit up as he laughed along with his friends and, sensing the eyes of Sammy and Ken on the back of my neck, turned to them. They shifted around, pretending they didn’t see me watching him.