Becca jostled me around. “And it worked! She got a little too confident, drove a little too deep, then what happened Kins?”
“Andie pounced and blocked that ball like it was the easiest thing she’d ever done!”
I could feel my cheeks burning red with all the attention. I wasn’t nearly drunk enough to have an entire bar full of people focused on me.
“Kawasumi was no match for our Andie!”
“TO ANDIE!” Nina shouted, and the bar echoed back. “ANDIE!”
Kinsley was embellishing the story a little bit. I hadn’t blocked the shot that easily. I’d blindly dove, praying it’d be enough to stop it. And it had. But we hadn’t won the game because of me. Our offense was the reason we had two scores on the board by the time the whistles blew.
“Andie! Andie! Andie!”
Oh Jesus. No matter how much I tried to quell the chanting, the crowd just grew louder. I assumed it couldn’t possibly get any worse, until I heard a loud Scottish brogue bellow my name behind me. I turned in time to find the same pack of Viking rugby players I’d met my very first night in Rio. They looked just as tall and thick and bearded as when I’d last seen them. Gareth—the redheaded giant who’d accidentally dropped me—was leading the way and he didn’t waste any time.
Becca shouted at them to haul me up to the bar beside Kinsley and they followed her directions.
“Holy—” I shouted as Gareth tossed me up onto his shoulder like a rag doll. I felt like his pet parrot.
“It’s okay!” I shouted in his ear. “I can walk!”
“Nonsense, las! I shan’t drop you this time!”
I’d assumed he would take me straight to the bar so I could hop up there beside Kinsley, but instead he paraded me around the room as people continued to chant. It was all very embarrassing, and I needed a drink. We passed by Becca again and I reached down for her beer. I chugged down a quarter of it, desperately needing liquid courage to make it through the night.
“Here you are, Andie!” Gareth said as we approached the bar—except he actually bellowed my name like “AHHHHHNNNNDDDDDEEEEEEEHHH.” I swore he’d missed his calling as a seafaring pirate.
Kinsley helped pull me up beside her and I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m actually going to kill you for this, so enjoy your fun while you can.”
She laughed and grabbed hold of my arm. “Oh come on! You’re the best goalie in the world! You’re a national treasure! You’re Andie freaking—”
“Foster.”
My heart stopped.
My breath caught.
My smile fell as I slowly turned to find Freddie standing in front of the bar, positioned right beneath me with his hand over his heart and a smile that tipped my world upside down. He had a little American flag tucked in the front pocket of his white shirt and when I didn’t make any move to welcome him, he pulled it out and waved it back and forth like a little peace offering.
Seeing him there, with his earnest gaze, his bashful smile, his one isolated dimple, was enough to make the last few days all but disappear. I’d tried my best to forget about him, including ignoring his calls and his text messages. But there he stood, waving his little American flag and breaking his way back into my heart.
I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.
He shook his head and glanced around him, recognizing that everyone within a ten-foot radius had stopped to stare at us. He glanced back to me and dropped the American flag on the bar.
Maybe I should have asked what he was doing there—what about Caroline, what about the baby—but I didn’t. I stared down at him, nervous for his next move.
“I know I owe you an explanation,” he said just before he reached up to grip my waist. He pulled me off the bar and I reached out to grab his shoulders so I wouldn’t fall. Our bodies were flush by the time I had my toes back on the ground.
“Not here,” I said, conscious of all the people around us.
“Then let me steal you.”
He wound his hand around mine before I could reply.
“Where are you taking her?!” Kinsley shouted as he pulled me through the crowd.
He waved over his shoulder. “I’ll have her back in a few minutes!”
My heart dropped. I didn’t want him to “have me back” in a few minutes. I’d had enough celebrating with my team and I’d see Kinsley and Becca bright and early the next day anyway. I wanted to spend the rest of my night with Freddie. I wanted his hand clutched tight around my mine for as long as possible, but I didn’t know what he planned to do about people that might see us together.
He pushed through the front door of the bar and led me toward the curb. There was a cherry-red Vespa sitting there.
“Is that for us?” I asked with a laugh.
He nodded and reached for one of the helmets locked onto the side. I stood, waiting patiently as he slipped it onto my head. He leaned forward and tightened the strap beneath my chin. He was so close to me, his lips were inches away, and it’d been three days since he’d last kissed me. I could hardly remember what his lips felt like; he needed to remind me.
“I lied,” he said, taking a step back and sliding the dark visor down to cover my face.