Page 125 of Gabriel
GABRIEL
My eyes flick over the stands, searching for Cecilia. She never confirmed whether she’d show up to today’s game or not, but a part of me is really hoping she does. Things have been good between us. Not great. But good.
They’re steps in the right direction, even if they happen to be baby steps. Her showing up today would?—
“Hey, man.” Julio jogs up beside me and slaps a hand to my shoulder. “What’s Cecilia doing hanging out with Adriana?”
“What?” I turn to him with a scowl. He points to a different section of the stands, and I follow his line of sight. Sure enough, I find her. My girl sits in the middle section of the stands on the end by the staircase. Beside her sits Adriana Aguirre, a former friend and fucking backstabber. “Shit. I wondered if that was the Adriana she was talking to.”
Julio’s dark brows pull together, and he rubs the back of his tattooed neck. “Do you think it’s a coincidence?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shrug. “If she wanted to fuck with any of us, you’d be at the top of her list,” I remind him. “It’s been years since I’ve spoken to her. Adriana doesn’t have any reason to mess with me.” Not one that I know of, at least. And if sheplans to use Cecilia as a means to get to us, I’ll put a stop to that shit real fast.
Julio nods, but doesn’t look convinced. Frankly, I’m not either.
No one in our crew walked away from Adriana on good terms. She fucked one of our friends over and the entire group was hurt by her betrayal. Allie took it the worst, but Julio was right up there with her. He and Adriana had a different relationship from the rest of us. Friendly, but also something more. He’s always been tight-lipped about whether anything ever happened between the two of them.
I know about the time he got drunk and made out with her at a party last year, but according to J, it was a mistake, and not one he planned on ever repeating.
We gave him shit for it, anyway. Allie did too. But none of us really held it against him. He wasn’t pursuing a relationship with Adriana or anything. He was hammered and made a mistake. We’ve all been there.
Mine was with a cleat chaser freshman year and it took me a full semester to shake her. I stopped going out and drinking at random parties after that.
I don’t know what went down between Julio and Adriana after that night. It wasn’t any of my business, and it’s not like Julio is the type to bring it up.
Felix called him out on it when it happened, and that was that.
Seeing Adriana talking to Cecilia now, it doesn’t feel right. Her expression is blank, but she’s got her body turned toward my girl, a sign she’s engaged in the conversation. Her spine is rigid and her eyes are trained on the field in our direction.
I’d put money on her gaze being locked on J.
Cecilia, meanwhile, looks to be having an okay time. There’s a small smile on her face as she animatedly talks to Adriana. Thelonger I stare, the more I wish I could hear their conversation. Adriana must know we’re looking because she raises her hand toward her head and gives me a quick salute.
Cecilia stops talking long enough to follow Adriana’s line of vision. Her gaze washes over me, and she lifts her hand, giving me a hesitant wave. I return the gesture right as one of the refs blows a whistle, signaling that it’s time to start the game.
It’s half-time,and we’re getting our asses handed to us. The score is three to one, with Crown Point University in the lead. If we don’t get our heads out of our asses during the second half, we’re going to lose, which will hurt our chances of being selected by the NCAA selection committee for the Championship at the end of the season. There’s always a chance we’ll get another shot against Crown Point during tournaments, but it’s not how we want our season to go. It’s always better to face a team in the tournaments that you’ve already won against.
It’s a hard win when you walk onto the pitch, knowing they’ve already handed you a L.
In the locker room, Coach gives us his version of a pep talk. He reminds us that we’ve beaten the Hawks before, though he glosses over the number of years it’s been since we managed it.
We played against CPU during the pre season but we didn’t win. They didn’t either. The score ended up one to one and after getting extra time, neither of us was able to score. It was a draw. This time around, the game is leaning in their favor.
“We’re changing the line-up for the second half,” Coach says. Julio stands beside him, his expression grim. I get the feeling that whatever changes Coach decided to make, Julio isn’t a fan of them. Either that or he assumes the rest of the team won’t be and he’s bracing for the fallout.
“Holt, you’re subbing the second half. Hunt, you’re in. You’ll play midfield and we’ll see how it goes. Herrera?”
I rise to my feet.
“You play striker. You and Hunt had good chemistry during practice. I want to see that again on the field.”
My eyes widen, and I look at Julio. He dips his head and gives me a sly grin.
“Yes, sir.” This is what he stayed late to talk to Coach about. Fucking yes!
“Are you kidding me, Coach?” Holt demands, shoving to his feet. “This is bullshit.”
“Don’t take that tone with me. It’s not bullshit, it’s soccer. If you’d stop focusing on whatever problems you seem to have with Herrera and half of my goddamn team, and instead focus on the game, we might have a few more points on the board. As it is, you’re making rookie mistakes to avoid working with members of your own team. I’ve had enough.”
