Page 73 of Finding My Charming

Yeah, that sounds worthy of dedicating your life.

“Does it bug you that I’m not an athlete? I’m not really into sports.”

He continued staring forward out the window. “No. I hope I can convert you to my ways, but opposites attract. Isn’t that what they say?”

I nodded but felt a tiny drop of dread. “That’s true.”

Opposites could attract, of course, but I didn’t appreciate that he was already planning on changing me. I wouldn’t expect him to give up his passion and hobbies for me, but he thought he could make me into what he wanted? Interesting.

Granted, I was putting words into his mouth. It was not like he’d said he would hide all of my books until I finished watching a game with him, but I wasn’t sure I could live a life that revolved around whatever sport was in season.

“Tell me about your family.” I really, really hoped this was a safer topic, but I could have just opened Pandora’s box without knowing.

His smile grew, and I let out a breath of relief.

“My parents are the best. They’re really supportive of me and my brothers. As long as we each played sports and pushed to be our best, we never have to work while we’re in school. That’s their deal with us. If we can play well enough to get a scholarship for college, they’ll make up the rest. That’s how I got this baby.”

He patted the steering wheel with the adoration of a man truly in love.

“That’s great. You’re really lucky. Not only that your parents would support you like that, but that you have a good relationship with them.”

“Yeah. We have our disagreements, but for the most part, they’re great. They’ve been to all of our games since we were little. Both of my parents have demanding jobs, but they always put us first.”

That was a sweet thought, but it seemed like his family was solely focused on athletics — the complete opposite of anything my family ever thought about.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“My older brother, Cliff, played soccer at NOU too. He graduated last year and played for the Seattle team this past season but injured his knee. I think his career might be over.”

My heart tightened at the thought of a dream shattered by something as simple as an injury. Most people would be annoyed with something like that, but for his brother, it was life-altering. How could a person live with that much pressure?

“And the other one?”

“Ronny’s fifteen and already plays on varsity. He’ll take over my spot this fall.”

The pride showed clearly in his eyes. It was touching to see that he clearly loved his younger brother. I just couldn’t really relate. I was proud of April for staying on the honor roll while in cheerleading, and even though we drove each other crazy most of the time, we still loved each other. I could list the reasons, but none of them had to do with her achievements.

“That’s really cool. I bet your coach was glad to have him.”

“Oh yeah! Hopefully he’ll get into NOU too, and our family will have a perfect winning streak.”

Well, at least they were a supportive family. He genuinely wanted his brothers to succeed. At least in soccer.

“Is that where he wants to go?”

“My parents will make sure it happens. It’s their alma mater and soon to be our brother’s.”

I thought about that that could mean. How could his parent make sure it happened?

“So there aren’t any other options for you guys?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nope. We’re an NOU family. It’s been the only option our whole lives.” He laughed like he was thinking of something. “I almost screwed it up freshman year.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never been that great of a student, and my freshman year I was failing most of my classes. I was so focused on my varsity spot that I didn’t care about my classes.”

I was dreading to hear where he was going with this.