Page 40 of Five Things I See in You

“That doesn’t help,” Callum grumbles, taking a long drink.

I find it even harder to stay seated during the second half.

In the seventy-first minute, Noa gets the ball on the left. She feints forward, then stops, drawing the defender toward her.

“There! There! That’s the play!” Callum shouts, gripping my arm so tightly I’m sure his fingers will leave marks.

Noa cuts inside and plays a cross. Iris comes through the middle, beats a defender with a sharp move, and blasts her shot into the top corner, beyond the keeper’s reach.

Callum releases my arm and throws both hands into the air.

“That’s my sister!”

Almost twenty minutes remain. I spend more time watching the clock than the players.

At the final whistle, Callum jumps to his feet and lifts me off the ground in a long hug.

“They won! Fuck, they won!” he keeps saying.

On the field, Noa is hugging Iris. Zoe runs toward them, and all three disappear into the crowd of their teammates.

It takes a while before we’re allowed onto the field. First comes the trophy presentation, then the photographs, with the players struggling to line up as instructed. Callum applauds every time someone raises the cup.

When we’re finally allowed through, Mireya pulls Hades into a long hug, and Noa calls my name.

She runs toward me and kisses me.

“The season’s over,” she whispers in my ear. “Not one day more.”

I hug her. I want to hold on to this moment forever, but Iris throws her arms around both our necks and almost sends us tumbling.

“Five championships in six years, witch! Five!” she screams beside my ear.

***

At the hotel, my room is two floors above hers. Noa rides up with me, our fingers intertwined.

She’s already said goodbye to Tina and told Hades she won’t be staying in her assigned room tonight. She’s not the only one. Over dinner, several players changed their plans to spend the night with partners or family. Iris and a few others went out to celebrate.

“I’ll have to go down and get my bag tomorrow,” she says.

“Do you need anything now?”

“I’ve got the important stuff,” she says, showing me her medal before kissing me.

“You’ll have to take that off. You’re going to leave marks on me.”

“I earned it. It stays on. In fact, it’ll be the only thing I’m wearing once we get to your room,” she says with a wink that makes my knees go weak.

At three in the morning, she decides she’s hungry despite having eaten dinner. We order pizza and eat it sitting naked on the floor, our backs against the mattress.

Noa tells me something Iris said in the locker room, but she starts laughing before she finishes, and I have to ask her to repeat the last part.

Then she steals a piece of my pizza.

The folder is in my suitcase. I was going to tell her tonight.

Noa rests her head on my shoulder.