Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1)(87)

“What do you want in exchange?”

“A proper detecting hat, like Sherlock Holmes has got. Oh, and there’s this new Chloé purse…”

I extended my hand for her to shake. “Fine, it’s yours.”

She smirked as we shook on it.

“Georgie Archibald, Detective/Love Guru, at your service.”





CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN


Andie




EVERY SEAT IN the stadium was filled by 80,000 loud, rowdy fans. From the top of the rafters to the exclusive field-side seats, there wasn’t a free spot anywhere. The announcers were pumping party music through the speakers, making it that much harder to keep my nerves at bay. My heart was already beating in time with the techno. Everyone in the crowd waved American and Japanese flags overhead and their screams echoed around the field well before the game had even started.

I turned my head in a circle, trying to absorb the frenzy while Lisa wrapped my wrist. The crowd was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Their energy was electric and even though I tried to take deep breaths and stay calm, it was useless. I was just as hyped as they were.

A group of girls in the front row caught me glancing over and they started screaming and jumping up and down. They had ponytails, braces, and fresh-faced smiles. All five of them were wearing white t-shirts with giant black letters covering the front.

A-N-D-I-E.

“We love you ANDIE!” they screamed in unison.

Lisa laughed. “Looks like you have a little fan club there.”

I smiled and waved, making a mental note to take a photo with them after the game—hopefully during a victory lap.

“How’s your wrist feel?”

“Fine.”

“Andie, are you lying?”

I rolled my eyes. “Honestly, I can’t feel my feet. I can’t feel my face. I can’t feel my freaking wrist. I’m about to play in the final game of the Olympics.”

Lisa laughed and tossed her roll of tape on the back of the training table. “Well good luck. I wrapped it as best as I could.”

“Thanks,” I said, sliding off the table and testing out the tape. There was a dull ache, but the tape definitely helped.

“Oh, and Lisa—” I turned to glance back at her over my shoulder. “You’ve been a really good trainer.”

She tilted her head and studied me with a smile. “I thought you hated me.”

“Oh, I do,” I winked.

“Foster!” Coach Decker called. “C’mon. Huddle up.”

My team was already circled around Coach Decker and Liam. They stood just off the side of the field, adjusting shin guards and tightening cleats. My stomach dipped when I joined them. Each second that passed meant we were a second closer to game time. This was it. The final.

“This stadium is yours, ladies. This game is yours, just like all the games that brought you here. So act like you own the field, and trust one another.” Her cool, confident gaze swept across the circle. “Do you hear me?”

We all nodded and she continued. The energy spreading through us was enough to make me feel as if Kinsley had accidentally given me a tablet of ecstasy instead of an Excedrin that morning. I was hopping back and forth on my legs, keeping my body warm.

“Hands in!” Coach Decker shouted.

We stacked hands on hands until all of us were woven together in a tight circle. Our hearts were beating in time, our bodies were humming together, excited and nervous. Our eyes locked and our heads nodded. We got this.





KINSLEY AND I took off for the field, jogging in tandem. “You good, Foster?”

“Other than the fact that I’m about to throw up?” I laughed. “I’m great.”

She shook her head. “Do you hear that?”

I held my ear up to the stadium and listened.

“That’s the sound of eighty thousand people who seriously don’t want to see your breakfast.”

I shoved her shoulder and took off for the goal.

“Keep that net clean!” Kinsley shouted after me.

“Get theirs dirty!”

I stepped past the goal line and inhaled a deep breath. This was it. This was my space. For twenty years I’d worked to earn a spot standing inside that net and as I turned toward the crowd and listened to them shouting my name, I knew that win or lose, I’d done it.

I was an Olympian.





“USA! USA! USA!”

The entire crowd inside the bar was shouting the three-letter chant, holding their beers overhead and sloshing them around. There was a mix of athletes and fans congratulating us. Japan had knocked Brazil out earlier in the tournament, so Rio residents were more than happy to join in our celebration. Kinsley stood on top of the bar, leading the crowd through the chant another few times before she cut her hand through the air to silence everyone.

“Gather round! Gather round!” she said, swirling her hand so that everyone pushed closer to the bar. She was on her way to being plastered, but it didn’t matter. We were world champions.

“You all saw it! The game was neck and neck,” Kinsley said, jumping into her tenth dramatic retelling of the game. No one stopped her though. It was like gathering around a campfire the way she dropped her voice and built up the suspense. “The score was zero-zero. Japan turned up the heat, pounding and pounding away—”