The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(59)
GOAL!
GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!
I don’t even have time to fully comprehend that I’ve just scored and process everything it means, to understand that the whistle has blown and the game is over and I’ve just scored the winning goal in the state final in the last second of the game. I don’t have time because before I can even take a breath, my teammates are crashing into me, tumbling on top of me as I fall to the ground and they pile up on top of me.
“You did it,” Tia is screaming in my face. “You fucking did it. We won! We won!”
Complete elation fills my body, but more than that—more than that, it’s relief. I didn’t mess it up, I didn’t miss, I played my best game, and we’re winners. We’re state champions. I’m so happy I could almost cry.
I don’t have time to think about it though because I’m being hauled to my feet and Sophie is in front of me screaming in delight, pulling me in for the hardest hug she’s ever given me while wiping tears away from her face. “You did it, Liv! You did it!”
I laugh in delight and pull her back in, embracing her fiercely. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe we won. This doesn’t feel real.
The noise is deafening. Hallie pushes in front of me and is trying to say something to me—I can see her lips moving but can’t hear the words. It doesn’t matter though as I throw myself on her, hugging her tightly. She and Tia are the only two people I think might care about this half as much as me.
Suddenly I’m surrounded by even more people and I realize the crowd has rushed the field. People are grabbing at us and trying to congratulate us. A girl from my French class is in front of me, grinning wide, and a boy I never speak to in gym is congratulating me like we’re old friends.
I’m pulled away from him and find Jessie standing there, his eyes shining and his grin wide. I start to laugh. This moment is everything. To win this in front of all these supporters and now to have my best friends congratulating me—this is everything I’ve ever wanted and more.
“I’m so proud of you,” Jessie shouts, and it makes my heart soar. I care what he thinks. Even when I shouldn’t, I care. I care what he thinks more than anything, and him saying he’s proud of me makes me happier than anything else could. I grip his shoulders and pull him in for a hug, so tightly I feel like our bodies could fuse together. He hugs me back just as tightly, not allowing any space between us. “I’m so happy for you,” he shouts in my ear. I pull back, laughing in delight as our eyes meet, and then he quickly pulls me in again and plants a quick, hard kiss on my mouth.
We both freeze completely, totally still amongst all the noise and chaos around us. Jessie’s eyes widen and I know that was pure instinct on his part, but we kissed. He just kissed me, but we don’t have time to process it. I don’t have time to think about it because I’m pulled away again, yanked into a group hug with the rest of the team, all of us jumping up and down in unison before I feel my waist being grabbed and then Chase is there, spinning me around in the air. He looks so happy you’d think he just won the state final again, and he doesn’t let me go. He bends suddenly and reaches for my legs, hauling me up onto his shoulder. Aaron, Brendon, Jackson, and the rest of their teammates grab Hallie, Tia, and the rest of us, and suddenly we’re all being held up in the air while the crowd around us chants. “Cham-pi-ons! Cham-pi-ons! Cham-pi-ons!” We’re champions. The girls’ soccer team from Grove Valley High School, which usually only has a few dozen people attend its matches, has won the state finals.
After a minute, a voice can be heard louder than any other—the voice of my loud-mouthed best friend, my ride or die. Sophie Steele is starting a new chant.
“Liv-y Chapman! Liv-y Chapman!”
Chase joins in with her and suddenly it’s on everyone’s lips. My name is being chanted over and over again. I look around, and for once, I’m not shy. For once I don’t care that I’m being recognized like this. I’m proud of what I’ve just achieved and when I lock eyes with Hallie as she joins in with the rest of the team, screaming my name, that’s when I get it. That’s when I get everything I’ve ever wanted in a soccer jersey.
THE EUPHORIA DOESN’T LEAVE MY body. After the trophy ceremony, I manage to find my parents, and my mom is actually crying with happiness. She keeps hugging me over and over again, telling me how proud she is of me, and Scotty looks at me like I’m a hero while Ray gets all bashful and emotional. Then when she tells me the scouts from Florida State—the college I’ve dreamed of attending—approached her after the game and are interested in me playing for them next year, I nearly fall over, and I swear I’ll never have a day as good as this again.
Somehow Sophie and the rest of the cheerleaders along with a solid handful of the boys’ soccer team manage to gatecrash our team bus on the hour-long drive back to Newsummer. I looked for Jessie before we got on and saw him being pulled away by Courtney and some of her friends. I don’t even care. We had a moment and I won the state final. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t get any better than that. We don’t stop singing or laughing the whole journey back to the school.
Chase volunteers his house for the victory party and within ten minutes of us arriving, it’s packed. Room after room is full and his house is probably going to get wrecked from the sheer amount of people partying here, but when I mention this to him he just tells me to shut up and enjoy my night. He’s in a great mood—almost as good as me. If he’s not hugging me to him, he’s slinging his arm around me or massaging my shoulders. Only when Sophie pulls me away from him, telling me she needs her hero bestie, does he let me go.