Crush

Saturday morning soccer ritual: absent-minded kisses send Michael toward his teammates. She heads for the man who is smiling in her direction, carrying two coffees from the drive-through.

“Hey,” she says when she reaches him, handing over his coffee.

“Hey yourself. Thanks.”

She studies him, secretly, as he sips. He has a good face, she thinks. It shows in the way his eyes crinkle around the edges.

“How’s your week been?” he asks, catching her eye. She looks away, hides a blush behind her coffee cup.

“Busy. Doug and I have been working like crazy, getting the house ready to put on the market.”

“I can’t believe you’re moving. Lucas will hate losing his best friend,” he says.

“Yeah, Michael will miss Lucas too. But Doug’s new job…”

"Yeah," he says.  "Of course."

“How about you?” she asks.

“Oh, you know. Same old. Anne’s redecorating again. Our bedroom, this time.”

She laughs, a nervous habit. But when he joins in, it doesn’t feel quite so awkward.

The other parents cheer, reminding them to face forward, focus on the game, so she's watching when Michael trips and tumbles, hard. She tenses up, ready to run to him, but a hand upon her arm restrains her.

“Don’t worry. Michael’s fine. Look.”

Sure enough, Michael bounces to his feet like nothing’s happened. She lets out the breath she’s been holding. His hand lingers, but only a moment.

They cheer when the other parents cheer. Clap when the other parents clap. Make small talk in between.

Then, the whistle.

“Do you know the final score?” she asks.

“I don’t even know who won.”

“See you next week?”

“Yeah. I’ll bring coffee.”

Time to go home. Game over.

***

Welcome to Mostly Fiction Monday. What's that, you ask? It's a little something Stranger and I cooked up, you can find the story here. Today's post was inspired by the prompt The Crush.  By the way, I have to admit that I'm slightly over the 250 word limit this week.  But seeing as how this started life around 800 words, the fact that I cut it down to 283 has to count for something, so I hope you all forgive me.

Make sure you swing by Stranger Upstairs to read another take on the prompt, and come back next Monday, when we'll be writing something inspired by Parent.

Maybe you'd like to play too?  Feel free to join in.  Make sure you leave a link in the comments so I can come see, if you do.