CHAPTER THIRTEEN
By Saturday, Ryker hated the word pretend. In the context of dating, pretending wasn’t all that great. So far, their “dating” had amounted to texts being exchanged, an impromptu dinner at the pizza parlor with the entire team, and zero kisses. He would have to ramp things up as soon as the whistle blew.
The match couldn’t end quickly enough for him. He forced himself to stay seated on the bench. The Defeeters were outmatched and losing. He couldn’t do a single thing about it.
“Great job, Defeeters!” Lucy stood along the sideline in a blue T-shirt with the name of the soccer league across the front and warm-up pants. She held a clipboard with a list of when players should be substituted to ensure equal playing time and waved it in the air when she got excited. “You can d
