Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 12:42 pm

Good luck today El!! ⚽️🏃‍♀️🏅

Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 2:32 pm
And so????
How was your first away game??

Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 3:49 pm
Helloooooo?? Earth to Ellie!

Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 6:45 pm
You okay??
It's been 3 hours...if I don't hear from you soon I'm gonna start worrying

~*~

"You should've listened to me," Audra said for the thousandth time, when I finally emerged from the hotel bathroom after my shower. She'd done nothing but nag me all the way from Harcourt to the Residence Inn we were staying in for the night. "They're bloody fast and you should've been able to defend better."

"I know," I muttered, gritting my teeth against the explosion brewing inside me. I knew damn well that I'd messed up. It was my fault that we'd lost—even my sub had done a better job at defending than I had. And now she'd probably won my spot as starter.

"When they're faster, you have to stay back and inside, but without letting them get comfortable. Their strikers are bonkers if you give them space, which I thought I told you—"

"Audra, I get it!" I wadded up my dirty uniform and shoved it into my overnight bag. "It's over, okay? I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"It is not over." Audra sat up from where she'd stretched out on her bed, her tone rising to match mine. "What, you think I'm just going to let you give up? You have—"

"I am done talking about this!" I shouted, storming towards the door. When I ripped it open, I nearly ran face-first into Theo's raised fist, primed to knock. He was freshly showered and damp-haired too, wearing his soccer sweatshirt over worn-in jeans and a pair of Nike high-tops.

"What?" I snarled.

His eyebrows hopped, and he slid his hands into his pockets. "Just coming to see if you wanted to get dinner. I already cleared it with Coach." He dropped his voice to add, "And maybe a break from your roommate?"

As much as I resented him being my rescuer, I wasn't in a position to pass up an excuse to vacate the premises. "Fine." I shoved past him out the door.

"Oy! We're all eating at—" Audra shouted before the auto-closing door slammed between us.

"Wait up." Theo jogged to catch up to me.

I buried my hands in the sleeves of my sweatshirt, not slowing my steps. Mashing the elevator button, I double checked that my copy of the room key was still wedged into my back pocket with my phone. Then I checked the other pocket and pressed my eyes closed. "I hope you're buying because I left my wallet in the room and I am not going back there."

Theo let out a low whistle. "Smooth, Emdubs. Though I would've covered your dinner if you'd asked nicely, too."

I fixed him with a glare. The elevator doors pinged open.

"Ladies first," he said, with an exaggerated bow.

I huddled in the corner, a stifling silence pressing down upon us until the doors whooshed open in the lobby. I didn't wait for Theo's "after you" arm sweep before I stalked out, through the automatic glass doors, and inhaled a lungful of crisp autumn evening air. Cricketsong filled the space between the traffic sounds.

"So...do you wanna talk about it?" Theo asked, as our steps crunched on the sidewalk.

I shoved my hands into my sweatshirt pocket. "Nope."

He just nodded, kicking a stone to send it skittering onto the road.

"Where are we even going anyway?" I asked, while we waited at one of the few stoplights in the town.

"There's this awesome diner a few blocks away. I wasn't sure if you were the talking-and-need-to-vent type, or the distract-me-with-food type, so I figured I'd hedge my bets."

"And what if I'm neither?"

"Then I'll buy you a milkshake so you have something to stare at while I enjoy a cheeseburger and fries."

My stomach rumbled. I blew a sigh through my nose. The fresh air had taken the edge off my temper, and the more we'd walked, the more I realized that he didn't need to be on the receiving end of my frustration. Especially not if he was about to fund my dinner because I'd forgotten my wallet.

"I could go for a cheeseburger and fries," I admitted, then glanced up at him. "Sorry I was so rude before."

"No apology necessary. We've all been there."

"Yeah, right." I kicked a rock too, though mine dribbled off pathetically into the gutter.

"Hey." Theo bumped my shoulder with his. "Chin up. If there's one thing I've learned from perpetually living in my brother's shadow, it's to never let them see how much the losses hurt."

I studied him, frowning at the fact his reassuring smile was actually reaching his eyes. "You're doing an excellent job at not being an ass tonight."

He laughed. "Thank you? That's probably the most backhanded compliment I've ever gotten."

Silence descended again, but this time it wasn't the loaded, weighty thing it had been in the elevator. Eventually, neon lights painted the slick sidewalk in rainbows, and Theo held the door to a tin-sided diner that looked like something straight out of the 50s. He led me to a teal vinyl booth beside one of the windows, and a grey-haired waitress handed us a pair of greasy, laminated menus with curling edges.

"If you like chocolate, you have to try the milkshake," Theo said. "And the spicy fries are amazing."

"Done and done." My mouth watered as I scanned down the list of comfort foods and diner staples.

When the waitress returned for our orders, I asked for the exact same thing as Theo—bacon cheeseburger, double order of spicy fries, and a chocolate milkshake.

"Well, this might be a first," he said, after the waitress had left.

I lifted my eyebrows over the rim of the red plastic water cup I was already guzzling.

"I only get extra fries because I'm used to my dates stealing them when they regret ordering the side salad."

I rolled my eyes. "Good thing I'm not a real date, then. Your fries are all yours."

He studied me, rubbing a thumb across the bottom of his lip before he leaned against his booth seat and flung his arm across the back. "I've been thinking—since I don't have to spend our dates charming and spoiling you, we're going to have to come up with something else to do."

"Uh, nope. If this is going where I think it is..." I trailed off with a gag.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Are you ever going to stop jumping to conclusions? If I wanted to get into your pants, you'd know it." He dodged the paper napkin ring I flicked at him. "What I really had in mind was helping you. As your soccer tutor or something. I could show you a few tricks to help you keep your spot as starter, and it'd be an easy way to make it look like we're dating without, you know, having to sit together in silence, watching each other eat."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not nearly that boring. Unless all you talk about is sailboat racing and polo."

He leaned towards me and rested his head in his hands, eyes sarcastically wide. "Oh, do tell, how was your last regatta? You race Lasers, right? And what about your polo pony? Did I tell you I invested in a new one last year?"

The waitress slid our milkshakes onto the table, stopping me from reaching out to flick Theo's nose in annoyance.

"Cheers." He clinked our glasses before plucking the maraschino cherry off mine and popping it into his mouth. I glared as I slurped the milkshake, then blinked in surprise at how good it tasted. Chocolatey, but with a zing of something salty that made it so much more delicious.

"What do they put in this?" I demanded between sips.

"Told you it was good." Theo smiled around his straw. "All their shakes are malted here. Makes the chocolate really pop."

It was a good thing our food arrived when it did because I'd easily have downed 3 milkshakes for dinner. But the cheeseburger stacked high with lettuce, tomato, onions, and bacon, surrounded by a heap of curly, spicy fries, changed my mind.

I was about to dig in when Theo shooed me away from the food and whipped out his phone to take a picture.

"Are you serious?" I asked, "What are you, a food blogger?"

"Hardly." He grinned down at his screen, then up at me. "But there's always a method to my madness."

I hesitated, hands around my burger. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Relax, it's all part of the plan. Now eat up. You've got your work cut out for you."

I held his gaze as I bit into my burger, accepting the challenge. Not that the plate piled high with fries would be any kind of challenge, especially with my growling stomach.

**A/N: Nothing like a first "date" for a Valentine's week post...too bad I timed it wrong lol. What do you think about Theo's proposal? 😏 ⚽️ Two Ellerby tutors, Ellie's gonna be spoiled!! 😍😉
As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment!**