soul ties-a paige bueckers story

FOURTEEN

______

BRYCE
***

twenty minutes later

"I felt it as soon as it happened," Paige said, as we walked along the sidewalk in the thin, Connecticut November air. "I knew it was my knee."

"I can't decide what's worse," I told her. "Knowing, or not knowing, that that's the end."

She was silent for a minute. "Not knowing," she decided. "You don't ever get to say goodbye to it."

Not even twenty minutes ago we were stumbling out of the XL Center, drunk on each other's presence, the big win over their conference rival, and the adrenaline of our golf cart chase. My senses had gone from entirely overstimulated to overwhelmingly at peace. I stifled a smile thinking about how Paige had spun the wheel in reverse with one hand to back us into the trainer's garage, and how we'd run hand in hand from the guards only a few steps behind us, pressing our backs to every few walls with our fingers over each other's mouths. Holding in our laughs, our eyes locked on each other...it was everything and more to me to play this game with her. To be on her team as she took on this invisible opponent who was deadlocked on pinning her down. To finally feel like I was fighting for someone. And that they were fighting for me.

"I thought I was ready to hang up my cleats a long time ago," I told her, not wanting her to fall down the rabbit hole of reliving her ACL tear. "I'm not so sure about it anymore, though."

"What's changed since that day in Med?" she asked me, and I could tell from her voice she was only half-teasing. "But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I was a little sad I wouldn't ever get to see you play."

"I met someone who changed how I thought about all of it," I blushed, suddenly feeling shy. "And I've got a hell of a reason to play for."

"I'll back you in anything you do," she squeezed my hand. "Just...promise me you won't stay out of Connecticut forever, if you do hang up those cleats?"

"Oh, you know," I feigned ambivalence. "I may stop by once or twice to see Teddy."

"Right," she smirked. "Teddy."

As we neared our building, she drew me in for a hug, to which my head instinctively rested on her shoulder. "You okay?" I asked her, to which she held on tighter.

"I want to make this last," her breath was hot on the back of my neck. "I want to get this right."

"Me too," I promised her. "I told you, I'm here for whatever it takes."

"I want you to meet the team," she said, suddenly breathless. "I know you know them from work, but not all of them. And I want them to meet you as my girl," she waited for me to respond, but spoke again, her voice much quieter this time. "Not just some girl we see sometimes. You're gonna be...around, you know?"

My girl. Be around. My heart fluttered at the thought of meeting them, even more so than it felt the nerves. "I'd love that," I stood on my tiptoes to kiss her cheek. "And I hope you're open to the same...if you ever have time in that busy schedule, of course."

"I have a little experience in world tours," she grinned cockily. "I've never had a problem putting my 24 hours in a day to good use. And it looks to me," she looked down at her watch. "Like we have a couple more to use today. Care to join me?"

"With pleasure," I giggled, taking her hand.

"Pleasure," she winked. "That's one word for it."

****

PAIGE

the next day

10:00 am