More Than Friends?

Chapter 23

"Tanner can I speak with you for a minute please?” Coach says before I walk into the locker room to get ready.

"Yes sir." I say as I follow him into his office.

"Are you nervous about today?" he asks eyeing me.

"A little." I respond honestly. There’s no point in lying.

"Good, nerves are good. They remind us we're human." I laugh at this. "Are you excited?"

"Extremely!" I say flashing a smile.

"Good. Remember to play smart, but the most important part of today is that you have a good time out there. You're aloud to have fun and be happy." he says. I know he's referring to my parents.

"I think I'm starting to understand that." I say as I fiddle with my necklace.

"Is that something your parents gave you?" he asks, looking at the dainty chain around my neck and the pendant between my fingers.

"Oh no sir, just a good friend who was with me when they passed." I say thinking back to the night Mark gave me the necklace with the coordinates of the dock, and the night he drove me to the police station.

"Well it's good to have a lucky charm." he smiles lightly. "Alright, better get ready." he says and I turn to leave his office. I spin around once I'm in the doorway.

"Thank you coach. For everything these past couple of weeks."

"I can only give you as much as you give me Barlow. You've pushed yourself a lot these past few weeks. It makes my job easier." I flash him a smile and run towards the locker room to get ready. I have a game to play in!

***

"That was insane Tan!" Mel cheers as we get back into the locker room. We won 3-2 and I was able to score in the last 30 seconds so we didn't have to go into over time.

"Thanks Mel, but honestly it was all Linds. That pass was absolutely beautiful." I say turning to Linds.

"Yeah, but it was your head that got it in." Linds says as she gives me a noogie. We all laugh as she releases me from her head lock at start changing out of our sweaty clothes.

"Special delivery for number 3." Alex says as she comes in the locker room carrying a number three balloon and some roses.

"Oooohhhh." All the girls say in unison. I take the flowers from Alex.

"Chill guys it's probably nothing. A friend of mine came to watch me, they're probably just from him." I say as I open the card attached to them.

"You're just as beautiful on the field as you are in person. xoxo"

"That doesn't look like he's just a friend." Linds pokes and I realize she's reading over my shoulder.

"No it doesn't, and my friend defiantly wouldn't say that.” I say kind of confused.

"Well does it say who it's from?" Alex asks.

"No."

"Looks like someone has a secret admirer." Mel jokes.

"Yeah, or a stalker." Linds laughs.

"Chill Linds." Mel says. "It's probably just a friend you didn't know was coming. That happened to me once."

"And now that friend is your husband." Linds retorts and Mel allows a big grin to cross her face.

After I shower I throw on some sweatpants, a clean sports bra, a practice jersey, and the Nike training shoes that everyone on the team has. I lightly brush through my wet hair with my fingers but there's no use, it's too long and there's too many tangles. Once the whole team is done Coach comes in to briefly discuss the game and tell us what time we need to be back on Monday. When he's done we're free to leave.

What I've noticed is that after most games when we leave the locker room, all the girls are greeted by people. Alex and Linds’s boyfriends are always there because they live in the area. A couple of the other players have husbands and young kids, which is cute because they always make signs. Some of them have family show up. Usually I just leave knowing that no one is waiting for me, but not today. I'm so excited to see Craig, Cindy and Don. I've missed them all so much.

"Tanner." I hear as I scan the faces for Craig. But when I finally turn I don’t see Craig’s face. I see Mark. He’s standing there looking kind of nervous and he’s holding a sign that reads "#3 has my heart"

"Mark?" I question and tears instantly start to fill my eyes. "But Craig said--"

"I know what Craig said. I told him to say it." I just stare at him blankly for a minute.

"How can you even look at me?" I ask. I hate myself for what I did to Mark and I haven't forgiven it, I don't think I'll ever be able to.

"Because I still love you." He says simply. I look at him, trying to read his face. A smile creeps up on it.

"What?"

"Look, Tanner. I still love you. I spent weeks trying to get you out of my head, I even went on a few dates but none of them went well because none of them were with you. And I want be in your life no matter what. Whether it be as your boyfriend or as your best friend, I'm fine with either. As long as I get to spend my time with you. And I know it's not my decision, but is that something you want, me being in your life?" the tears in my eyes start to flow over and I can feel a massive smile cross my face.

I don't exactly know what to say so I just run towards Mark and throw my arms around him. He tightens his grip on me instantly and I realize how much I've missed him. I can kind of hear my teammates cheer from behind us, but I don't care. All that matters is that Mark is here, with me.

"I'm going to take this as a yes." He whispers in my ear. I'm crying too hard and don't want him to see so I just nod, my head wedged between his neck and shoulder. I can feel Mark's fingers bunch the fabric of my shirt as he clings on to me. I sob lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I say stepping back and vigorously wiping at my eyes. When I finally look at Mark he has a goofy smile on his face.

"I missed you Tanner, so fucking much." He says softly as he stares into my eyes and brushes a stray hair from my face.

"I missed you too. Craig, and your parents?” I question suddenly remembering that they’re supposed to be here.

"Back at the hotel. They're ordering room service and said that they'd spend the day with you tomorrow."

"We should...err...umm...talk." I say nervously. I've gone through how I would apologize to Mark a million and one times before in my head, but I've yet to get it right.

"Dinner? I'm sure you're starving."

"Sure! I smile." I'm nervous but there's something so familiar about being with Mark that it puts me at ease. He throws an arm around my shoulders as we head towards the parking lot.

A/N: Hey y’all, I really loved writing this chapter. Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed it and don’t forget to like it! Happy reading xx.