Dangerous Play

25 » friends at hand

With a dull thunk, the ball bounced off of Finn's head and into the back of the net. He grinned in triumph. "That's how it's done, ladies and gents."

"I'm surprised you aren't still nursing a hangover from Saturday," his best friend remarked. Kieran jogged into the goal and retrieved the ball, sending it back to Finn in a crisp pass.

Finn winced, popping the white and blue soccer ball up in the air with a quick flick of his feet. "Yeah, it took like seventeen Advils to get rid of that headache."

Kieran snorted. "Pretty sure you'd be dead if you popped that many at the same time." He gestured for Finn to pass him the ball. "Anyway, I hope it was worth it."

"I'd say it was," Finn mused.

His best friend raised one dark eyebrow. "Oh?" The edges of his lips quirked up in a sly grin.

Finn rolled his eyes and chipped the ball at the other boy's head. "Not like that, perv."

"Uh huh, sure." Kieran trapped the ball neatly with his chest, and it landed squarely at his feet. Not for the first time, Finn found himself envying his friend's incredible ball control. It was as if Kieran had a magnet inside his cleats, drawing the ball to his feet without any apparent effort.

Then again, he of all people appreciated the worth of extra effort, and he knew Kieran worked incredibly hard to be as gifted as he was. Though his best friend had been born with an abundance of talent, he'd spent hours refining and channeling that talent into being the superstar forward he was now. Finn had less natural talent, but worked hard nonetheless. And now he had gotten an offer from the University of Virginia, which boasted one of the best soccer programs in the country.

Kieran passed Finn the ball. It rolled across the turf smoothly and came to a stop at his cleats. Finn backed up and slammed a foot into the ball, watching in satisfaction as it soared into the top left corner of the goal.

Kieran whistled. "Maybe you missed your calling as a forward." The two of them were on the turf fields at the Overland Park Soccer Complex, putting in some extra time before practice. The sounds of shouting players and cleats hitting soccer balls surrounded them as other teams practiced on the fields beside them.

"Well, I had to leave something for you to do."

Kieran laughed. Finn didn't want to admit it, but he knew he was going to miss these moments next year. He was excited to meet and belong to a new team, sure, but these moments spent goofing off with his best friend would never be the same. Kieran was good enough to get called up by a professional club, but which club that would be was yet to be determined.

Selfishly, Finn hoped it would be in the United States—at least they would still be able to visit each other more frequently. But at the end of the day, he wanted Kieran to succeed, and if that meant moving overseas, then he would wholeheartedly support that dream.

A crisp fall breeze blew over the two boys, and he shivered. Kansas weather was truly unpredictable. Their game last weekend had been perfect weather, mid-60s with a slight breeze. Now, less than a week later, the temperature had dropped to the low 50s, with a wind chill that threw off his passes and sent drafts of cool air through his thin practice jersey every few minutes.

"Do you ever think about how different things will be next year?" Finn blurted suddenly.

Kieran paused from where he was digging himself and the ball out of the netting of the goal. "Honestly? All the time."

"I mean, we're graduating and moving away," he continued. "I'm off to Virginia, and you're gonna be... wherever you end up. Probably somewhere cool, like L.A. or somewhere in Europe or something. Where do you want to go, anyway?"