Expect The Unexpected

Chapter 36

I'm at one of the neighborhood parks with Ali practicing on a youth soccer field. The length and width are not the same as a professional but there's a goal and that's all that matters. Flynn and Blaire are home with Kara since my mom is dealing with Sam and her refusal to go to school. 

"Race me!" Ali yells as she starts sprinting to the other end of the field. 

I catch up to her quickly and we race down the field a few times. After we finish our 120s, we lay down on the grass to do sit ups, crunches, bicycles and burpes.

"4 more 120s" I say standing up, my abs on fire. Ali sighs and gets on the line. 

I sprint off and she struggles to keep up. We both reach the end and sprint the rest of the way back. The second time down I slow down a tad to catch my breath. I reach the end and sprint my fastest as does Ali. We both reach the end line at the same time. 

I walk over to my bag and grab my water. As I'm drinking my water I grab my phone to check my messages and see that I have a few. 

Mom: Sam is still refusing to go to school. Had to threaten her today to get her to go.

Kara: Both kids went down fine for their nap. Should be waking up around the time when you get home.

Sutton Thompson: Yuck conditioning I remember those days. Don't die!

I laugh and smile at Sutton's text and hold my phone out to take a selfie, Ali joins in the back and makes a silly face. We both laugh and I send the picture along with a text.

"Who's that going to?" Ali asks with a smirk.

"My friend Sutton we met at cafe a few days ago."

"Oooo how did you meet?"

"I was at Java Shack getting my cafe mocha and the lid wasn't really on well so I was trying to fix it as I walked towards the door and we both ran into each other and my coffee got all over me. So a worker gave me a t-shirt and Sutton told me to go change. When I came out of the bathroom she was sitting at one of the tables by the windows with a new coffee and a muffin."

"Aww that's so cute!" Ali tells me and I blush. "I can tell there's more isn't there..."

"I got butterflies while we were talking ."

"Good or bad butterflies?"

"I haven't had those types of butterflies since Kyle..."

"Ohhhhh" She says and I nod my head. Sutton texts back and I ignore it for right now so I can talk with Ali. "What does she look like?"

"She's about 2 inches taller than me and has longish brown hair and green eyes." 

"So your type.."

"Ali.."

"Riley you know it's okay to have feelings for someone again."

"It hasn't even been 6 months though" I say softly looking down at the grass.

"You don't have to jump into a relationship right away ya know. You could be friends and then see where it goes."

"I just wish I could've said goodbye. The last thing he heard from me was some stupid text.. I was asleep when he left for training.." I say with tears forming in my eyes. 

"What was the last thing you said to his face?"

"I love you, it was after we came back into our room from Blaire's last feeding of the night. I curled into him and he wrapped his arms around me. I told him I loved him and fell asleep." She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze.