Scoring The Coach ✔️

epilogue

Epilogue

One year later...

It was the summer before my sophomore year of college and I was spinning my promise ring around my finger. I was at the bar again, the same one we were at on the night of our first kiss, nursing a beer as I waited for him to arrive.

"Would it be utterly cheesy if I asked whether or not this seat is taken?"

My gaze flicked up from the label of my cheap bottle to the man standing beside me. He was dressed in a suit, having returned from court again. His tawny curls were a mess atop his head, blue eyes sparkling in the dim light of the room. He reached up and loosened his tie, awaiting an answer.

I shook my head. "I guess not." It's reserved for you, Jared. It always will be.

He slid into the stool beside me, hiding a coy smirk. "So what brings you here?"

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend," I said, glancing at the clock.

"Oh yeah?" He raised a brow, playing along. "He must be a lucky bastard."

"I'm the lucky one," I replied, tilting my head back to finish my beer. "It's a celebratory night. Our son is with Grandma Trina for the evening and I'm enjoying the silence."

"You've got a kid?" he wondered as if he didn't know.

"Mason, our six-year-old," I explained. "He's growing up too fast for me."

"I know the feeling," he told me. "I feel it every single day I see my son."

"So why are you here?" I asked, continuing the game he was playing.

"I'm here to tell the prettiest girl in the bar the good news!" he exclaimed. "I officially have partial custody of my son. My girlfriend and I can now have him at our house during every break he has from school. It's all legal now. I'm so happy I don't know what to do about it."

"Congratulations. I'm happy for you!" I'm happy for us.

"There's something else," he stated. "That girl of mine? I'm so in love with her I don't know what to do with myself."

"I'm sure she reciprocates." I got closer. "You know, she probably wants you to kiss her."

"You think so?"

"She's getting impatient," I said, rolling my eyes. "You should make a move."

He did. We kissed for a long while, just relishing in the excitement of everything finally feeling okay. Even with all the struggles, the strife, we were here, side by side.

It's like my entire life I had been at a yellow light, waiting for the chance to move faster, to speed through and travel down a new street. When we had our break-up, I thought I had been stuck at a red, at a stop, as if everything was crashing down and falling apart. But here it was: my green light. My chance at happiness with the man I loved, against it all.

It was a warm summer night in Connecticut, the perfect kind of night, and my life was coming full circle.

The End.