Chapter 16: Match Day
“Love is a decision renewed daily.”
— Simone de Beauvoir
The next day’s match was brutal.
Cedar Falls played hard, without sentiment. Pressing, perimeter fouls, provocations. Caleb was marked, pushed, tested with every touch.
In the seventieth minute, he went down after a fierce challenge. The stadium erupted in an uproar. The referee waved play on.
Evelyn sat in the press bleachers. Her hands were clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
In the eighty-fourth minute, Caleb scored a goal.
He didn’t rejoice for long. He only glanced toward the stands. Briefly. As if checking to see if he was there.
Was.
They did not meet again in the evening.
That was the plan.
It had to be like that.
Evelyn was packing her things when her phone vibrated.
“Thank you for yesterday. It gave me more strength than the entire season.”
She looked at the screen for a moment before replying:
“Be careful. This isn’t just ours anymore.”
She put the phone down slowly.
She knew Cedar Falls was a liminal moment.
After him, nothing would be simple anymore.
And that they have just crossed the line beyond which there is no return to innocence.
