South Beach Love by Caridad Pineiro

Author:Caridad Pineiro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Published: 2021-03-08T18:44:53+00:00

Chapter 13

Angelica sprinted toward midfield, keeping the ball in control as she looked for an opening in the other team’s defense. But as she dribbled to avoid a defender, her mind drifted for a split second as she imagined herself in a hideous seafoam green quinceañera gown adorned with immense neon-colored flowers. It was a mix of some of the designs she’d seen days earlier during another unsuccessful attempt to find her dress.

In that slight moment of hesitation, the defender stole the ball from her and kicked it to one of her strikers who took off down the field, racing straight for Angelica’s team’s goal.

With another quick pass to a teammate, the opposing team broke through the defense.

Suddenly, in a blur of blue and gold, Samantha disrupted the play with a sliding tackle. The ball skittered away and another of Angelica’s midfielders kicked the ball back upfield to the forwards.

Angelica had barely made it back into the play when the referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game. Thanks to Samantha’s save, they had been able to win the game by just one goal.

The two teams lined up to shake hands and after, her teammates ran off the field. Angelica held back, walking more slowly, thinking about how badly she’d played in the game and everything she still had to do for the quinceañera which was now barely two weeks away.

“What’s bugging you?” Samantha asked as they stopped at their bench to pick up their water bottles for a quick drink before heading in.

Angelica plopped onto the bench, grabbed a small towel, and mopped her face with it. Samantha did the same, obviously intent on getting an answer. It was weird, but despite their disagreements, Angelica felt more comfortable sharing what was bothering her with Samantha than with her friends, maybe because it involved Samantha’s aunt and Tio Tony. She’d overheard her mother and him chatting the other night about the party and about how much he liked Sara Kelly. But she couldn’t get the words out.

“Thanks for that tackle out there. I really messed up by losing control of the ball,” she said and passed the towel across her face again.

Samantha hesitated, clearly not expecting the praise, but then said, “Thanks and no need to apologize. Everyone has a bad day.”

Angelica chuckled. “Not sure there was an apology there. My mind was on something else.” She rose and started walking toward the locker room and Samantha followed.

“Like your quince? I get it. Lately I can’t avoid thinking about it even though I want to not think about it,” Samantha said, surprising her as they entered the locker room. They walked toward their lockers which were directly opposite each other.

“Me, too,” she blurted out and quickly covered her mouth to keep from saying anything else, especially anything about Sara and Tony.

“Weird, right? There’s still so much to do, but at least I’ve got my dress already,” Samantha said. It was probably the worst thing she could have said at the moment because Angelica was still in search of the perfect dress and time was running out.

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