With his words, all fear left my body, and I felt strong enough to speak my heart. “Reed, the only thing that you ever did to let me down was give up on us. I love you, and I’d love you if you were a biology major without an inkling of athletic talent, I swear,” I smiled stupidly as I tilted my head back and stared at him. I awed as I watched the caution in his eyes slide for just a bit, a small smile touching his lips.
His strong hands slid around me tighter now and he leaned back a little, lifting me off the ground with his embrace, holding me up a little to look me in the eyes as he spun me around and started to walk to my bed. He pushed me back against it and we fell down together, still holding on to one another. He leaned over me and tucked my hair behind my ears slowly, his eyes intent on his hands as he touched my face softly. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to my forehead, then my cheek before coming to rest his head against mine again, his eyes staring deep into mine.
“I love you, too, Nolan,” he said, letting out a deep breath. “And I swear, if you let me, if you give me another chance, I promise I won’t let you down.”
With his eyes closed against me, I just nodded my head, whispering yes against his lips before kissing him with all of the love I’d been holding onto, as if I’d been waiting to give it to him all at once. Wrapping my arms and legs around him, we quickly became tangled and hungry for one another, gripping each other tightly for fear of the night slipping away.
When I realized that almost an hour had passed, I stopped Reed from carrying our kissing any further and held his gaze as I smiled, a true smile, the first I’d had since that car had run us off the desert highway. He laid back and I nestled myself into his arm and tucked my hand inside the warmth of his shirt against his bare chest. “Hey, aren’t you going to be missed?” I worried, hoping he wouldn’t miss a curfew or anything.
He just chuckled a little. “Naw, I don’t have practice until tomorrow afternoon. I have to get back by four. And I figure if I’m going to be making this drive a lot, I should figure out exactly how long it takes me,” he smiled, looking down at me against him, and leaned in to kiss my head again before shutting his eyes.
I watched him fall asleep and felt soothed at the sound of his breathing. Somehow, we had found our way back to us. And we felt stronger this time. I knew that there would be bumps in our road, things to shake up the perfect I felt right now. But I also knew it was worth it, every second. The good and the bad.
Not wanting to leave his arms, I left the lights on and laid there until I heard Sienna’s keys at our door. She shut it quietly, probably expecting to see me asleep, and stilled when she took in the sight of me staring at her, my finger to my mouth to tell her to be quiet. Her eyes shot up with surprise and I just smiled and nodded, biting my lip and letting her know that my wish had somehow come true, no matter that it had taken longer than I expected. She smiled back and blew a kiss at me and flipped out the lights, crawling into her bed.
I stared at Reed in the dark for another hour before finally succumbing to the sleepiness that took me over. And for the first night in weeks I didn’t dream. Probably because I didn’t need to.
--- THE END ---
Acknowledgements
This book has been a lifetime in the making. I’ve wanted to write a coming-of-age love story since I was coming-of-age myself. I’ve spent more than a decade working as a reporter, freelance journalist, editor and digital media specialist, which has been a proven training ground for helping me tell honest stories that touch the heart. I hope I have been able to convey that same honesty in my fiction.
Waiting by the Sidelines is a special story to me. It is about those anxieties young girls feel over not being good enough, pretty enough, sexy enough, rich enough, daring enough to fit in. It is about wanting someone so badly but not feeling confident enough in yourself to put your heart on the line. It’s about finding your center of confidence and then rebuilding it over and over again, each time your inner strength takes a hit. No one is impervious to heartbreak, and those of us who say we are, well, we’re lying.
I would like to thank my parents, who have always believed in my writing and have known I could do this. I would like to thank my dear friends and family members who have urged me to put my story out there for the public (a special thanks to “Bulldog” Jennifer Stein, my own personal Vince Lombardi, who has made my success her number one mission). To my wonderful husband, Tim, who made me make time for this once and for all, and to my son, Carter, who wants to read mommy’s book some day. He may be disappointed when he learns that it is not entirely about football.
Thank you Phil Scott for being the best big brother a girl could have and for teaching me all the right things about cars and “buying American.” Thank you, mom, for the copy editing gene (and the copy editing). And lastly, special thanks to my girls, the members of ‘Team Ginger,’ who shared their creativity, inspired me and worked tirelessly to help get my story out there for others to enjoy. Thank you: Lesley, Mia, Debbie, Brigitte, Jayne, Kim and Marcheta.
Thank you for reading…
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading my book. If you enjoyed Waiting on the Sidelines, I would love it if you would share your thoughts with others. Please consider posting a review, lending this book or recommending it. If you do post a review, please let me know so I can thank you. You can find me at www.authorgingerscott.com or www.littlemisswrite.com. Please also consider liking my facebook page at www.facebook.com/GingerScottAuthor.
About the author…
Ginger Scott is a journalist and writer from Peoria, Arizona. An Arizona native, Scott infused a lot of her home state into Waiting on the Sidelines. A graduate and associate faculty member of Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, she had a hard time writing about her rival school in Tucson, but feels satisfied at the few jabs she was able to work into her story. Scott is an avid sports fan and loves the purity of high school football. In fact, she attends the local high school games regularly with her husband and 9-year-old son.
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