Episode Two: Ben Kennedy & Jade Tally, I

April 2016

It was a gorgeous day for a soccer game. Ben had thought so the moment he’d stepped onto the field an hour and a half ago. He’d looked up at the sky, his hand raised to his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun, and surveyed the vast expanse of blue, dotted lightly with a sparing cloud. A light breeze ruffled the tops of the trees in the forest to the west, but the wind factor was no harsher than that. It was dream weather.

Initially, he’d been overcome with nostalgia, standing on the fluffy green grass that covered the pitch. He didn’t get back to his high school nearly often enough, and now that he was with the government, his time to scrimmage was significantly deteriorated. Also, he didn’t have anybody to scrimmage with. That was a big factor, too.

His toes itched to have the comfort of his cleats around his feet, to pound against the grass as he chased after that checkered ball. It had been far too long since he’d played, definitely. Maybe this summer he’d invite Megan and Paige over and make them play with him. He could force Alex and Jade over, and probably Ryan. They could have a little three-on-three. As long as Ryan kept his paws off Alex. That boy had a thing for blonde girls.

He’d come to school today to watch the championship game his Lions were playing against the Stars, their rival team. He’d been elated to find out the game was scheduled for this week’s day off, and now that he was seated in the stands, he felt the familiar buzz that had accompanied each of the countless games he’d played in his time at school.

His brown eyes fell on Megan, his fourteen-year-old niece, who was wound, ready to pounce on the ball as soon as it got close to the Stars' goal. It made him ridiculously happy that she’d taken up his old position. Maybe it ran in the family. And it was doing her good, too. She’d always been a little thicker than most girls her age, but soccer had really helped her tone up. Her face in particular showed thinning out, and he’d heard Alex saying something about baby fat turning into curves. But he hadn’t noticed that. Megan wasn’t curvy. She was just a little girl.

Not as little as her barely-twelve-year-old sister Paige, though, who was seated on Ben’s left with his arm draped carelessly over her shoulder. He didn’t think Paige had received the soccer gene – she was barely paying attention to the game, instead chattering to the girl next to her about nothing in particular. A chubby sixth-grader, Lilian something-or-other.

His gaze flickered over the field, but found no openings for Megan to take. Instead, his eyes landed on the familiar robed form of Jade Tally, who was lingering in front of the Lions' net, stance at the ready. Her flowing brown hair had been pulled into a ponytail to prevent it from blowing into her eyes during the game, and an intense expression of concentration covered her face as she watched the progression of the ball across the field. Her lips were pursed, and he smiled easily in amusement. She always pursed her lips when she was thinking hard about something. Just one of the many things he’d learned in their time together.

He and Jade had been sort of dating since early October, when they’d coincidentally run into each other in town one afternoon. It was peculiar – when he was at school, he’d never really looked at his team-mate as anything other than just that. A team-mate. Then again, when he’d graduated Jade had been, what, fourteen? But she wasn’t fourteen anymore. Yes, there was an age difference, but it didn’t really matter. Girls matured faster than boys did, so it was completely natural for them to date older guys, who would therefore be at the same maturity level as them.

Not that he was immature.

And Jade wasn’t immature, either, he thought with a slow nod as his eyes slid over her robe-clad body. Jade was definitely not immature.

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” came the voice of Alex, his older sister, who was seated on his right-hand side. He glanced over at her, a goofily content smile on his face.

“Yeah, she really is,” he agreed. His dark brown gaze stayed trained on his girlfriend, but, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed his big sister give an eye roll and an amused smirk. He turned to face her completely. “What?” he questioned.

“I was talking about Megan.”

“… Oh.”

“You knob.”

“Well, Megan’s really something, too. She’s a great little player. She’s gonna be hell on the field come her senior year,” he commented, easily falling into the new topic of conversation. But that topic was abruptly cut off when Alex’s hand clasped his forearm tightly, and she bolted out of her seat. Ben was a split-second behind her, much to the irritation of the people in the row behind them, but he didn’t care about them. His hand came up to block the sun’s glare from his eyes, and he focused on Megan, who had started to run full-tilt out in front of the opposing net.

In she swooped, one hand forming a determined fist at her side, and the other stretching out to give her balance as she raced toward the ball. The Stars' defense, who he didn’t recognise, was too far behind Megan to really have a chance, and the small brunette pulled back her leg, then drilled her foot toward the ball. He pumped his fist triumphantly in the air as a grin broke out on his niece’s face, the ball plowing through the hoops.

Twenty minutes later, Alex had abandoned him in favour of actually getting some work done, and Paige had run off with Lilian to do God knew what. Ben was leaned back against the wall outside the nostalgically familiar Lions locker room, hands in his pockets as he watched various players exit. A few of them he knew from his time on the team, and they were the ones he chatted with the most as he waited. When Megan exited, he excitedly dropped a hand onto her head and ruffled her hair in congratulations. She went back to the school feeling, he was sure, the same exhilaration he’d felt at the completion of each successful game.

Player after player left the locker rooms, but he saw no sign of Jade. He was sure she had to be the only one left in there, but what the hell was she doing? He had to get back to the Ministry. He had paperwork to do and all that grown up crap, but he wanted to see her before he left. Finally, he became impatient enough to reach around and jerk the door open. He poked his head into the steamy room, hot from the showers.

“Jade?” he called. He received no verbal response, but a hand wrapped around the front of his shirt and jerked him inside roughly, then the captain shoved him back against the condensation-covered wall. He chuckled, but the sound was smothered when she pressed her lips fervently against his mouth. His hands found her waist and she arched up against him eagerly.

“Took you long enough,” she panted when they finally broke apart. The man smiled in resignation.

“Sorry, babe. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Her lips brushed over his stubble-covered jaw, her hands making quick work of the buttons of his shirt. She pushed the edges apart, her small hands sliding over his bare chest. Teasingly, she angled her hips against his crotch so she could feel him pressing insistently into her.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” she countered, laughing softly against his throat.

Behind her, he lifted his wrist, still holding her with one hand, and glanced at the face of his watch. He groaned, unsure whether it was because of Jade or the time.

“Gonna be late for work?” the high school senior asked. Before answering, he slipped his hand into her hair, tugging on it slightly to turn her face up toward his. He kissed her lingeringly, savouring the taste of her.

“It can wait.”