“All’s fair on the field, Scott,” she replies, pulling me into a quick hug. “You know where else?” She mouths the answer with a wink before heading for the guest team’s tunnel. “Looking forward to a rematch,” she calls over her shoulder.

I head back to Lancaster’s bench to grab my gear and then make my way over to Anne, who’s grabbing her own stuff. She looks a little nervous as I approach, so I pair the “Thank you” I was already planning on with a hug.

“Anything for you, Scott,” she replies with a smile. I pretend to wipe tears away from my eyes, and she shoves my shoulder. “I take it back.”

I’m grinning as I head into the tunnel. The locker room is exultant. Northampton is normally one of our toughest opponents. We just destroyed them. It bodes pretty fucking well for our championship chances.

I shower and change into jeans and a t-shirt. My instructions to my father this morning included where to meet me after the game, and he’s right by the oak tree I described, just to the left of the field’s exit.

Cressida, Anne, and Emma all trail behind me. I definitely didn’t buy Cressida retying her sneakers twice in an effort to delay leaving until I did, but I can’t blame them for being curious. I’ve met all their families. I even spent a week with Emma’s two summers ago when my own family thought I was still at the U20 team training camp.

Most of the crowd has cleared by now, but there are still a few streams of students leaving. We’re stopped several times, which only increases my anxiety. I’d rather get this over with.

We finally reach the shade of the oak. “Hi, Dad. Hey, Sandra.”

“Saylor!” Sandra speaks first. “What a fantastic game!”

“Thank you,” I reply, but my gaze bounces back to my father. He doesn’t say anything. “Uh, these are my teammates and housemates: Emma, Cressida, and Anne.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Scott… uh, Mrs. Scott,” Emma says. The last two words are a bit of a question, and yeah… I probably should have provided a bit of context. They know nothing about my mom leaving, about the family trip three weeks ago actually being my father’s wedding.

“Nice to meet you two.” Cressida jumps in, smoothing over the awkward moment, and Anne echoes the sentiment.

“Lovely to meet you all. And my goodness, you’re all so gorgeous!” Sandra comments.

“So kind of you to say that,” Emma replies. “It’s really hard on our egos, being friends with the Saylor Scott.”

I roll my eyes. “The trip here was okay?” I finally address my dad directly.

“Yup. Quick and easy,” he replies. I don’t know how you could categorize a fifteen-hour drive as “quick,” but I don’t challenge him on it.