Coming Home (Liam Dunbar x Reader - Book 2)

Chapter 27

The entire crowd stood up on their feet as they watched the ball making its way towards the goal. There were only four teams left in the California State playoffs and Beacon Hills was playing on their home turf against Southwest Cali High School. Their game was intense, as Mason had said several times throughout the game. Southwest Cali had scored the first goal, but Beacon Hills quickly recovered and scored a goal a few minutes afterwards. It was back to back throughout the entire game, as each team scored on each other and eventually tied the game. With only 5 seconds left in the game, the Beacon Hills captain ran across the field and towards the goal, his teammates tackling down anyone who tried to stop him, and shot the ball before the buzzer rang.

After what seemed like minutes, but it was only five seconds, the goalie brought his stick too high, making the ball pass right by him and into the net. The entire Beacon Hills crowd went insane. They roared as they ran off the bleachers and onto the field. The captain was immediately lifted up by two of his teammates. Friends, family, and fans surrounded the kids as the news crew made their way towards Liam.

I stayed in the stands with the pack. Lydia was helping her daughters put their toys in their small matching pink backpacks. Nate clung on to Mason's back, begging Mason to give him a piggyback ride as Kira carried Alex. While Scott grabbed both of Luke's hands and swung him down each step, earning a laugh from Luke every step. Stiles was across the street, already directing traffic out of the parking lot.

"Jackson!" I yanked on his shirt to look at me. "Look!" I pointed at the kids who were sneaking up behind Liam with a giant cooler. The interviewer stepped back as soon as the kids dumped the iced cold water on Liam, causing Jackson, me, and the rest of the pack to laugh.

"It's a good thing he can't get sick," Jackson laughed.

"We should all go out and celebrate," Lydia suggested.

"Like dinner?" Kira asked.

"Yes!" Mason cheered on. "They won after all. Liam deserves to be taken out for a celebratory dinner."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea!" Scott agreed. "Would you guys like to join us?"

Panic immediately washed over my body as I looked over to Jackson, knowing he couldn't go as he was planning on spending the rest of the night with Isabella. Before I could even give Jackson a signal to get me out of this or come up with some lame excuse not to go, Liam came over. "Hey guys!"

"Congratulations!" Kira cheered as the kids all clapped together and jumped up and down.

"I'm proud of you," Scott ruffled Liam's wet hair. "You're doing good, kid."

"That was an incredible game," Jackson shook Liam's hand.

"Intense," Mason added. "But such a good game!"

"Thanks, you guys," he said cheekily.

"We want to take you out to dinner and celebrate your big win." Lydia squeezed Liam's forearm instead of giving him a hug to avoid getting wet. "Is that okay with you?"

"That sounds good," Liam smiled. "Where are we going?"

"Great. It's settled. We'll all go home, change, call the sitters, and meet you at Enzo's" Lydia walked towards Stiles with the girls' hands in hers, as everyone else said their quick goodbyes and made their way towards the parking lot. Jackson's phone rang and he took a couple of steps away from me to take the call, leaving me alone as someone had briefly congratulated Liam.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, debating if I should go to dinner. Clearly, everyone had forgotten for a moment that I don't do so well with cars, but I wasn't sure if I could do it without Jackson. I had only done it once and it was less than 10 minutes with Liam holding my hand, like a scared child in need of their parent to reassure them everything would be fine.