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“Okay, so—”
Scott’s voice was filled with excitement, and loud in Vicky’s ear due to his proximity. She was lucky the sun was out—she could blame the blushing on that. Scott reached forward and gently grabbed her right hand.
“When you grab the ball, you kinda grab it near the end… like that.” Scott maneuvered her hand to grip the ball a certain way, making sure the last digits of her fingers were over the white stitches on the football. “You want a couple of the stitches to stick out—hey! You also have stitches! What a coinky-dink!”
The ruffled sound of Scott’s tail wagging against his jeans made Vicky crack a smile, as well as the stupid grin and big ol’ eyes Scott was looking at her with.
“Anyways, once you’re holding it like that, you pull your arm back like this…” He grabbed Vicky’s wrist (much to her joy), positioning it in a throwing pose. “And then you throw it reeeeally far!”
He pushed Vicky's arm, making it surge forwards sharply. He then gave her an eager grin. “See? Easy! Now give it a try!”
He backed away in two quick steps, his ears up and his tail wagging in anticipation. Vicky missed the warmth against her back and the heat on her skin of where he touched her. Her mind drew a blank for a second as she mourned the contact before snapping back to herself.
“Okay… I got this.” Her voice oozed with a confidence she wasn’t entirely sure was real. Inhaling a grounding breath, she repositioned her hand on the ball, stepped back with one foot (Scott didn’t tell her to, it just felt more natural), and drew her hand back. On the exhale, she squeezed her eyes shut and threw as hard as she could.
She almost instantly heard a thump! as the ball collided with the ground a few feet away from her. Opening her eyes to see the result of her throw, her face fell at the obvious failure.
“Oh man…” She sulked, shoulders slumping. “I really thought I had that…”
Scott was quick to retrieve the ball, running it back to her. “Don’t worry, Vicky, it takes a while to get really good at throwing the ball! It looked like you were throwing the ball too hard and too late. How about you try again a little gentler and earlier this time?”
He offered up the ball to her. Hearing his non-judgmental words and seeing his encouraging smile made Vicky perk up again.
“You’re right, Scott. That was just my first try. This time, I really got this!” She grinned up at the hairy man and grabbed the ball from his hands.
Take two. Grip? Good. Posture? Good. Confidence? Absolutely!
And so, when Vicky took a breath and pulled her arm back, she let her eyes slip closed again. Not in the same nervous tightly-shut way from before, but in a calm and collected way. In her head she counted down to her throw.
One, two, three!
Her arm snapped forwards, she could feel the electricity buzzing in her—and some out of her! Instead of hearing that defeating thump, silence followed her throw. Well, silence until Scott let out an ecstatic “Woohoo!” Before she knew it, she was scooped up in Scott’s strong arms and pressed against his solid, hairy chest.
“That was such a good throw, Vicky! You’re such a fast learner! And do-er! You do things and you’re always awesome at them!” Scott cheered and praised her. She wanted desperately to convince herself that her sudden bout of sweating was only occurring due to their close proximity, though anyone with eyes could see through that lie. Speaking of eyes, Vicky cracked hers open, peeping over Scott’s shoulder and seeing the ball much further away than before. Was it an amazing throw? No, but it was better! That all Vicky could ask for.
“Oh, Scott, thank you so much! I only learned this fast because you’re such a good coach!” she said. The sound of Scott’s tail wagging faster was all Vicky needed to hear to know he enjoyed the praise. Pulling back slightly, Scott looked at Vicky with large, pleading eyes.
“Really? You mean it?” he asked, a slightly desperate look in his eyes. Vicky just smiled widely.
“Yes, Of course I mean it Scott! I couldn't have done it without you!”
Scott sniffled slightly, and crushed Vicky against his chest again.
“Vicky! You’re… You’re my favorite person ever!” he confessed. Vicky could’ve screamed with joy.
“You’re mine too, Scott.”