(A/N) Wow! It's been quite a while, huh? This is the first story that I'm updating in my half-year absence. Special! I'm really sorry I've been gone so long, but I'm back now that my college apps are done and I got accepted into the school I wanted! So look out for more fics in the future! It's good to be back. (: On to the chapter!

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"You're pretty fast," Eric panted to Lexy as they led their group of new players on a run across the sandy beach. The same beach…

The group of young boys, varying in both shape and size, trailed after Eric in a scattered line. The last boy, a flat-footed striker from Tennessee, was almost a half mile behind him. But Lexy, in her Nike sneakers and navy shorts, managed to keep up. She turned to him and wiped a stray hair out of her face. "Yeah," she replied between breaths. "I run. A lot. Feels good."

Eric couldn't help but glance at her taut body and felt a warmth building in his stomach. "Yeah," he exhaled back. "Really good."

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"Damn!" Andy Maxwell whistled, when Eric joined him for lunch in the mess hall. "You, sir, are the luckiest man in the world."

Eric put his tray down and slid onto the bench. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, 'what do I mean'? Have you seen your partner?"

Eric shook his head, smiling. "I have a girlfriend, Andy. Remember Bridget?"

His friend chuckled and waggled his eyebrows. "I know that. I've seen your millions of pictures of her. She's hot, man, but honestly, Lexy is hot."

Eric creased his eyebrows in disgust. "Andy, why do you always have to talk about girls like that? Plus, I'm not interested in Lexy at all." It occurred to Eric that he wasn't exactly sure who he was trying to convince with his heated words.

"Well, you must be the only guy in the camp to feel that way," Andy shrugged, gesturing over to Lexy's table, where several guys were already chatting her up. She tossed her hair every few seconds, and she would bare her pearly white teeth when she laughed.

She's so different from Bridget, Eric thought to himself as he watched her. Bridget's effortlessly stunning, while Lexy is almost comically sultry. But at the same time…they're so similar. Eric recognized a bold impulsiveness in his new partner that also lived in his girlfriend. He could tell that the two girls both valued feelings over rules and plunged headfirst into their aspirations.

And, Eric realized with a pang, they both bring out the same fire in me when I see them. Wait, no, no. He shook his head, laughing. He was clearly delirious. Bridget was his girlfriend. They were meant to be with each other. He loved her more than he loved soccer and, quite possibly, life itself. How could he compare her with this girl he had just met two days ago? How superficial would that make him?

He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Lexy. She smiled.

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Eric grunted and sent the ball sailing into the net with an impressive scissor kick. The miniscule boy who played goalie didn't even get a piece of it. "Just do what I did," Eric instructed the line of awestruck young boys. "You don't even have to perform a stunt. Just kick it into the net."

"I can't even do that," the redhead in back of him joked, eliciting laughs from the boys.

Eric turned around and smiled. "Yeah, you can, Tony. Just keep your ankle straight."

Tony the redhead shuffled his feet. "Can Lexy be the goalie?"

Eric quickly glanced over at Lexy, who looked annoyed. "Why, Tony?" she asked, trying to keep her voice under control. "You think girls aren't as good of goalies as boys?"

Tony smirked slightly. "Yeah?" His voice was taunting, and Eric immediately recognized that the teenager was flirting with the coach. Unfortunately, Lexy didn't; she took him seriously.

"Okay, fine," she said, sliding on her black goalie gloves, her voice determined. "I'll goalie." She jogged into the net and told the boy who was there to get back into line. Lexy took her position. "Hit me!" she yelled.

Only Eric heard the boy whisper, "I wish," as his foot connected with the ball. It soared out to the left but seemed to curve inward, toward the left rung. Lexy dived before anyone realized what was happening. She caught the ball by the tips of her fingers and landed roughly on her side. As she got back to her feet, she shot Tony, who was already suffering from his teammates' jeers and laughs, a satisfied smirk. She tore off her gloves and skillfully dribbled the ball back to the group.

"Nice save," Eric complimented her, smiling his usual one-sided smirk. "You sure showed him up."

Lexy grinned and took a swig of water. "I didn't get MVP three years in a row for nothing."

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The sun climbed higher into the clear Baja sky, sending intolerable rays down onto the earth. But Eric Richman and Lexy St. Clair didn't notice. They were both in their state. Their soccer state. And once they got in, nothing less than the invasion of a flesh-eating slug could get them out.

"No way!" Lexy laughed, tossing her blanket of hair onto her back. "You really want to play Scott Newman as striker for the rest of the summer?"

"Why not? He played that position at school."

"The guy has two left feet."

"So?" Eric sighed and pulled out his clipboard. "Look, the way I see it – Scott is amazing with position. He lacks skill, you're right, but that boy can anticipate plays better than anyone else on the team. If someone sets up the ball right, Scott can read the game from there."

There was silence. Finally, Lexy laughed, "You are impossible, Eric." Her luscious lips curled up into a smile. "But impossibly, you're right. I guess I see your point."

Eric pretended to bow. "Thank you, thank you."

Lexy giggled and shoved him lightly. He chuckled and playfully messed with her hair. There was a comfortable silence, which Lexy broke by asking, "Do you want to move under that tree? It's getting really hot out."

Eric squinted at the tree she was pointing at, shading his eyes with his hand to get a better look. It was a thick tree, with millions of branches and dark green leaves, and stood as the partition between Field 3 and Field 4. Eric recognized it as the very tree that he had watched Bridget play the championship game under. And later, she had come up to him to tell him that she had played hard because she knew he was watching. Eric waited for the usual zoomy feeling he got when he passed by a familiar "Bridget" landmark, but it didn't come.

He turned to Lexy. "Okay."

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(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it. It feels so great to be back, honestly. Feel more than free to leave me some motivation in the form of a review! Thanks for reading. I'll update soon! (And I will this time! Hehe.) (: