"Colorado love bugs you ready to go?" I ask.

"Astrid." Mal groans while cuddled up with Lindsey. "You know I hate that."

"Well I would call you two by your ship name but I have no idea what it is."

"Coulda just used our first name." Mal mumbles.

"Anyways...are you two ready to go?" I ask.

"We are." Lindsey says

The young couple gets of the love seat and grabs their training bags while I grab mine then we head out to a rental car and set off on our hour drive.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Lindsey ask as we get to Melbourne, Florida.

"We're helping Ash and Ali with some clinic thing at Ash's old high school and Ash is getting them all tickets to the game."

"And where are we going?" Mal asks.

"Pick up some extra equipment." I say and park in the sporting goods store parking lot.

The three of us head into the store and get what we need for practicing with the team.

Ash is getting the start in the victory tour game since it's in Orlando so I told her I'd help her with the keepers so she doesn't jeopardize her start.

Once I have all the gear I need I head up to the register and pay then find the Colorado girls so we can leave.

"Ready?" Mal asks as I approach them.

"Yep." I say as we walk back to the car.

Once in the car we drive the twenty minutes to Ash's high school and meet her and her fiancée in the parking lot.

"Hey." Ali says with a smile. "I guess you found everything okay?"

"Yep." I say. "Just followed WAZE"

"Got all the stuff?" Ash asks.

"Yep." I say then me and the Colorado girls grab our stuff from the car and follow Ash and Ali.

"So this is where teenage Ash went to school." Lindsey says as we walk down the hall.

"That it is." Ash says with a soft smile as we head outside.

A few seconds later we arrive at the school practice fields so Lindsey, Mal, Ali, and I go set up our stuff while Ash talks to the players. Minutes later Ash walks over with four teenagers following her

"Astrid these are the keepers for the two teams." Ash says then motions to each individual as she says their name. "This is Lindy, Lexy, Kaia, and Imogen."

"Hi girls." I say then the high schoolers greet me back.

The 6 of us then sit down in a circle.

"So I thought we could get to know each other a bit better and you girls could ask us any questions you have then we could get to work." Ash says.

"Why did you choose to be a keeper?" Kaia asks.

"Kelley was originally a forward and she needed someone to shoot on so I was put in goal." I say.

"My youth coaches just put me in goal and I stuck with it." Ash says.

"What do you do when your team plays a worse team?" Imogen asks.

"You try to still play like normal, but there comes a point when you get bored and the game drags on." Ash says.

"Oh that Thailand game was so boring. They didn't show it on camera but at some points in the game I picked grass." I say making everyone laugh.

"What do you do if your the back up keeper behind a good keeper?" Lexy asks.

"You try to be a leader from the bench and encourage your teammates on the field." Ash says.

"But always remember you are very very important to the team." I say then put a hand on Ash's knee. "If Ash and Alyssa weren't as good as they are then I would've slacked off more in training and who knows how that could've affected us in the latter stages of the World Cup. They both helped push my game to a new level because I knew that if I wanted to start then I'd have to be at my best."

"Aww." Ash says and hugs me.

"How do you calm your nerves before a penalty?" Lindy asks.

"Well if anyone knows about that it's Astrid." Ash says. "Ms. I've only let in 24 penalties ever."

"24?" Kaia asks.

"The 3 I let in in the World Cup Final were numbers 22, 23, and 24."

"Holy shit." Lexy says then she covers her mouth. "Sorry."

"You're fine sweetie." I say with a chuckle.

"What do you before penalties?" Imogen asks.

"Lets use the German game for example okay?" I say making the high schoolers nod. "In the days leading up to the game I watched ever penalty taken by the German players that I could find and then I figured out what side they would go to. Fortunately I played with or against all of the girls so I knew their tendencies. Also when I was a kid I wanted to be a detective so I read books about body language which has helped with my ability to figure out people's tell on where they will go."

"Unfortunately." Ash says. "That's not why you saved the two penalties in the final."

"It's not?" Kaia questions.

"No." I say. "I'd just hurt my leg minutes earlier so I knew they'd all go to my hurt side...truthfully I'm surprised I stopped two."

"Really?" Lexy asks.

I nod then get out my phone and pull up youtube a video of the penalty shootout.

"Did you notice this before the shootout?" I ask and show them when the camera caught me looking at my twin and shaking my head.

"Shaking your head?" Imogen questions causing me to nod.

"I was letting Kelley know that I thought we'd lose the penalty shoot out." I admit.

"Oh."

"How do you get your throws to go so far?" Lindy asks then I grab my bag.

"I train with a handball." I say then show the keepers the ball I'm talking about.

"It's smaller, but heavier so it helped me get more power behind my throws."

"How far can you throw?" Lexy asks.

"I actually have never measured." I say then grab a ball. "Never hurts to find out though."

"MAL, LINDSEY, ALI MOVE YOUR GROUPS." Ash shouts.

The three groups move off to the side so I toss Ash the ball and get on the goal line. Ash then kicks the ball at me and I catch it easily. After I catch the ball I sprint towards the top of the box and when I'm about 5 yards from the top of the box I shift my feet so they are pointing towards the sideline. I then shuffle my feet twice before I cock my arm back and then as I'm about to leave the 18 yard box I the ball forward and my momentum carries me to the ground and roll a bit.

Once I've stopped rolling I look up and see the ball flying in the air and a few seconds later the ball bounces inside the 18 yard box then it rolls into the goal.

"ASTRID WHAT THE FUCK." Ash yells then she pulls me to my feet and hugs me.

"I GOT THAT ALL ON CAMERA." Lindsey shouts.

"How is that physically possible?" I ask.

"Have you seen your arms?" Ash says then she grips my bicep. "They're massive."

"Still don't understand how that's possible." I mumble.

"We can figure it out later." Ash says then she motions to the high schoolers. "We've got some training to do."

I nod then follow my fellow keeper over to the four high school girls and start our warm up stretches. Once our stretching and other warm up stuff is done I set up the first drill as Ash explains what's going to happen then we begin the first of many drills.

We work on positioning, technique, ball handling, distribution, diving, blocking, and a couple other things until our time is up.

"Great work girls." Ash says as the girls and I replenish the fluids we lost.

After the other groups finish we take pictures with the high schoolers then we give the equipment we bought at the sporting goods store to the high school coach. Mal, Lindsey, and I then get in the car and make the hours drive back to our hotel. When we get to our hotel we park next to the other team vehicles then head inside.

I head to my room and shower so I don't smell like sweat for the rest of the day. Once I'm clean and sweet smelling I get out and dry myself on then I change into comfortable clothes before I rest on the bed. A couple minutes later Tobin comes into the room with her mouthful of some sort of food.

When my girlfriend sees me she waves at me then points to the bathroom. I nod and wave back as Tobin goes to shower then I relax until she comes out and changes into something comfortable.

As Tobin is slipping on her shirt I get off the bed and approach my forward.

"Hi Boo Bear." I say and bring my girlfriend into my arms. "How was surfing with Kelley and the girls?"

"Hey Beautiful. It was fun. Kelley ate it a couple times which was funny" Tobin says making us both laugh.

Tobin she wraps her arms around my neck and softly kisses me.

"How was it with the High schoolers?"

"It was actually really fun."

"Yeah?" Tobin ask then I nod. "Well good...Would coaching or working with kids be something you'd be interested in the future?"

"Maybe." I say and shrug. "But there's some thing's I wanna do first."

"Oh? Like what?" Tobin asks as I pick her up then lay us on the bed.

"Win Gold at the Olympics, win the NWSL with Utah, experience different places and things with you, show you around Germany... stuff like that." I say as Tobin cuddles into me.

"Well I can help with three of those things, but I think you'll have a tough time winning the NWSL." Tobin says with a cute giggle.

A comfortable silence takes over the room as I play with my girlfriend's hair while she lazily rakes her fingers over my abs.

"After the December games against the Dutch would you want to go with me to Germany before Christmas?" I ask breaking the silence.

"I'd love too." Tobin says as she looks up at me with a smile.

"Good." I say then kiss Tobin's head. "I love you."

"I love you too." Tobin says then she kisses my heart.

Yep.

I'm gonna marry this woman one day.