Page 57 of Scores Of The Heart

Ashton shakes his head. “You can’t be for real.”

“Shhh.” I place my finger over my lips. “It’s a new thing, and a big fucking secret.”

“Then why the fuck are you telling us?” Taylor laughs.

“Because she’s coming to the game on Friday with a bunch of friends. Some chicks from Florida too,” I say, and his face drops. Just like that. Something skitters across his features.

“Which chicks from Florida?” he prompts when his momentary lapse has recovered.

“I forget most of their names, but Cindy has been friends with one of them forever. Emma, someone or other,” I say. I actually have forgotten her name, which is terrible.

Ashton looks at Taylor as an air of silence hangs between us.

“You alright?” Ashton asks him.

“What?” I glance over at them.

He shakes his head. “Nothing…”

It’s then I realize from the look on his face that it must be his ex coming to town. From memory, she lives in Miami. Fuck. I feel like an asshole for bringing it up now.

I’m just about to smooth it over when Jay interrupts.

“Back to you and Cindy…” he goes on. “Does Coach know you’re bagging her?”

I shake my head, clenching my fist at my side. I don’t like even Jay talking that way about her. I know he’s going to drill me about this later and why I didn’t tell him first that things had progressed. “I’m not bagging her,” I insist quietly, checking over my shoulder that no one is listening. Coach is yelling at some of the other guys away from us. “I just want to bag her, among other things.”

I can’t be a saint all the time.

It’s then Coach spots us all standing there jabbering away and he starts yelling. “What are you shitheads whispering about over here?” he roars, coming up behind us. “If your passes worked as fast as your fucking mouths, we might actually get somewhere in the next game!”

Fuck. Last thing we need right now is pissing coach off.

It’s time to get down to practice and get these women out of our heads, even temporarily.

The thought ‘women weaken legs’ comes to mind from my favorite Rocky movies, and sometimes Coach Carter reminds me of Mickey.

The thought makes the corner of my mouth turn up, despite the fact we’re all getting our asses handed to us. It’s hard to imagine coach being a softer kind of guy, but maybe with daughters that’s how he is with them. And once again, I’m glad.

We continue our drills after that and get ready for the scrimmage, but it doesn’t stop coach yelling directly at me to get my head in the game.

My head is all over the place. It’s like he fucking knows. And to make matters worse, it’s his daughter that I’m pawing over.

Regardless, I need to see her again. We need to figure some shit out if we wanna start seeing each other. We might only be one coffee date in, and some texts, but I want to know what she wants. And I’m gonna find out by the end of today.

* * *

I wait until the end of practice and drag out the rest of the day in the gym, then hit the sauna before I have a shower. I make sure I’m the last to leave.

“You okay, man?” Jay asks me before he heads off for the day.

“Never better,” I tell him.

“You know we were just shitting you before, right?”

I give him a wry smile. “Wouldn’t expect any less.”

He gives me a nod. “See you tomorrow. I think us four should have dinner tomorrow before the game?”

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