Page 54 of Every Beat of My Heart

Jameson stepped away, leaning against the island counter, adopting a relaxed stance. If the firefighter wasn’t concerned, Owen shouldn’t be either. “What did you think of practice?”

“It was good,” Owen said tightly.

“You didn’t think I was too hard on some of the guys?”

I walked back into the room, and Jameson said by way of explanation, “Bryce had been screwing around and instead of making him run laps, I punished the entire team.”

Owen’s lips pursed. “I liked how you handled it.”

Jameson arched a brow. “You didn’t get mad at Bryce?”

“I was, but then the other guys were complaining, so you had to do what you did. Besides, we felt more like a team running those laps than we have all season.”

Jameson nodded, seemingly pleased at his observations. “That’s what I wanted to happen.”

I could see what Jameson was doing. He was distracting him from worrying about the stove, yet I could tell that Jameson was aware of everything that was going on. If something went wrong, he’d put the fire out in a few seconds.

“I’m learning as I go. I’ve been on a lot of teams, had good coaches and bad ones.”

“We’re your guinea pigs?” Owen asked.

“Pretty much. You don’t mind?”

“You’re a good coach,” Owen said seriously.

Jameson let out a breath. “Thanks.”

“Where are we? Should I start the garlic bread?” I asked them.

“Waiting on the water to boil.” Jameson crossed one foot over the other.

I tensed, remembering what happened the last time Owen cooked. How I’d panicked because I hadn’t been home. That there was nothing I could do to help.

I felt Jameson’s gaze on me. “Rough day at work?”

“I swear it was a full moon. The naughty kids were more rambunctious than usual, and I lost a few tests, only to find them later in my bag.”

Jameson touched my shoulder pulling me close. “You’re tense.”

Owen’s gaze was on the just-starting-to-boil water, not on us.

Jameson kneaded the muscles in my shoulders, and my head fell back slightly. I wished we were alone so that there was a possibility of Jameson kissing my neck. My body started to tremble. And if it wasn’t for Jameson standing tall and strong behind me, my knees would have buckled.

Jameson kept one eye on me, and the other on Owen and the stove.

“That feels amazing.”

“I give good massages.” Just then the water in the pan hissed then bubbled. “It sounds like it’s boiling. You can take the hot pad and remove the lid.”

Owen glanced at us as if he was unsure, and I was glad Jameson’s hands had already fallen away.

Jameson nodded in support, and Owen complied. The water was boiling. “Go ahead and dump the noodles in.”

Owen opened the container of noodles and dumped the whole box in.

“We probably didn’t need to make the whole box,” I said.

Jameson waved a hand in my direction. “That’s okay. I’m starving.”

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