Page 12 of Loving the Coach

KATIE

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Garret is the new coach. How did I not know that? How during our messages and calls over the last three weeks did he not mention that he was the coach for Hurtsboro Hummingbirds? I guess the same way I never told him I was the newest cheerleader for them too. Guess we didn’t want to tell each other too much too quickly. When he winks at me I know I blush and I can’t help but smile at him before I turn and shake my ass a little harder as I walk away from him.

The buzz around the stadium is electric. I have never been in this kind of environment before, it is totally different from Daytona and the competitions even. I can feel the adrenaline buzzing through me and I love it. I think I love it more because I know that Garret is watching me.

One of the girls nudges me, “He’s looking at you. I think he likes you. We’ve all tried to get with him, but he’s not interested. Guess he was waiting for you to come along. Now come over here and show him what you’re made of.”

Smiling, I follow her until we are standing together. We are different from most cheerleaders as we have a couple of men on our team. They are the throwers that hoist us in the air and throw us onto the pyramids and catch us when we lean forward. You have to learn to trust these guys, but they are super fit and such nice guys.

The crowd goes wild when we finish our routine and I know that this is definitely my dream job. I am living the dream and even more so now that Garret is watching me. When I leave the centre of the pitch to go to our seats, I know that his eyes are following me and that he needs to concentrate on his job for the next while. I know that tonight he is going to make a move on me and I’m not sure I can stop him or if I actually want to.

However, both of us working for the Hurtsboro Hummingbirds Club causes a problem, especially as I am sure we both have fraternisation clauses. The game is electric and when we win, we all run onto the pitch and do another routine to celebrate. I can see all the guys hugging Garret and I am so proud of him at that moment and I know that my feelings for him are strong.

After the guys have showered and changed we are all driven to a local hotel where there is dinner and drinks to celebrate. I could get used to this kind of lifestyle. In the room my eyes are locked on Garret, I want to talk to him but I don’t want to make it obvious to everyone around, but he has his eyes locked onto me and he’s heading in my direction. Shit.

As he gets closer, one of the other cheerleaders Becky, she’s a real floozy and I don’t really like her. She’s not been very welcoming. She steps in front of him and puts her hand on his chest. Fuck, that hurts. It’s like a knife tearing through my heart. Shit this is going to be difficult. If I keep pushing him away then someone else is going to snap him up. He talks to her but doesn’t take his eyes off me and when she realises that he isn’t interested she tosses her hair and walks away.

Mindy comes up beside me, “Shit, Katie he is going to eat you up. I’ve never seen anyone look at someone so intently before. There is some shit hot chemistry between you two.” I can’t look at her. I am too focussed on Garret. Is he going to kiss me here? I hope not, I don't want to lose my job.

“Hey, Kitty Kat, fancy seeing you here. I didn’t realise you were the hot new cheerleader all the lads are talking about in the dressing rooms.”

What? The lads have been talking about me. I laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“Oh you’d better believe it, but now I know it’s you I am going to put a stop to that. I don’t want them talking about my Kitty Kat like that.” He reaches out and wraps his hand around my wrist. My whole body stiffens and heats up at the same time. Looking around to see if anyone is watching, I take his hand and move it off me.

“Don’t, Garret, someone might see.”

“Are you embarrassed about me?”

“No, of course not. But we don’t know what’s happening between us yet and I don’t want to lose my job for sleeping with the coach.” I grimace as I say the words out loud, they sound so dirty.

“You won’t lose your job, the lads sleep with the cheerleaders all the time.”

I step back in horror. “Is this a joke to you? I’m serious, Garret, I don’t want to lose my job.” I can’t believe we’ve met again, fate has brought us back together and now it seems like it’s just out of my grasp.

“Kitty Kat, I won’t let anything happen to us. You know how I feel. I know you’re scared, but I’ve grown up a lot since that night. I’m sorry and I’ll always make it up to you.”

Jason McHenry, the backup quarterback, walks past. He nudges Garret, “You’re a quick worker, Michaels. We didn’t even see you coming.” He walks off laughing at his own joke.

“Baby, I’m taking you home tonight and you are going to stay and not sneak out in the middle of the night.”

Before I get a chance to answer him, Mindy comes and takes my arm. “Sorry to pull you away from Mr McDreamy here, but we are going to the club. These guys are too old for us.” She laughs and pulls me away from Garret and for the first time since I’ve bumped into him again, I think it’s for the best.

Of course my phone is beeping with texts all night and I try to ignore them, but he’s so persistent. I just don’t know what I really want from him. I know that if we didn’t work at the same place then I would want to pursue something and see what we have together. I forgive him for what happened, but working together puts a different spin on it altogether.

Can I survive working closely with him and not being with him? Only time will tell.

CHAPTER 11

GARRET

I watch as she breezes past me, her arm linked through Trixie’s and she gives me a small smile. The rage that’s building, that has been building since she walked away from me last week is reaching boiling point. This can’t continue, I won’t let it. I hurt her, I understand, she’s had more pain than most people her age, she lost the person she loved most and then I walked away. This can’t go on, I need to talk to her, I hope that she’ll be able to listen to me and realize that I’m sincere when I tell her that I want her and I’m not leaving her again.

“Micheals?” Peters asks with a smug smirk on his face. He’s the defensive line coach, and actually a great guy. “Dude, you’re not even listening to me are you?” He admonishes me as though I’m a child. “You’ve got it bad, just go talk to her. Whatever you’ve done, apologize, and apologize some more.”

I sigh. “You think I haven’t apologized? I have and I’m not sure what the hell to do next. So, since you’re so full of advice, what do you suggest to do next?”

He chuckles, “maybe she doesn’t want you.”

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