Page 4 of Loving the Coach

Walking into my room, I answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Mr Micheals, it’s Julius Haynes.”

My body tightens.

“Hey.”

“After considerable consideration, we’d like to offer you the position of the running back coach.”

Holy shit.

“Thank you sir.”

I’m stunned.

“Mr Micheals, you start on Monday.” he tells me the rules that are expected of me, and that I should be in for nine, that way they can get things started before I meet the team on Friday.

“Thank you sir, I’ll see you Monday.”

I grip hold of the dressing table and hold on. I’m stunned, how the fuck did I get so damn lucky? How after all the pain I’ve caused, how the hell did I get lucky? I’ve so much penance to pay and yet here I am.

I’ve made myself a promise, by the time my time on this earth is finished, I’ll have apologized to Katie. The only woman I’ve ever loved, that I’ll ever love.

“Pizza will be here in five.” Caleb shouts as I make my way back into the sitting room. “You okay man?” He asks when he sees me.

I nod, “I got a call. That was Julius Haynes…” His eyes widen and there’s a slight hint of hope. “I start Monday.”

He grins, “Fuck man, that’s great.”

I nod. “Finally.” I tell him, he doesn’t know much about my past, just enough to keep the nosy bastard satisfied. He knows that I left a woman behind, he doesn’t know how or why.

“Tonight, we celebrate.”

For the first time in a long fucking time, I agree. I want to celebrate.

CHAPTER 4

KATIE

I’ve been on the greyhound bus for twelve hours. I don’t mind though, it’s given me the time to think about what mom said before I left. She was so angry when she knew I was leaving her behind. She wanted to come. Meet all the sexy footballers, as she put it, and start a new life in Hurtsboro with me. But there is now way she is coming anywhere near my new life. I am going to be a different Katie. I am going to leave behind my depressing, boring life and make new friends and start a new life.

This is a new start. When I get off the bus two girls have a poster with my name. They are stereotypical cheerleaders. I’m surprised they don’t have the pom poms and are chanting my name. But I smile at them and walk towards them. They hug me, even though we’ve not met before. “Welcome to Hurtsboro, Katie. We are going to have so much fun. I have a backpack on and they each grab an arm and slip their arms through mine and steer me towards a car that has the Hurtsboro Hummingbirds Club logo on it.

I put my bag in the trunk and one of the girls, Trixie - like seriously it’s her real name, gets in the driver's side and she takes the scenic route to the house. They give me a guided tour and I can't wait to get time to explore. These girls are the bomb and I love it here already. I feel like this is where I’m meant to be. When we get to the house, they show me around and show me my room. It’s bigger than my room at home and it has an en suite. This is like heaven to me and I am going to enjoy it.

That night the girls ordered pizza. They tell me that they have a diet that they work with the team dietician to suit their metabolism. But tonight is a cheat night, apparently. They’ve also got some vodka to help me settle in. Training starts on Monday and that’s when the hard work starts.

In the house, there’s Trixie, of course, Mindy, Roseanne and Lou Lou. So with me it makes five girls. Apparently the two houses on either side are where the other girls live. There are fifteen girls on the squad. Most of the games there are ten girls in the pyramid and five on the sidelines. They rotate the girls during the show, so each girl gets some cheer time. This means that I am going to be cheering on the Hurtsboro Hummingbirds team in the next couple of weeks.

Oh my god this is so cool.

The girls are lovely, even if they are a little peppy for my liking, but I guess that’s what they are known for. They are having a BBQ the next day after taking me around the stadium so that i can get to see inside and meet the other girls on the squad.

I hate to say it but they are all great. I haven’t had time to ring mom yet. To be honest I’ve not really thought about her much. I feel so much freer without worrying about what she is going to scream at me when I walk in the door.

Trixie comes up to me and sits down on the couch next to me. “So, what do you think of it so far?”

“I love it. You girls are so much fun,” I use my peppiest voice.

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