Page 63 of Look What You Made Me Do

At the half-time siren, the Demons were trailing and Ella went to the restrooms and threw up. When she ventured back, Pete, Jake and the team were huddled together and she made a beeline for them.

After assuring Jake she wouldn’t say break a leg again, it had become a tradition for her to talk to the team at the start of the game. But she wanted them to know that no matter what happened in the second half, she was proud of them.

Jake frowned as she approached. “Miss Lucas?”

“Can I have a quick word, Coach?”

He nodded warily but stood aside in the unfailingly polite way he’d adopted ever since they’d shaken hands two months ago.

“Don’t be discouraged, guys.” She gave them all a big smile, letting it linger on Cameron. “And I want you all to remember, I’m so happy that we even got this far. You’ve done me and Deluca proud.”

The whistle blew as she finished up and the starting team ran back onto the field. Ella stood beside Jake, watching the team get into position, her gut twisting. Miranda led the squad in a cheer and the Deluca crowds yelled, “Go Demons,” and “Demons rule.”

“You okay?” Jake asked, his eyes on the field.

“Fine.”

“You look like you’re going to throw up.”

She peeked at him but he was watching the field, his dark shades giving nothing away, the shadow from the brim of his cap throwing his face into hard-to-read lines.

“Already accomplished.” She slid her hand to her stomach then, as the silence built between them, she said, “They’re playing well, right?”

“Yes,” he assured. “Something you’d probably know if you didn’t have your hands over your face.”

Ella gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I can’t bear to look.”

“I know the feeling.”

This was the most personal conversation they’d had, just the two of them and it gave her courage to say the next thing.

“Look, Coach.” It had felt weird calling him that at first but it slipped easily off the tongue now. “I just wanted to say that I know we made you do this and I know coaching a high school football team wasn’t how you planned to spend your retirement. So, it’s okay if we don’t make the playoffs.”

Especially if it meant they still got the Chiswick Academy gig. They’d come further than anyone had given them credit for, which might just be enough.

Apparently though, that wasn’t acceptable to Jake.

Very slowly he turned his head to look at her, removing his glasses. Ella almost took a step back at the fierce glitter in his eyes.

“Listen to me very carefully, Ms. Lucas.” His voice was almost menacingly calm. “Nobody makes me do anything I don’t want to do. And you better believe we’re going to win this and make the playoffs. After that, the competition is a whole different level and I don’t know what happens. But tonight is in the bag.”

Ella was captivated by the blaze of conviction in his green gaze. She really wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe they could win.

“Jake…” She bugged her eyes at him and whispered, “They’re ahead by twelve points.”

“Ella,” he cautioned and damn if the barely contained growl in his low voice didn’t go straight to her ovaries. “Have some faith.”

And with that, he replaced his glasses and turned his attention to the field.

Clearly dismissed, Ella returned to her seat. Trish had joined Rosie and Simon and Ella smiled at her absently, still thinking about that raspy rumble. It had been a long time since they’d had such an intense one-on-one and she’d forgotten how much of an impact he had close up.

Thankfully Deluca’s quarterback chose that moment to go long and thoughts of Jake and their relationship were completely obliterated as the crowd surged to their feet.

She spent the rest of the game on the edge of her seat, hiding behind her fingers as it progressed. With two minutes to go, Deluca was trailing by four points. The crowd behind her were stomping their feet on the wooden floor of the bleachers and her heart thundered along in time.

Twenty seconds out, Deluca’s giant wide receiver, Dwayne Morgan, caught the ball from the quarterback and ran into the end zone to score a touchdown and win the Demons the game.

And the Deluca supporters went wild.

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