Page 63 of The Step Don't

Ash: We gonna bang tonight?

I grin. How can I not? Everything about Ash makes me feel good.

Me: Yep. We’re gonna fuck too.

“Why are you grinning at your phone so much?” Amelia asks, my face immediately flaming as I shove my cell into my pocket.

“Was that your girlfriend?” Jacob asks.

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Amelia snaps, then looks at me. “Do you?”

Um…what is happening here? Our conversations at practice have never gone this direction before. “No. I have an…Ash…” I have an Ash? What the fuck does that even mean? He’s my stepbro. My friend. My favorite person. I felt all these things before we started hooking up, and it’s all just intensified since. But it’s not like I can tell them that, even though Ash does feel like he’s mine. Like he’s always been mine, even before I let myself see it.

“What’s an Ash?” Oscar asks.

“He’s my person. Can we talk about football now?” That’s a whole lot easier than dissecting my feelings with a bunch of thirteen-year-olds.

“Amelia has a crush on Coach Colin!” Oscar teases.

“I do not!” She charges him, and I have to bite back a smile when she tackles the little shit. Oscar is a good kid, but sometimes he likes to give Amelia a hard time. I guess today she’s retaliating.

“Okay, that’s enough.” I pull them apart before Amelia kicks Oscar’s ass. She totally would too. “Practice is over for today. Do you two want me to talk to your parents about running laps before you go?” A fact about me when it comes to kids and animals—I’m all bark and no bite. There’s not a chance in hell I’m making these kids run extra laps, but they haven’t caught on to that about me yet.

Four eyeballs go wide. “No, Coach,” Oscar replies.

Then I remind myself that even though I like to be abig kid myself, I’m the adult. While I hate feeling like a hard-ass, I’m not supposed to let them get away with things like this. “You know what you did is inappropriate. You can’t just tackle each other when you’re mad.”

“Yes, Coach,” Amelia grumbles.

“And, Oscar, you shouldn’t tease people. Or tell stories about them.”

“But it’s—” I give him an eye, and he stops. “Okay, Coach.”

“Go on now.” I nod toward the others, and they scamper off.

Amelia gives him a dirty look. She’s small for her age, but tough and full of heart. She reminds me of Frat Cat. Speaking of…

Me: Did you feed our baby?

Ash: Ding, ding, ding, we’re sorry, your number cannot be completed as dialed…

Me: Haha. Very funny.

Ash: Yes, Daddy Colin. I fed him.

Me: Good boy…

I’m eager for a response while the kids are cleaning up. I should be helping, but I want to know how Ash will respond.

Ash: That only has an effect on me when we’re fucking.

Me: Liar.

With a goofy smile on my face, I shove my cell into my pocket for good. I help the kids finish cleaning up, then talk with the parents real quick. It’s a gorgeous day,the sun high in a perfectly blue sky, so I sit at a picnic table beneath one of the trees, just as my phone rings. The corners of my lips tilt up. I’m assuming it’s Ash, but instead the screen saysMom.

My smile still grows. I miss her. “Hey, you.”

“How’s my favorite guy?” she asks.

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