Page 47 of Laugh

Me: Since you no longer have plans, you’re more than welcome to come over to practice. I’d love to show you what I do.

Happy: Alright Cap. Although, I feel like you’ve already showed me what you can do, amiright? Hehehe

Happy: It won’t cause any problems if I come sit and watch you?

Me: None at all. Just come down on the field and find me when you get here. I’ll show you where you should sit. Bring an umbrella just in case it rains again.

Me: And I haven’t shown you everything I can do yet, so buckle up, sweetheart.

Happy: Oooh, color me intrigued! I’m going to bring my laptop and maybe work on some writing in between all the man ogling I’m about to do. See you in a bit!

I spend the next thirty minutes focused on running drills and preventing myself from searching the entrances to the field for a gorgeous, slightly adorably awkward redhead.

Around the fifth time I look, I grin when I see her standing off to the side, leaning against a wall. Her eyes widen with shock as I hear my guys slamming into the dummies behind me, grunting out with the effort and strength it takes to push them across the grass.

Making my way over to her, I chuckle because she hasn’t looked away from the team. Leaning over, I press a kiss to her cheek then laugh when she jolts at the contact, having been completely focused. “You made it,” I say, guiding her closer with my hand on her lower back.

“You know, up close, they’re a whole lot scarier than when you see them the size of ants on a TV.” She points at them, then looks up at me, completely serious. “They’re like freaking giants riding trains as they slam into a mountain. Doesn’t thathurtthem? Because I swear, if one of them hit me like that, I think I’d probably die.”

Moving to stand behind her, I point out the different players and why they’re doing what they’re doing. “Their bodies are built to sustain, give, and receive hits like that. We also have extensive concussion testing throughout the season to ensure they’re healthy. It’s why I work them the way I do. Outside of practicing plays, I keep them in shape by having them run as well as do weight training.”

The more I explain between bouts of redirecting the guys through each set of drills, the more Haddie becomes fascinated. Her questions are intuitive and it’s clear that she finds the concepts easy to understand and gets the reasoning behindwhyI do what I do.

I can see my guys looking over at us from time to time, curious about the woman standing with me, except for the four she’s been tutoring. Yelling out to the guys, I tell them to take a ten-minute break to get water and stretch out any sore muscles.

Taking a deep breath, I study her face and ask, “So, what do you think so far?”

She looks around the field at the guys sitting down and taking their much-needed break and holds her hand out to indicate all of them.

“I never would have thought this was as involved as this. It’s incredibly impressive, Captain.” She turns her eyes up to me now, and I can see how honest she’s being. “I’m in awe. You’re doing an incredible job with them. It’s amazing to see how much they respect you.”

Her words soothe something inside of me, like I should be proud of everything I’ve accomplished until this point in my life. It’s easy to let the doubts eat away at your confidence when you haven’t received any reassurance for a long time. I know she doesn’t fully understand what it takes to coach a team at this level, but she believes everything she’s saying. It makes me believe in myself just a bit more.

Cupping her face, I start to dip my head to give her a quick kiss, but I jerk my head up when I hear, “Beau? What’s going on here?”

Looking over Haddie’s shoulder, I see my father walking toward me. He frowns as he glances at her standing next to me, then over to where my team is taking their break.

Straightening my shoulders, I notice confusion cross Haddie’s face, then she closes down as I take a step back from her.Fuck.This isn’t how I wanted them to meet, and I haven’t fully explained to her the tumultuous relationship I have with my father.

“Dad. What are you doing here?” I bite out, probably harsher than he’s used to hearing from me. He’s stopped by before, but it’s been a while since the last time, so him showing up out of the blue is completely unexpected and really poor timing.

His eyes narrow on me as he comes to a stop a few feet away from us. “I was in the area and wanted to come down and see how the boys were doing.” Studying Haddie, he asks me instead of her, “Who’s this?”

As much as I love the quirkiness she normally has, I feel guilty when I silently pray that she doesn’t say anything that’ll piss off my father. It’s obvious that she’s unsure of the sudden turn of mood and raised tension in the air, so I reach down to grab her hand and tug her closer for an introduction.

“Dad, this is Haddie Byer, the woman I told you about the other week who’s been working with some of my players that struggled in school last semester. She’s one of the librarians here at school,” I share, knowing he won’t give a shit what her job is.

“I’m actually the Assistant Dean of Libraries,” she mutters, and I look at her, surprised. That means she’s second in line to being the Dean of Libraries. At her age, it’s a huge accomplishment.

My mouth drops open. “Are you serious? You never told me that. Christ, that makes me feel even worse with the way I spoke to you that first day I ran into you there.”

My confession seems to make her uncomfortable as she looks between me and my father. “It’s umm, it’s alright. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Hudson,” she says, reaching out a hand to him.

The asshole that is my father completely ignores her and waits silently with me staring at him, until I say, “Please don’t be rude to her.”

Clearing his throat, he finally reaches out slowly, where she’s still awkwardly holding her hand out to him. Grasping it, he gives her a quick shake and says, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Byer. So, tell me, what brings a librarian to football practice in the middle of a work week?”

I fucking hate that my happy girl is quiet again. She’s clearly unsure how to act around him and is picking up on the fact that he’s not thrilled she’s here. I invited her to come, so I refuse to let him intimidate her into leaving.