Page 118 of The Problem with Players

He stood and took off his clothes, turned off the light, and crawled into bed with me.

As he wrapped himself around me, he said, “I missed you.”

“Talking to her again?” I joked.

He shook his head. “No. Not this time. Night, Coach.”

“Good night,” I muttered as my heart did a few cartwheels before falling asleep that night.

33

NATHAN

Everything about Avery drove me wild in the best of ways. That woman did things to my mind—and body—that would leave me reminiscing for days after. Outside of that, she was just a remarkable person. She was a brilliant sister and daughter. A loyal friend. An outstanding coach. I didn’t think she knew how impressive she had been, either. Whenever someone complimented Avery, she shrugged it off quickly, never wanting the attention on her for too long.

Now that our team was doing so well, people were showing up to our games, wanting to interview her and find out what her secret had been. She hardly ever did interviews unless the guys were being interviewed. She liked to be there with them to make sure their words weren’t taken out of context. She was a very protective mama bear when it came to our guys, and she wasn’t afraid to bite if someone crossed the line.

I loved that about her.

I loved a lot of things about her.

Finding a list of qualities that made that woman lovable wasn’t hard. I saw it at the farm, too. When she wasn’t working at the high school, she was helping my mom, River, and Grantaround the farmland. Or she was making up goodies with Priya. My favorite moments were when I’d come home from checking in with our local restaurants to find Avery wearing some barn boots while milking cows, collecting eggs, and hanging out with the horses. The farm life looked good on her.

Sometimes I’d get a little bit jealous if I’d find her laughing a little too hard at River’s or Grant’s jokes. Those fuckers weren’tthatfunny. It was like they went out of their way to make her laugh. It made my skin crawl.

Any man who looked at her a little too long made my whole system heat with rage. It wasn’t shocking, though. Avery was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was no secret to anyone with eyes. And now that she wasn’t with Wesley, it was a known thing to the men of Honey Creek that she was a free agent—at least to their knowledge.

Yet she wasn’t free.

She was mine.

At least, in a way.

We’d never talked about it, but the more I saw men drool over her, the more I knew that conversation was needed. Besides, I didn’t want to just be her friends-with-benefits anymore. I wanted to be her everything, just as I wanted her to be mine. I didn’t know how she felt about the whole thing, especially since she had been about to be someone’s wife not even that long ago, but I knew if I fucked up another chance to be with her, to have her by my side, I’d never forgive myself for missing that opportunity.

Avery Kingsley was all I’d ever wanted, and for some reason, the universe gave me another chance at her heart.

The last thing I wanted to do was strike out on that chance.

If she allowed me to be hers, I’d be hers forever.

Even if she didn’t…I’d be hers forever.

I had my mind made up. It was either Avery for me or no one.

Now, all I had to do was build up the courage to come to her about it and ask her to be mine. I knew I’d hate myself for the rest of my life if I didn’t.

One Saturday night,after she finished working at O’Reilly’s, I waited in the living room for her to come home. When the front door opened, I stood.

Avery’s smile stretched. I loved that lately, she smiled instead of grimacing when she saw me. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, old man?” she asked.

I nodded and slid my hands into my sweatpants pockets. “It is.”

“Let me guess.” She tossed her keys and purse on the foyer table. “You’re still sad at how badly our team lost the game earlier today?”

“No, that’s not it.”

She kept smiling as she took off her shoes before walking toward me. “You ate spicy food and got heartburn?”

---