Page 14 of Courtside

Tim looked unimpressed. “What’s your plan for meeting the guys?”

David glanced down at the printed school calendar on his desk. “I want them to get through the first week of classes first.” He glanced up at Tim. “I’m thinking team meeting Sunday afternoon.”

“Hm.” Tim remained expressionless. “That might work.”

Might?

David took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face. “So we’re a go with Sage Fogerty?”

“Not like we have another choice,” Tim replied, shrugging. “Well, I’m out,” he continued, standing up and giving David a quick nod. “Enjoy your weekend.”

“You too, Coach.”

When the door shut behind him, David sighed and dropped his head down onto the desk.

Everything is going to be fine,he told himself.Absolutely fine.

* * *

“What’ll it be?”

David slid onto the wooden barstool, dropping his phone, wallet, and keys onto the bar in front of him. “Corona dressed, please.”

He immediately recognized Maggie, the bartender from the other night, and he guessed that she recognized him based on how she cocked a pierced brow at him as she sauntered up. “If it ain’t the beautiful man himself,” she said, grinning at him.

He hadn’t been back to The Grove since that night when, once again, being a good friend had taken him away from what he knew would have been an incredible night with the tall, self-assured blonde.

Who just so happened to be his new team manager.

Goddamn poetic bad luck.

Something must have shown on his face, because Maggie asked, “Rough day?” as she slid the beer toward him.

“Nah.” David accepted the drink, nodding in thanks. “Just adjusting to a new job.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out a five and a one, tossing them down.

Maggie collected the cash and stuffed it into her apron pocket. “It isn’t right for a man who looks like you to be drinkin’ alone,” she said, shaking her head at him. “What ever happened with you and my new best friend?” Her red-painted lips pulled down into a frown. “Speakin’ of that feisty blonde, I haven’t seen her since that night you were here. Have you been keepin’ her busy?” She waggled her brows as her eyes widened. “Doin’ some of the horizontal tango, if you know what I’m sayin’?”

David choked on his beer, sputtering as he tried to find his breath again. “Yeah…nope. None of the horizontal tango. Didn’t work out, unfortunately.”

“I mean, you did bail on her,” Maggie muttered as she wiped down the bar.

It was early enough that David was the only one sitting at the bar, and only a few tables in the courtyard were occupied. He didn’t make a habit of drinking while the sun was out — or really, drinking very much in general — but he felt like he needed a beer after the day he’d had.

Still, he wasn’t in the mood to ignore what the woman was implying. “I had to get a friend home safely,” he said, a bit of annoyance sneaking into his tone. “I don’t mess around with letting my friends drink and drive.”

Maggie’s face softened. “I respect the hell out of that, Mr. Brick Shithouse.”

Again, David sputtered around his beer. “Excuse me?”

“Where I come from, we say that a man like you is built like a brick shithouse,” she said, eyes twinkling.

“Last time you called me beautiful, and now you’re comparing me to an outhouse. Whatever the punchline is, I think I missed it.”

Maggie let out a loud laugh. “Being built like a “brick shithouse” simply means that you’re a big man with a big body.”

David unconsciously ran his hand over his broad chest and down to his stomach that had gained a softness in recent years years that no number of push ups could get rid of.

“It’s a good thing,” Maggie added, her eyes watching him knowingly. “A very good thing.”

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