Page 34 of Why We Break

“Nope, I’m good now. Let’s go dance!” I tell her, pasting on a bright smile and leading her back inside without looking back at Will.

CHAPTER 26

WILL

Hannah Scott is gonna be the fucking death of me.

I watch her on the dance floor, laughing and singing with Caroline and Margaret as the band plays “Dust on the Bottle.” I’m still rock hard from finally tasting her and feeling her against me again. All I can think about is pulling her back outside and fucking her hard.

I hadn’t intended to tip my hand and reveal as much as I had, particularly that I haven’t been with another woman since we were together last, but fuck it. Sure, I could have screwed around when I went back to school, but it just hadn’t felt right, and by the time I moved back to Springside, I didn’t want to take on the small town rumor mill just to get my dick wet. Plus, trying to have any credibility as a head coach in my late twenties meant I stayed as far away from all that as possible. But just like everything else, none of that mattered when it came to Hannah.

“Will, I swear you have been completely out of it lately,” Seth says, bumping me with his arm and waiting for me to look up. “What the hell’s up with you?”

“Oh, uh, sorry man. Football’s just taking up a lot of my time right now. Pretty sure you get this dialed in during baseball season, Coach,” I remind him, hoping he won’t push the topic any further.

“Fine,” he says. “But I asked if you could help me at Hannah’s this week. I want to get that knocked out before I get too far into the projects at Margaret’s bakery.”

“Yeah, man, sure. I mean after practice or whatever, I’ll be there,” I tell him, trying to keep my eyes from drifting back to Hannah.

“Thanks… You know, if you’d told me when he moved here that he’d be out there dancing instead of over here drinking a beer, I would have told you you were full of shit,” Seth says, gesturing to where Theo’s dancing with Caroline. He doesn’t look particularly excited about it, but every once in a while, Caroline leans in to whisper something in his ear or kiss his cheek, and he smiles like he’s won the damn lottery.

“You’re right about that,” I say, trying to force a laugh and ignore the pang of jealousy I feel in my chest. Not because of Caroline—I was definitely never interested in her like that; instead at how easy it looks for them. They’re fucking perfect together, and there’s nothing keeping them apart. Sure, they have their own share of shit, but they take all of it on together instead of the way Hannah and I have spent the last few years.

Maybe tonight is a start toward that for us, or maybe it’s just the start of some really good sex, but either way, I know that if I get Hannah Scott back, there’s no way I can let her go again.

“All right,guys, our first game of the playoffs is Friday. Any ideas on how we’re gonna beat Saddle Ridge again this week?” I ask the coaches as they spread out across the living room of my apartment.

“You know, we beat them by a touchdown right at the end early in the season, and it looks like they’ve made a lot of changes since then,” Jason says, pointing at the film we’ve spent the last hour combing through.

“Yeah, their special teams has completely changed,” Kent says, leaning back from his spot on my couch. “And they’re running a much faster offense too.”

“I noticed that when we were there Friday. I think we’re gonna need to build in some extra conditioning this week to make sure we’re able to keep up with them. Thoughts?” I ask, and the rest of the men nod.

“All right, good. We’re also gonna run a couple of the new plays we talked about last week during practice and see if we can get those ready to go. Anybody have anything else?”

Everyone shakes their heads, and I stand, grabbing another beer now that we’re done with our strategy discussion. Sitting back down, Kent asks, “So, where’s Theo today? I know you mentioned he couldn’t make it.”

“Apparently, he’s got his hands full. He originally told me that he might be late because Petunia tried to start a fight with one of the calves this morning, and the momma didn’t take too kindly to it. He was trying to get them separated when the fire station called in for help.”

“Who the hell is Petunia?” Kent asks, raising an eyebrow in question.

“It’s this ass that Ol’ Mr. Willy convinced him to take when he sold him his cattle a couple months ago.”

“Ass? Like the animal?”

“Yeah, and trust me, I don’t think there’s an animal out there that lives up to its name more,” I say with a laugh. “She’s terrible, and he’s had nothing but trouble with her since he got her. But everyone else around here knew better than to take her in, so he’s kinda stuck.”

“God, I swear, just hearing y’all talk about this farm shit wears me out,” Kent says, and I just glare at him. Immediately, my thoughts turn to Hannah at his words.

“Yeah, they’re a lot of work,” I say, trying to ignore the pull I feel to text her. Kent, Jason, Marcus, and Seth chat about the new parts house that’s supposed to be opening next month, but just like all the other conversations they’ve had recently, I tune them out, before eventually giving in and pulling out my phone to text Hannah.

WILL: Pretty sure I haven’t thought about anything but you since Friday.

I debate sending the text for just a moment, knowing I’m probably coming on a little stronger than I should, but I’m fucking desperate for this girl. As soon as I press sent, my phone immediately pings with a response, and I grab for it, smiling at the screen.

HANNAH: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

WILL: I’m not sure, but I know I’m gonna lose it if we don’t finish what we started soon.

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