Page 82 of Coach Me
She looks so beautiful in this dress; I don’t think I’ve ever seen this one on her. I can’t help but let my eyes travel up from her white Converse to the dress that makes me want to fill my entire life with yellow, to Lucie’s lips that I need to taste, and the pink on her cheeks.
Wait. I know right now she’s blushing, but… “Where’s your hat?”
Lucie shrugs. “It’s back at the apartment. It totally slipped my mind to grab it, but it’s no big deal.”
“Yes, it is a big deal. You said you get sunburned easily, so—” I let out an exasperated breath. “Come over here.”
“Dex—” Lucie starts to argue, but it’s not up for negotiation.
Lucie follows a few steps behind until we meet where there’s a small gap in the netting. I take my hat off and hold it out to her. “Put it on.”
Lucie shakes her head with a stressed laugh. “I can’t take your?—”
“Put. It. On. Lucie.”
I’m already going to be thinking about her the whole damn game, and I’d rather not constantly be thinking about her getting burned in the sun on top of that.
Lucie gives me a tight-lipped smile as she takes my hat and puts it on her head. “There, better?”
“Nope,” I clip out, because now I really want to take her back to my office. God, she can wear no other hat but my own from here on out. “I have to get back to the dugout. Keep that on or I’ll come out in the stadium to put it back, got it?”
“Got it.” Lucie’s voice is tighter than it normally is—not that I’m surprised. To her, I’m probably coming off like a total dick, but that’s essentially the only dynamic I can manage right now to keep me from walking away from this game entirely.
Making my way over to the dugout, I take some deep breaths. I just need a solid ten seconds of silence.
But do I get it? No. Instead, I get Will coming up beside me. Motherfucker.
“Ya know, watching you with my sister kind of makes me feel bad for Adam. That’s really the only unforgivable part here.”
Shit.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Will laughs. “Said that before myself. I’ll tell you what, though. I have an extra hat to give Lucie if the sun really bothers her that much.”
I clench my jaw to physically stop myself from telling him to not even fucking try it. But that’s all Will needs to see to know exactly what I was thinking.
“Yeah, Callie only wears my stuff too.”
My eyes wander over to where Lucie is sitting,my hat still on her head, exactly where it should be. “You know we’re talking aboutyoursister right now?”
“Hey, I don’t need details. I want my sister to be happy. I don’t know what’s fully going on here—and again I can’t stress this enough, I don’t need details—but if you’re worried about me, don’t be. I’m not about to spend my time being upset about someone treating my sister with respect and making her happy.”
I let his words register in my brain. Part of me knew he wouldn’t be upset, that’s just not Will. But using it as an excuse to not move forward with Lucie was one thread I had holding me back. It was a weak one, but it’s snapped completely now.
“I didn’t ask for your blessing, Anderson.”
“Yeah, the thing is, you don’t need it.” Will claps my shoulder. “Now I’m going to go kiss my teammate’s sister before the game starts, and her brother isn’t going to care because he knows I love her.”
Fuck.
Chapter 28
Lucie
I’m not sure what happened to Dex today, but clearly something’s gone wrong. Him giving me a hat should have been a sweet gesture, but the tone he did it in felt harsh.
I’m not sure if it was me suggesting that he could play again, or maybe it’s just not having Miles here. This is the first weekend I’ve been around when Miles goes to his mom’s house.
And add in the fact that he ignored my texts all day…I guess he doesn’t care to respond since I don’t have Miles? That seems so out of character for him, especially with the moments we’ve had lately.
