Page 89 of Just Come Over
Rhys said, “You had seven inches on Izu. Didn’t get down low enough, that’s all. Didn’t know whatwaslow enough, maybe.” He pulled a roll of athletic tape from his pocket and called to Iain McCormick, “Bring that pad over, mate." Iain obliged, and Rhys attached a strip of tape halfway up. “Nipple height,” he told Kors. “That’s what you’re visualizing. Go through and switch off partners. Practice adjusting to that height difference.” He put a hand on Kors’s shoulder. “You went well for twenty minutes beforehand, got through a load of work, though you’re hesitating out there at times, like you don’t trust what you’re seeing, which makes you a fraction of a second slower to the tackle and makes it harder to get it right. Your judgment’s good. Commit to it. As for the yellow card—take that one and move on. I saw a mistake. When I see a pattern, I’ll let you know.”
“OK,” Kors said, and something crossed his face very much like relief.
Rhys said, “Right there. Your shoulders relaxed and dropped down. That’s the space you want to be in. You’re overthinking it. You don’t have to be four steps ahead, not now. Focus on doing your role, and trust your mate to do his. The rest of it will come.”
Kors nodded, trotted off with Iain, and started in, and Rhys stuck his hands in his pockets and thought,Thanks, monkey.
He’d have given Kors the same feedback a season ago, but he would’ve given it differently. It wasn’t a sticker, but it may have worked.
Also, Kors may not have been the only person who’d been getting too intense.
Another hour, and the group trotted off for lunch. Rhys picked up rugby balls along with Finn, tossed them into the bin, and headed in after them. His phone dinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket.
That was another change. He checked, now, during the day, in case it was something he needed to know. Zora was there to get any calls from the school about Casey, but still—he checked.
ItwasZora. First time she’d texted him during the day. One photo, and then another. Dresses. Not on her, unfortunately.
Pink with black flowers?she asked.Or black with pink flowers?
Black with pink,he answered. The dress had little spaghetti straps. He loved straps like that, the kind you could push right off her shoulder. He hoped the dress wasn’t too long. He couldn’t tell.
Black shoes or nude? Good news for me. They’re having a sale.
Black,he answered.Don’t show your toes. Save them for me. And I’m buying this. All of it.
You forget,she texted back.I’m not broke anymore.
Don’t care. I’m buying it.
Why?
That one had him stumped. Finn had gone on ahead, through the tunnel, and nobody was out here but Wally, the equipment manager, collecting gear. It was going to rain later, Rhys judged. Good. They needed the practice.
Finally, he texted,Because it’s hot. I want to buy everything you wear for this, all the way down to the skin. I want you to think about me when you buy it, and I want to walk in behind you and know it’s all mine.
A long pause, then her answer.
That’s primitive, boy.
One last text, and he would put the phone away.
I know.
Once again, Zora was in her bathroom, and once again, she wasn’t quite ready, because she’d had to feed the kids and help Casey with her bath. She could hear Adele Simpson, the older lady who minded Isaiah from time to time, out there talking to Casey. And then she heard the doorbell.
She wished Hayden had been available to babysit. Going out there like this felt too revealing. Too momentous. Nobody would look at her tonight and think,Out for a nice dinner with her brother-in-law. Probably talking about the kids.
She blotted her deep-pink lips, set the color with a little powder, dropped the lipstick into her evening bag, and thought,That’s good enough.She’d reapply it at the table, make a bit of a fuss over it, and drive Rhys crazy.
One last look in the mirror, then another deep breath, and she bent from the waist, got a hand in her hair, straightened, and checked it out.
That was it. With her hair like this,absolutelynobody would think this was anything but romance. She wasn’t dressing for them, though. She was dressing for Rhys. She opened the bathroom door.
Rhys was standing by the couch, one casual hand in his pocket, talking to Casey. When she walked in, he looked up.
“Holy...” she breathed.
Black suit. Black shirt. Dark hair falling to chin length, and he hadn’t shaved this time. He looked like... he looked... she couldn’t even say. Like somebody who’d never been tamed. His eyes were even more gold than usual and fixed on her, and her legs didn’t want to hold her up. That could have been the black suede stilettos. It could also have been too much dragon.
