Page 30 of Returning Your Love
Annoyance and disdain caused my mouth to curl into a grimace at the sight of her drunkenness. An asshole partner would have left her to sleep through the night and wake with a crick in her neck.
But Iwouldn’tquit, even though every part of me except for my pride pushed for me to move on and at least attempt to be happy while living broke on the streets. I would be Pippen Creek’s first homeless citizen.
Lips in a thin line, I cleaned up that mess and maneuvered her dead weight into my arms to carry her back to the bedroom. She continued to snore in my ear, and I carefully laid her on her side of the bed. She rolled, smooshing her face into the pillow, but didn’t wake.
Hands on hips, I watched her sleep.
Everything about my life hadn’t panned out as I had once hoped for. Hell, I couldn’t even find something positive in my reality.
Except for Jamie, the one I’d denied. He’d left me like I’d told him to, and I hated that even more.
My throat tightened again, and I turned from my wife, guilt like slimy tentacles slithering through my veins and making me feel like a piece of shit covered in flies. I needed a rainstorm to wash away the stench of failure.
I showered, scrubbing the evidence of my infidelity down the drain, refusing to think on how a single make-out session could change a man’s existence.
But I couldn’t.
Bed made, I had no choice but to sleep in it. There would be no easy way out, no miracle that ended in a happily ever after. As teens, we all used to joke about marriage being a ball and chain.
How fucking truethathad ended up being.
Regardless of our actions being wrong, Jamie’s kiss had felt like the key to freedom from those shackles. The memory would always remain, something to remember in my darkest days.
Chapter 11
Jamie
Football tryouts arrived and were over before I had a chance to breathe and work through what had gone down with Chaz, which hadn’t been me, unfortunately. What I wouldn’t have done for another chance to make him come but this time on my knees with his cock shoved down my throat.
Dreamed about it.
Jerked off to the memory of his tongue in my mouth.
Moaned his name while shooting stripes of sticky white over my abs on a daily basis.
But he kept his distance, and I honored his request, attempting to bury my focus in the job I’d agreed to take on. Unfortunately, I was so damned distraught over the Chaz situation that I didn’t enjoy being on the gridiron again like I’d hoped for.
While a few of the boys who’d tried out for the team had decent enough talent, not one screamed superstar or even promised to lead us to a winning season. A girl named Gabby had shown up, determination in her eyes when she told me she was on the soccer team and was one hell of a kicker.
She hadn’t lied. None of the guys on the field could keep a kickoff in bounds or came close to splitting the uprights from even twenty yards away.
Gabby making the team was the easiest decision, and I’d noticed the annoyed glances she got from a few of the other boys who’d been on the varsity the year before. That, I wouldn’t allow.
The first official morning of practice, nerves a little on edge, I stood in front of our pitiful team, Coach Dave by my side.
Heat already rose off the grass beneath our feet, but I ignored it in favor of looking over each and every kid dressed in their red-and-white practice uniforms that had seen better days.
My voice shook as I began the speech I’d written and rewritten a million times, determined to let them know I expected inclusion and acceptance and that nothing else would be tolerated.
“I don’t care where you’re from, what pronouns you use, or what color your skin is,” I stated loudly enough even those in the back would hear. “We are a team, and we will act as a single unit both on and off the field, in school and out. That means having each other’s backs—allthe time. If I catch wind of any bullying among you or even quiet, underhanded bullshit toward one another, you’ll be benched. Period. I don’t give a shit if you’re a starter or if we’re playing our biggest rival that night. Understood?”
Heads nodded, and more than a couple of, “Yes, Coach!” responses raised into the air.
“I expect everyone to give one hundred and ten percent. If the person beside you falls, you help them to their feet. Someone’s head hangs, you offer encouraging words to hype them up. We’re going to work hard, sweat, and bleed together, but I promise you’ll be better human beings by the end of this season.”
A few hollered their agreement.
“Now get your asses in gear and give me a lap!”
