Page 36 of Returning Your Love
The team didn’t exit the field nearly as high on adrenaline as they’d taken to it before the game, but at least they held their heads up as though having adopted their coach’s fighting spirit.
“Frenchie’s?” Shelly asked as we slowly made our way out of the stadium with the rest of the disappointed yet still buzzing crowd.
I shrugged, not really in the mood for socializing, but Jamie would be there, the same as Coach Bernard always had, I didn’t doubt.
“Yeah, sure.”
A half hour later, I slouched on my barstool, wishing I’d insisted Shelly drop me off at home first. She’d downed a couple of shots, enough to loosen her tongue and to hang on me like she did when drunk and in public.
Yep. All was fine here, folks. We’re still happy as raccoons in dumpsters covered in shit and stinking to high heaven.
Jamie arrived, causing quite the stir regardless of the town being bummed we’d lost. My pulse sped up at having him in the same room as me. The crowd surged over him, offering condolences and causing his smile to stitch into place without a hint of happiness behind it. Had he felt pressured to show up? Chosen to do as Coach Bernard had always done when he probably would have rather headed home to nurse his mental wounds? I didn’t doubt he blamed himself for the loss, even though from what I’d noticed, he didn’t have the best players on the field.
Eventually, he worked his way through Frenchie’s crowd until our gazes caught.
Shelly grabbed him up with a hard squeeze, rocking back and forth while laughing loudly. She, at least, offered congratulations over how well he’d coached, rather than bemoaning the scoreboard.
Jamie’s smile appeared a little more genuine, his eyes soft when they returned to me.
I held out my hand, needing contact desperately, and at the sparks shooting up my arm over the clasp of his palm to mine, I choked on a groan. “You did well out there, Coach,” I rasped, needing to speak loud to be heard over the people chatting around us.
“Thanks, Chaz.” His gaze flitted down to my mouth but jerked back up and away as though he was afraid of where his thoughts had strayed.
My lips tingled, and I pressed them together as he released my hand, wiping his palms down his thighs.
Shelly, wavering on her feet and with a second or third bottle of beer in hand, watched us, her gaze flitting between the two of us. “It’s really nice having you home, Jamie.” She slurred her words as usual. “Chaz needs a good friend to get him out of the shop more. Are you busy next weekend?”
“Game a week from tonight, same as every Friday, but that’s about it,” Jamie replied, glancing at me.
“You ought to drag his ass out the pond for a guys’ weekend again. Maybethat’llmake him smile.”
Jesus Christ.
Annoyance roused inside me. “You’re not my mom and don’t need to be setting up play dates for me, Shell.” If the woman only knew how badly I was trying to remain faithful to her, she wouldn’t be trying to throw Jamie and I together, never mind into a situation where we shared a too-small tent. After having made out with him to the point of busting a nut in my boxers, I feared another camping trip would land me beneath him, his dick buried so damned far up my ass I wouldn’t be able to breathe.
Desperate desire swept through me, and I closed my eyes, fighting off the blood rushing to my groin.
Goddamnit, this whole situation is fucked.
Regardless of my guilt, I wouldn’t say no if he initiated. My want outweighed my morals when it came to Jamie Forester.
Chapter 13
Jamie
“I’d be up for another weekend at the pond.” I agreed with Shelly’s suggestion, hoping Chaz caught onto my intentional sexual innuendo.
His quick, intense stare promised he had, but he didn’t turn me down immediately like I expected.
Shelly attempted to elbow him and missed in her drunken state, almost stumbling past him. I grabbed her arm to hold her steady.
“Go have fun, Chaz,” she slurred, “because I’m spending next Wednesday through Sunday with Tara. Her fiancé is being a douche, and she wants to head to Boston for a few days.”
“My schedule is packed, including Saturday, and I can’t close the shop.” Chaz’s excuse caused Shelly to roll her eyes. “And Sunday, I’m going to my parents for Dad’s birthday.”
“When were you going to tell me aboutthoseplans?” Shelly asked with a little heat in her tone, and he shrugged as though indifferent.
I lay my hand on Shelly’s lower back, thinking a show of affection might help keep the peace between them.
