Page 19 of The Run Home
“Hey, Kinsley. Come on in. How are you?”
She nodded. “I’m good.” Her body language told me that was a lie.
“What can I do for you?” I tried to give her a warm smile, the kind that told her she could talk to me about anything.
She shifted on her feet in front of my desk. “Um, well, I know this is probably not what I should ask, but I really need to know.” At my nod, she continued. “Do you think I’ll be able to play in tomorrow’s game?”
My head tilted to the side. Kinsley was good in her position, as she’d already shown in her first practice with us. I just wasn’t sure where this question was coming from. “Do youwantto play tomorrow?”
“Yes, but I know I’m new, so you probably have, like, a probationary period where I need to earn a spot, you know?”
A dark thought occurred to me. It would be just like him to put pressure on her to excel in her sport. “Did your dad put you up to this?”
Kinsley’s shy face twisted into a look of disgust and horror. “Ugh, no! I don’t care if he sees me play or not.”
I’ve been around teenagers my entire career. I’ve seen good liars and bad ones, and Kinsley was definitely in the latter category. The girl cared so much about her father’s opinion, it was crippling her. And that just made me dislike Boon even more. How could he have this beautiful, smart, talented daughter right under his nose and be so incompetent?
“Can I be honest with you, Kinsley?” She swallowed hard but nodded. I liked her even more for her courageousness. “I think you’ll definitely play tomorrow because you put in the hard work and you have the talent. I also think it’s okay to want your family to see you play. But when you’re out there on the court tomorrow, I want you to make sure you’re playing foryou. Don’t think about anyone else except you and your teammates. That and putting in hard work are all that matters. If you can do that, you’ll leave the court with your head held high no matter the outcome. Okay?”
She paused a moment, probably wondering why this teacher went off on a tangent when she just wanted to know if she’d be riding the bench. But then she nodded and her smile was back. “Okay.”
She walked out of my classroom right as the bell rang and my first-period students pushed through the door to find their seats. Boon’s relationship with Kinsley was none of my business, but building up my students, especially the female ones on my team, was. Besides, as I thought of my own father watching me play volleyball all those years ago, the grief washed over me like he’d just passed away yesterday. Every girl deserved to have a good relationship with her dad. It certainly wasn’t always possible, but when the two people both tried, miracles could happen.
The morning flew by and my feet weren’t happy with me when I finally sank into the chair at our normal lunch table in the break room. Lydia was already there, her food out and her hands clasped together. I could feel her stare as I unpacked my lunch.
“What’s your deal?”
Lydia huffed in disgust, leaning over the table to whisper-yell at me. “You can’t text your bestie that a certain hottie was over last night and you have somemomentand then go to bed without spilling the details, you evasive-knowledge hoarder.”
I burst into laughter. “Evasive-knowledge hoarder? Wow. Really pulling out the big guns these days, Lyd.”
“See? Evaded again.” She slapped her palm on the table suddenly and loudly, startling me. “Spill it. Now.”
I glanced around, making sure no one else was watching us, thanks to Lydia’s drama-mama behavior. When I saw the coast was clear, I told her every detail in a hurried whisper. Her eyes were round as saucers when I finished. She flopped back in her chair and laid her hand on her chest like she was some kind of turn-of-the-century English lass having a swoon.
The eye roll was epic. “Quit being dramatic. It meant nothing. He was probably pulling me in to conduct harm on my person.”
Lydia wagged her thick eyebrows. “Just because your ex-husband was the type to harm a woman, doesn’t mean every man is. I think he wanted to lick?—”
“Hey, ladies. Mind if I join you?”
The deep baritone sent a shiver up my spine. Lydia and I both froze. Then I lifted my head to the side to see Boon looking mighty fine in a heather-gray long-sleeve performance shirt over khaki shorts. A baseball cap covered his head. It also concealed the bump on his forehead that I could just barely see below the brim of the hat. How the heck had we missed his approach? He nodded to the empty chair at our table.
Had he overheard our conversation? The humiliation of being caught talking about him or my ex-husband would be too great. I simply refused to believe it. I broke out of my frozen state with a choked cough and waved toward the chair like he wasfree to take it. He did, smiling at us jovially, like he hadn’t just interrupted our conversation.
“This is great. I wasn’t sure about taking this job, but it’s the perfect way to meet people and rekindle friendships, you know?” He spread a paper napkin across his lap.
Lydia snorted softly, covering it up by taking a drink of her sparkling water. “Rekindle, huh?”
I kicked her shin under the table and she gasped. Boon frowned at her. Lydia’s eyes went wide and she pointed at my shoulder. Assuming she was trying to prank me for kicking her, I didn’t take the bait. But Boon did. Everything happened in slow motion. He looked at my shoulder and knocked over his chair lunging for me. His right hand, the one with the wolf tattoo, lifted in the air like he was going to strike me. It came down, just as I shifted to the side and winced. A waft of air whistled by my ear and my shoulder stung, taking the brunt of his smack.
Something large and dark flew from my person. I followed the arc, belatedly realizing it was a bug. A bug that had been on my shoulder and now was flying through the break room. I shoved my chair back and ran after it, rescuing the dazed little thing from the floor before anyone could step on it and squish it.
“What are you doing?” Boon asked, voice loud and drawing the attention of every teacher in the room.
“Saving the bug you almost killed, you bludgeoning beef block!” I got the bug into my palm, seeing that it was still moving. I stood back up and noticed quite a few people shaking their heads at me.
“What?” Boon sounded as confused as this poor little winged insect.
