Page 8 of Silver Sanctuary
As soon as they made their way over to where the soccer nets were, Embrie started to smile. She handed her book to Lacy and marched right up to Nash, who looked more than ready to coach with a whistle hanging around his neck.
Oh, lord. Forget about the whistle. The man was wearing black fucking jogging shorts and a matching shirt so tight she could trace the outline of every muscle on his?—
“Hey, Parmigiano!”
“Ugh!” Lacy bit the inside of her cheek as Embrie crossed her arms and sighed. “That’s the worst one yet.”
Nash didn’t seem irritated with her attitude, but Lacy was holding back her warning to her daughter to see how he responded. It had been a tough morning, and more than anything, she just wanted Embrie to have fun. But it wasn’treally a surprise when Nash smiled at them both and laughed.
“Well, do you have a guess?”
“I don’t need to guess! That’s Italy.”
“Final answer?”
“Yes. Too easy!”
Nash sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “You got it. Another point for my favorite cheese wiz… Hey, wait, there’s a cheese joke in there somewhere, I know it.” Nash looked down at the sneakers on Brie's feet. “Where’s your gear, kiddo?”
Lacy watched her daughter’s face drop as she scanned the group of kids already out on the field. They were all wearing shin guards and cleats. Some even had mouth guards in. Lacy hadn’t seen anything on the sign up sheet about needing any equipment. Wasn’t it just supposed to be a hobby league for kids to practice some skills on the weekends? Her temples throbbed as she thought about what she could cut from groceries that week to afford gear before the next practice.
“Oh, god. That’s my fault,” Lacy admitted, cringing at the lie she was about to tell. “We… We were running late this morning, and I didn’t check to make sure her stuff was in the car. I figured it was better to let her run around in her sneakers for tryouts than not to come at all. Is it going to be a problem?”
“No. Not at all. Brie, why don’t you head out and grab a yellow pinny. You’ll be on my team today.”
“Thanks! Bye, Mom!”
“Have fun, kiddo.”
Lacy pulled out her phone, already looking up the gear she’d need to buy. Would it take a trip into Rogersville? Dallas? She didn’t have the time or money for it. Nash had told her every kid who tried out made the team no matter what, and she felt so fucking guilty for wishing that wasn’t the case.
No. She was doing okay. Embrie was safe. They had a roof over their head, even if it was leaky. Embrie had food and Lacy got by on the left overs. They would make it work.
“Hey, don’t sweat her not having the right stuff today. It’s my fault for not making sure there was a reminder on the sign-up sheet.”
Crap.He’d surprised her with how close he’d gotten. The screen on her phone went dark as she pushed it back into her pocket. “We have the gear, I promise. Just a rocky morning and then getting out the door was a scramble. You know how it is.”
“I’m a mess just having to get myself out the door. Can’t imagine trying to get an opinionated mini version of myself into the car on time too. You’re doing a great job.”
“Thank you for saying that, but clearly I’m the captain of the struggle bus.”
“Well, I’ve got your little passenger for now.” He smiled, his hand landing gently on her arm. “You can go enjoy an hour of peace and quiet if you want. We’ll be done right at noon.”
“Oh, I’m actually going to stay. I barely ever get time to just watch Embrie enjoy something. I’ll sit back where she won’t see me, but I’d like to just soak in that laughter a little bit.”
Something flashed across Nash’s face, an emotion she couldn’t quite place but felt like it fit somewhere between contemplation and worry. And then his head turned, looking over his shoulder at Embrie laughing with another little girl who was helping put her pinny on.
“Looks like she already made a friend.”
“She’s very outgoing. I’m not sure where she gets it from.”
“I don’t know, Lacy, you don’t really fade into the background as much as you think you do.”
Her cheeks might as well have been sunburned, and she knew from the way his eyes were trained on her that she didn’thide her reaction very well. Nash chuckled as she turned away, heading back to the big tree with a large canopy creating the perfect spot to sit in the shade and keep her eyes trained on her daughter. She certainly wouldn’t be watching him, with his tight shirt showing off his full sleeves of tattoos, and his backwards hat making her stomach flutter like it was doing somersaults.
God, Lacy. Get. A. Grip.
Fuck, he didn’t want to take his eyes off of Lacy, sitting under the shade of an old tree, the sunlight peeking through the leaves, illuminating her in a way that made her look like she was made from stained glass. Her cheeks had flushed the prettiest shade of pink earlier, and he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering over what else he could do to bring that color back to her face.
