Page 7 of Topping the Jock
“Do you miss the game?” Dean asked, before chugging some water from his bottle.
“Every day. But coaching helps.” I shut off the light in my office before closing the door. “A big lesson I learned is you can’t always control what happens, and you gotta be able to adjust to whatever life throws at you.”
Because at the end of the day, my knee was still busted no matter how much I bitched and whined over it. Picking myself up out of the dirt and moving forward was all I could do.
Later that afternoon, after the team practiced, showered, and left the locker room, I locked up and headed toward my truck. That’s when I spotted him.
Quinn Beck got out of a silver Kia Soul with a messenger bag slung over one shoulder, a textbook tucked under his arm, and a coffee in one hand. Not wanting him to spot me—because I wasn’t prepared for the awkward greeting that would follow once he recognized me—I hid behind my truck as he walked past.
Like a damn stalker, I watched him make his way across the parking lot and disappear into the main building.
Why was he at the school?
Oh shit.He worked there. It was the only explanation.
All the teachers had received an email the day before about a faculty meeting scheduled for the end of the week. The purpose was to go over the handbook and prepare for the upcoming school year, making sure all teachers and staff were on the same page.
If Quinndidwork at the school, he’d be at that meeting. Would he remember me? Maybe he had forgotten about how I used to push him around. I mean, ten years had passed since then. No one held on to a grudge for that long.
Right?
Whatever the case, I’d find out on Friday. One thing I knew for sure? Quinn Beck was fucking hot. I smiled as I got in my truck and drove home.
Chapter Two
Quinn
The faculty meeting was being held in the high school library. I arrived early to help Gwen—or Mrs. Peterson, the principal—set everything up. Over the four years I’d been a teacher, she and I had become decent friends.
“Thanks for your help, Quinn,” Gwen said once we’d finished with the refreshments table. She had bought bagels, donuts, fruit, and coffee for the meeting. “Alex was supposed to be here, but he came down with a cold. Or so he says.”
Alex worked in the office as a receptionist. He was on the quiet side and normally didn’t socialize with any other faculty unless he had to.
“Well, it’s not a problem. I had the free time.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Gwen scooted two tables closer together and grabbed more chairs from the stack.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said with a light laugh, helping her set out the rest of the chairs. “How many do we need? Looks like we might be short a few.”
Gwen glanced at her chart. “Twenty-one. We have a new face this year.”
“Oh yeah?” We were a tight-knit community at Blue Harbor High. Most of the faculty knew each other personally as well as professionally.
Her red curls bounced a little as she nodded. “A new football coach. He’s also the new health teacher.”
“Looking forward to meeting him.” I counted the chairs again. Yep. We were short three. “I’ll grab more from the storage room.”
“Thank you. The others should be arriving soon.”
She handed me the keys to the room, and I left the library, passing several teachers on my way out. We smiled and nodded to each other before I walked down the hall. Hard to believe school would be starting on Monday. Summer had flown by.
“Hey, Specks!”
That voice. I knew it.
I turned around and nearly fell over.
It had been ten years, but Montgomery looked exactly the same. Well, almost. A sharp jawline was in place of his former boyish features, and he was even more muscled. Even though he wore a sweatshirt, I saw the broadness of his shoulders and his lean waist. And that grin on his face… it was just like the ones he had flashed me in the hall right before giving me shit.
