Page 119 of Beneath the Stands (Sugarlake 2)

“I’ll take it.” Eli’s words are quick and sharp.

My breath whooshes out as I twist to face him. His response surprises me. Eli’s always been very controlled, overthinking every decision until he can dissect the pros and cons. “You will?”

He looks down at me, his eyes sparking with heat. “I will.”

Eli focuses back on Mr. Daniel’s, a thousand-dollar smile lighting up his face. “There’s nothing that would make me happier than coaching these kids, sir. It’s where everything really began for me.” He pauses, his jaw ticking with the motion of his swallow. “I’d be honored to be part of where it begins for them too.”

Shock surges through my veins.

Eli is staying in Sugarlake.

And so am I.

I’m not in a place where I deserve him. I know this and I think deep down, so does he. I can’t be sure he’ll forgive me for my mistakes. And I can’t promise that I won’t get spooked—won’t run and hide from all the ways he makes me feel. But I’ll work like hell to overcome the roadblocks and clear the path back to him.

He’s here.

He’s staying.

And one day soon, maybe…

He’ll be mine.

51

Eli

I’ve lived most of my life striving for the spotlight and thinking it’s what I needed to feel complete. Believing that one day, when I finally reached the top, the hole that drilled its way through my insides would close up and start to heal. That I’d finally get Pops’s approval and he’d know all his energy hadn’t been wasted on me over the years.

But living for other people’s dreams is a bottomless pit. An emptiness that festers and

rots in the deepest parts of you while your soul cripples from neglect.

It wasn’t until I started coaching that I realized my true calling in life is to stand on the sidelines and help others shine. That maybe my career-ending injury happened, not because of bad fortune, but because I needed a push in the right direction.

My chest twinges when I think about my players at FCU. All the time and energy I’ve devoted to helping them achieve their greatness. I’ll miss it there. Giving up the years of work I’ve put in to become the next head coach smarts at my insides, and it’s hard to not pick up the phone and plead with them to take me back.

But then I think about my family. About building a relationship with Lee. Supporting Pops through his repressed grief and addiction. I imagine what it will feel like to help foster love of the game for kids who are just beginning to recognize their potential. And when I do that, an excited, nervous energy fills up my bones and settles in deep because I just know this is where I’m supposed to be.

Saying yes to Mr. Daniels just now may have been a rash decision, but it was the right one.

My eyes trail to Becca, and my heart palpitates, making my breath quicken.

The path I’m on now seems so clear, yet she’s still the one thing that confuses the hell out of me. I spend hours of my day convincing myself I’ve moved on. That all I need is closure. But then I see her and all of it goes to shit. My precious control that’s been fine-tuned over the years thrown to the wayside from less than twenty seconds in her presence.

I’m not sure if soul mates exist, but if they do, I’m sure she’s mine. Not that it matters.

Becca has always been a raging inferno, and I’ve always been the moth to her flame. But where my soul used to call out for hers, now it cowers in fear, knowing she has the power to turn me to ash.

There’s not much left from when she burned me the first time.

So I’m stuck in this limbo. One where I can’t be with her but I can’t be without her, and I don’t really know what to do with that. And I damn sure don’t know how to control myself when she’s around.

Mr. Daniels’s phone rings, pulling me out of my thoughts. Becca’s cheeks are stained the most beautiful shade of pink. One I know for a fact goes all the way past her chest. My cock twitches, flaring back to life and I try to think of something, anything to keep the pathetic, lovesick fool inside me under control.

“Sorry, y’all. I’ve gotta take this,” Mr. Daniels says. “Elliot, why don’t you stop by here tomorrow afternoon and we can work out some more details.”

“Sounds good to me.”

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