Page 3 of Reckless Goals

When all the balls were kicked into the net, I pulled my shirt off and used it to wipe the sweat from my face and neck. I took a minute to look up and look around me. Trying to remember who I was before everything inside of me broke.

There I was, in the middle of a professional soccer stadium, team captain for the hottest city in the country, and with enough money to do whatever the fuck I wanted. I had dedicated my life to getting where I was, and while I took a shot at love, it backfired, but I still had a life most people would kill to have.

It was time I attempted to get my head out of my own ass. I almost felt sorry for poor Ash Keller. She had no idea what she was in for. But fuck, neither did I.

* * *

Practice ran longer than usual, but Sandy told me to hit the showers early and head out. In fact, he insisted, like I had been summoned by God himself. It left me with little doubt that he and Colin had been conspiring together.

The college was only twenty minutes from the stadium, and I somehow managed to avoid the infamous Miami traffic jams getting there, so I was actually a few minutes early. It gave me time to check things out.

With my hair slicked back from my shower, and sunglasses shading my eyes from the early evening sun, I looked out onto the field to soak in whatever hell I had gotten myself into. Colin was standing with his hands on his hips, and had a whistle in his mouth, while his assistant coach was waving his arms. They were telling the girls what drill to run, and the girls all followed the directions like a dance.

When the whistle blew again, the girls took off running around the length of the field–a clear sign practice was almost over.

“Rhys,” Colin yelled, waving me toward the center of the field.

Slowly, and cautiously, I started walking as I watched the girls running from behind my sunglasses. All of them kept the same pace, and kept themselves poised like professional athletes usually did. It was clear they were well coached and a force to be reckoned with in their division. I had already started to admire them, as it reminded me of my own college days in Sacramento.

Eyeing each of them more closely, I was curious as to which one was Ash. The blonde in the front? The one with all the tattoos? Maybe the short one in the middle of the pack? Or damn, the one whose eyes had found me, and was curiously watching me back, probably wondering what I was doing there? She had a scowl on her face, and despite keeping her pace, it was clear she was distracted.

Or didn’t want to be there.

Or both.

Yeah, that had to be Ashlynn Keller, because I would have felt the same way if it were me. Hell, I was pissed off on her behalf.

I lifted my sunglasses into my hair and tilted my head a little, letting her know I saw her. When she rolled her eyes, I smirked before she turned back to her task, and started another lap around the field.

“This should be fun,” I groaned to myself.

“Glad you made it,” Colin rumbled as he reached his hand out for me to shake. I took it, and then tried to shake the hand of his assistant coach, “This is Hunter Ward.”

“Nice to meet you.” My hand was still in the air, but Hunter left me hangin’.

“Yeah,” Hunter grunted, his arms crossing over his chest instead, keeping his attention on the girls.

In a way, he looked like a drill sergeant, statuesque and ready to yell,“Drop down and give me twenty,”if one of the ladies so much as sneezed during their run. He didn’t appear to like me much, turning his back on me immediately following our introduction, but I tried not to take that personally. After a few awkward minutes of silence, he quietly walked off and headed to where the girls were gathering, making me sigh.

“Don’t mind Hunter,” Colin laughed. “He’s a former player here at Miami. He came back thinking he would take over because he was so revered as a player. He's not exactly happy, nor proud to be a part of this team.”

“Then why’s he here?” I scoffed, watching the way he walked around the women while they stretched.

“Boosters,” Colin said plainly. That was all he had to say. Just like in every operation, the people who fronted the money were the ones who got the say so, regardless of whether it was good for the team.

Especially in colleges.

“He must be pissed I’m here,” I mused.

“He’ll get over it. Probably just jealous, seeing that he knows exactly who you are. His goal was to go pro when he graduated.”

“If he’s so good, why was that goal unattainable?”

“As far as I can tell, he just couldn't cut it with a pro team. He doesn’t talk about it much, and we get along better when I don’t ask questions. Let’s go meet the girls.”

A small huff of acknowledgement came from my chest as Colin started walking toward the team. I followed behind him, still keeping my eye on Hunter. Something about him made me uneasy, though to be fair, I barely knew him. Still, I was going to watch him closely.

ChapterTwo

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