Page 63 of Reckless Goals

“Fuck man, I’m so glad to hear that.”

“How did it go around here? With Ash?”

That bastard beaded his eyes at me and I was tempted to knock his teeth out. He wasn’t her dad, why was he giving me shit? If she wanted to fuck me senseless then who was he to judge?

Damn, I really was a walking whiplash.

And maybe a little unhinged.

“Fine,” I eyed him back, gauging his mood a little more. He may have been fishing, but he wasn’t going to hear anything from me. Not because I cared, but because Ash probably did. I didn’t want to make her life on this team with Colin and Hunter any harder than it already was. “I haven't heard from you since you got back. I assumed you’d call and check in.”

“Hunter gave me an update. Ash filled in the gaps. Figured you were back to being your sullen self and I didn’t want to mess that up for ya.”

I cracked a smile, enjoying him teasing me. Before I blamed him for Mel’s disappearance, he was like a father to me, in a way. He mentored me, got on to me, grinded my gears, then loved me through all my growing pains as a player. I had been so mad, I almost forgot how good it felt to be on his good side.

Why the hell was I on his good side?

“So what did Hunter tell you?”Two could go fishing in this pond, Colin.

“Just that he saw you two practicing each night, the work was good, the payoff was perfect. Ash had been back to her old self, kicking ass the way she always had before. Although the fire seems to have dimmed in the last couple of games.”

“All I did was scrimmage with her. I’m not much of a coach.”

“Sometimes, all anyone needs is something else to focus on. Something to break the cycle. Something to give them perspective.” I swallowed, unsure if he was talking about me, or Ash. Before he asked me to help her, I was the one spiraling and losing focus. Did Ash break that cycle for me?

“Yeah,” I mumbled, more to myself, but Colin was still there and heard me.

He patted my back and squeezed my shoulder before laughing a little. “Enjoy the game.” He walked off toward the team, blowing the whistle, and I glanced up and around me, my eyes locking with Ash’s. She tilted her head in question, and I shrugged because I wasn’t sure which question her eyes were asking.

I was sure the main question was,“Why am I there?”But I didn’t know that answer any more than I knew what the hell that conversation with Colin meant. Hadn’t we established that I was clueless?

Heading toward the stands, I took a seat next to Cruz on the front row, right behind the team bench. Hunter started jogging toward the bench and looked up at me. He shook his head slightly, then reached down for some cones before turning back and heading to the field.

He didn’t tell Colin.

I wasn’t sure how I knew, but that small movement of his head was him telling me he didn’t say a word. It brought both relief and disappointment to the forefront of my brain. My head was spinning, and I leaned forward to rest my elbow on my knees and bow my head toward my feet.

“You okay?” Cruz asked. “Colin make you feel bad for pounding his left wing?”

“I don't think he knows.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I think I wanted him to know. I think I want everyone to know.”

ChapterThirty-Three

Ash

Rhys showed up to my game and kept his eyes on me the entire first quarter. It was intense, and I was having trouble focusing on the game the way I should have been.

At halftime, we headed around the bleachers and toward the locker room. Coach raised a hand toward Rhys and waved him down to join us as we walked.

They spoke behind the team quietly, and before we got inside the locker room, Coach was calling me back to join them.

“Talk to Rhys,” he grunted quickly and then joined the team. I turned slowly to Rhys who looked like a deer in the headlights.

The sun had set and no one was around, either being in the stands, or in the locker room. Four whole minutes passed before Rhys took charge and grabbed my hand. He led me around to the side of the building, back to where no one would see us if they walked by.

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