Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Her mobile home?”
“Yup.”
“You’d rather stay on a school bus than with your devilishly handsome assistant coach?” he joked.
“Oh, I’d rather stay in a portapotty than with you.” The insult should’ve offended him, but he chuckled to himself. Must’ve been that shame kink of his kicking into full gear. “But thanks for the offer, Nathan. Truly. And for the weekend. I didn’t know I needed someone to take care of me as much as I did. I appreciate it.”
“Of course.” He clasped his hands together, and his eyes grew somber as his voice dropped an octave. “But…about what we talked about. With your…negative thoughts. Are you sure it’s best to stay alone while going through all this, Ave? I’d honestly feel more comfortable with you staying with me, but I know it’s not about my comfort. It’s about yours. Still…my offer stands.”
I wished he’d stop making my tired heart skip a few beats. I was supposed to hate him still, but he made it increasingly difficult to dislike him. Especially after the weekend we’d shared.
“I think I’m good. Thank you, though,” I said, standing up from my chair.
He kept sitting and staring at me, uncertain.
I released a small laugh. “Seriously, Nathan. I’m good.”
“I’m at 505 West Chipper Lane,” he said as he pushed himself to stand. “In case you change your mind.”
“I won’t, but thanks. Let’s get to practice.”
It was a beautiful spring day in Honey Creek, the perfect weather to get out on the field to run a few drills. Truthfully, I couldn’t have asked for better weather over the past few days. It would’ve been great weather for, say, a wedding celebration.
The moment Nathan and I met the players outside on the bleachers, I already hated the looks of pity they shot my way. I hated those looks. Nothing in the world was worse than other people feeling bad for me.
I cleared my throat and tossed on my baseball cap. “All right, team. Let’s just address the elephant in the room. Was I supposed to get married this weekend? Yes. Did it get called off at the last minute? Also yes. But this should not distract you from the fact that we are in the middle of our season, and with one more win, we will be off to the playoffs. Therefore, we must stay focused on the game. I’m sure you’ve all heard some rumors about Wesley and me, but I want you to know that I’m okay. I’m fine, and we need to—”
“Coach K?” Cameron cut me off.
“Yeah, Cam?”
“Fuck Wesley!”
The rest of the guys cheered, agreeing with him. I glanced over at Nathan who had the tiniest smile curving his lips. I could almost hear him silently saying “fuck Wesley,” too.
I rubbed my palm against my forehead. “Now, that’s not needed. I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but you don’t need to. I’m fine and—”
“Coach K?” Jason called out.
A weighted sigh rippled through me. “Yes, Jason?”
“I think Wesley’s a dumbass.”
“Yeah!” everyone else cheered. “What a dumbass!” they echoed, clapping their hands together.
I felt a tug against my heart. If you looked up the word loyalty in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of the Honey Creek Hornets baseball team.
I placed my hands against my hips. “All right. Anyone else have any thoughts on my current state of affairs? Let’s get it all out so we can move on sooner than later.” Everyone’s hands shot up to add their commentary on my life. I pointed at Kyle. “Shoot, kid.”
“If Wesley was such a great rocket scientist, then why couldn’t he calculate the trajectory of the path to keeping a good woman?”
I smirked a little.
That was clever.
I pointed at Caleb next. “All right, Cal. You’re up.”
“I’m trying to figure out how the rocket scientist had a failure to launch.”
Another good one.
“Steve”—I gestured—“what do you got?”
“I hope his love life is like a black hole after you, Coach K. Empty and meaningless,” Steve said with a shrug.
“If I were your type, I’d marry the fuck outta you, Coach K,” Eric said.
“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough.” I laughed. “And that’s also highly inappropriate, Eric, so you’ll run two extra laps today on the field. Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, can we get back to the game?”
Instead of agreeing with me, the guys all rushed over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. For a moment, I froze, completely thrown off by their embrace. Then I felt myself start to get misty-eyed from the comfort they were showing me as they all whispered their apologies.
Those boys meant the world to me.
But I couldn’t cry in front of them. Even though my eyes wanted me to fall apart. I’d already done enough falling apart over the long weekend. I glanced up to see Nathan standing back with the gentlest smile as his arms stayed crossed over his chest. His shoulders rose and fell. I shrugged back toward him.