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Her voice washed over him like a soothing balm. He shook his head and grinned at her. “Kiersten, you can call me Garrett.”
“Not here,” she murmured. Her gaze flitted over his shoulder to where Chris probably approached. “Don’t want to give anyone anything to gossip about.”
He pasted his generic playboy-smile on and ran his fingers through his hair. “No one would get the wrong idea. It’s quite obvious we’re just friends. Speaking of which…are we still getting together for drinks tonight?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Now be quiet. Chris is coming, and I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.”
&nbs
p; The wrong idea being that she was actually interested in more than friendship from him. Garrett knew all too well that wasn’t the case, even if he occasionally wished it weren’t. “Right.”
“Hey, coach,” Chris said. He walked over to Kiersten’s side and looked at Garrett with eyes far too wise for a thirteen year old. “What’s up?”
Garrett cleared his throat. “Nothing much. I’m just letting your mom know about practice on Monday at five.”
“Oh, okay.” Chris looked up at Kiersten expectantly. “Ready to go to Friendly’s?”
“I’m always ready to go to Friendly’s,” she replied. When she slung his gym bag over her shoulder, her gaze met Garrett’s for one brief second. “Good bye, Coach Garrett.”
“See ya,” he murmured.
He watched her walk away, the swing of her hips teasing him. Over the past three months, they had been getting together at her place to have a few drinks on the weekends, but not as lovers. Just as friends. Very platonic friends. It’s all they could ever, and would ever, be. He was her kid’s teacher and coach. Though the school didn’t frown upon such things… other parents did.
All it would take was one game where he played Chris longer than another kid and all hell would break loose. So no matter how much he might like to discover how those swinging hips felt in his hands…he needed to keep his head on straight.
And his hands at his sides.
Rolling his shoulders, he headed back to Mike. Upon seeing his return, Mike flashed him a dirty look. “About time,” he muttered under his breath. “Done drooling over my sister?”
Garrett ignored him. “Okay, everyone. Listen up. Practice is Monday at five. We’ll see you all then. Coach Mike and I have to go over some end-of-game plays, so we’re gonna head out now.”
The women dispersed, leaving him and Mike alone. Mike scowled at him and punched his shoulder. “Look, fuck-wad, stop chasing her.”
Garrett ground his teeth together. “I’m not chasing her.”
And he wasn’t. They were friends. If there were a moment or two where he wished they could be more, then so be it. That’s life. It didn’t mean he had to act on the desire. Making a move, especially an unrequited move, certainly wouldn’t do at all for his image—the image he’d worked very hard to build. He was the perfect picture of the content bachelor with no intention of ever changing his ways.
“Looked to me like you were chasing her,” Mike said.
Garrett gritted his teeth. “Then you weren’t looking close enough. I’m over her. I’ve been over her since college. You’re the one who needs to move on, man.”
“I did.” Mike eyed Garrett in a way that all too clearly conveyed that he doubted Garrett had.
“Yeah?” Garrett grabbed the clipboard. “So did I.”
“Good. Now, I need to drink a few beers and find a woman with a lot of daddy issues and no attachment issues whatsoever,” Mike said, gathering up his jacket and clipboard. “You in?”
Garrett hesitated. After all of the ribbing Mike had been giving him, the last thing he wanted to admit was that he was spending his Friday night at Kiersten’s. “Nah. I think I’m getting sick. I’m gonna go home and take it easy tonight.”
“Like you’ve been doing almost every weekend lately? Are you going to shave your legs and douche, too?” Mike snapped. “What the fuck, man?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly right. I’m going to go home and douche. See you later, asshole,” Garrett called over his shoulder. “Don’t forget that we have our own game tomorrow.”
Mike called out, “See you then. Wear a pretty skirt for me, will ya?”
Garrett flipped him off and stalked out of the gym. The cold air blasted his face as soon as he walked outside and he inhaled deeply. Damn, he loved winter. Tiny snow flurries drifted down from the sky and Garrett took a minute to appreciate the sheer beauty of the unblemished white snow falling around him. Too bad it wouldn’t stick to the ground. It wasn’t cold enough in Vegas for that.
But it sure looked pretty.
