Chapter fifteen
Thenextmorningbeforethe kids’ football game, Jake had news to tell his little Dragons. As part of the new promotion, CBSN wanted to do a human interest piece on all of their anchors. The fun part was they wanted to do his live. When the higher-ups found out he volunteered as a peewee football coach, they jumped at the chance to show how he applied his football knowledge outside the newsroom.
“Hey kids, gather ‘round. You know how I work at a TV station, right?”
Ten little heads bobbed up and down.
“Well, they wanna film us next week. So I’m sending permission slips home with you after the game. Make sure your parents see them, okay?” He was no idiot; he’d give them to the kids right as the parents came to the field, so they couldn’t lose them.
Ugh. His head was pounding. After Olivia walked away from him to break up whatever Caleb had going on with her friend, Caleb had dropped him off at home. He proceeded to drink about half a bottle of vodka, and was paying the price.
“Coach Jake?”
“Yeah, Garret?” Garret was his quarterback, short for his age at eleven, but had a killer arm. He looked down at Garret’s mop of blond hair and the similarities between Garret and Olivia smacked him in the face. What would their kids have looked like? Wouldn’t it be amazing to teach their kids football and play video games? There were some adorable little kids’ anime series on Netflix …
Too late for that. Olivia had made her stance clear last night. She didn’t trust him. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her.
He shook his head, realizing that he’d zoned out while Garret asked his question. “Sorry, buddy, what was that?”
Garret’s brown eyes rolled. “Where is Miss Olivia?”
“Doesn’t she like us anymore?” Little Zoe asked.
“Uh … I …” Jake pulled off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. Ten pairs of eyes looked up at him, waiting. Even Marie looked concerned. Time to face the music. “It’s not you. I messed up, guys. She’s upset with me and doesn’t want to see me anymore.” A collective whine rose from his team. “I’m really, really sorry.”
“Did you tell her you were sorry?” Abigail considered. She was the oldest girl on the team at ten, and he didn’t think she’d be back next year.
“I did. But sorry doesn’t always fix things.”
“My mommy says, ‘don’t be sorry, behave,’” piped up Bradley. A holy terror on the field, Jake could believe her.
Marie touched his arm. “What happened? Y’all were so cute together.”
Jake sighed. But maybe his lone female friend would have some advice. “I let someone talk bad about her where we work and didn’t do anything. I was keeping us a secret at the station.”
“Why? Was it against the rules?”
“No, I was … scared. I was afraid of what the other football anchors would think about me being a nerd, too.” Shit. Now that he spoke it out loud, it sounded weak as hell. He’d been a damn good defensive tackle, but it seemed he was only willing to defend her from behind a mask. No wonder she’d felt like his dirty secret.
Marie lifted one gray eyebrow at him.
“God, I’m such an as … a jerk.” He clenched his fists at his side. She should be here. It wasn’t the same without her. The prospect of going home alone felt like torture.
“It’s almost time for kickoff, Jake,” she said gently. “Have faith. You’ll figure something out.”
“What if you didn’t make her a secret anymore?” Garret had a mischievous sparkle.
The seed of an idea started to take root. “Let’s talk over lunch, Garret. Would you guys like to help me get her back?”
A chorus of yeahs erupted around him. He clapped his hands together, wincing at his own noise.
“Okay, Dragons, let’s focus on the game. No matter who’s out there in the bleachers, your focus is?”
“On the field!”
“Don’t forget, we play clean, we listen to our coaches, and we give it our best.” His voice rose with confidence as his game face slid into place. Time to psych them up. “Who are we?”
“Dragons!” This screaming was bad for his hangover, but it was good for the kids. So he gave them his weekly routine.
