Her eyes narrow. “Shithead.”
He sure is.“Listen, uh, the guys don’t know.”
No one does, and I’d like to keep it that way.
“Got it.” She pulls up her legs and crisscrosses them on the chair. “Look at us with our daddy issues.”
I let out a loud laugh, and Evan glances our way. “Why don’t you two join the group and stop being anti-social.”
Ainsley sticks out her tongue while Ivori smacks Evan’s arm and scolds him for interrupting us.
Pretty sure she knows my secret.
That I’ve got a big fat crush on Ainsley Morgan.
This friendly rivalry between us, the need to be better than the other...it drives us to work harder, to sharpen our skills and hone our crafts. But it’s also pushing us closer together.
Somewhere along the line, I started liking Ainsley more than the win.
Ainsley’s hazel eyes meet mine, and a pretty pink tinges her cheeks.
And I think she might have a crush on me too.
Chapter 13
Ainsley
“What the hellis wrong with your neck?”
I tip my head to the right and dig my fingers into the left side of my neck. “I was going through some boxes in the garage yesterday, and one of them fell. I tried to catch it, but I tweaked my neck.”
Raymond grimaces. “You want some of that cooling cream I have?”
“It’s fine. It’ll work itself out in a day or two.” I lift the remote and press pause. “Right there. See that, Dominique? Great execution, killer instincts. When you get out of your head, you play great.”
Dominique nods, jotting down notes as I talk.
“Hey.” I reach over and flip her notebook closed. “Forget the notebook. Look at me.”
She lifts her brown eyes to mine, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
“You have it inside of you. You just need to believe it. Believe in yourself and your abilities. You wouldn’t have this spot on the team if we didn’t think you deserved it.”
She nods and offers me a sheepish smile. “I don’t know how to gain more confidence. That’s always been hard for me.”
“It’ll come with experience,” Raymond says.
“But don’t doubt your abilities on the field.” I lean forward, gazing at all of the girls in the media room. “No one is going to give you permission. If you see an opportunity, take it. Commit. The hesitation and the second-guessing will kill you.”
I feel better about Saturday’s loss after going through today’s tape. Everything that went wrong can be worked on, and if we had a different referee, the opposing team wouldn’t have gotten so many free shots on us. It was a productive afternoon, and I feel good.
Aside from my stupid neck.
Landon goes over a few minor things from the JV game, and then we dismiss the kids for the evening.
I wince as I sling my duffle bag onto my shoulder.
Landon’s eyebrow arches. “You don’t look good.”
