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“The season hasn’t been canceled,” he repeated when the team had settled down. “We wouldn’t do that. Not with how hard you’ve worked to get here, and not with how much the town relies on football season.”

The relief I felt was immense, and the tension melted from my muscles. Beside me, Jude leaned in closer.

“Nailed it,” Jude whispered. I grinned and shrugged like I’d personally conducted an extensive economic analysis of Everdale instead of shamelessly stealing the information from his brother. Economic impact facts. That’s what Rhodes had called them. And I was grateful he had.

“Now, I am going to be upfront about this,” Dean Wirtz continued. “We’re still finding a solution to the lack of coaching staff. As of this morning, we have hired a head coach for the season. The choice is unconventional. He has no experience in coaching, but I’m confident that he’ll get the job done.”

“Oh, this will be good,” Wyatt muttered. I was thinking the same thing. No coaching experience? That was reassuring. How was someone like that supposed to help us get through the season?

I glanced at Jude, but he merely shrugged.

“He was something of a town legend in high school…”

Anything else he said was completely lost on me as I caught sight of Rhodes walking across the football field to join him. He came to a stop next to the Dean, his hands dropping to his hips as he faced us.

Oh, no.

No, fucking way.

The curious commotion rolling through the team gave me more than enough cover to just stare at him—not that I needed much encouragement. Rhodes in dress clothes was a cocktease. A kind I hadn’t known could exist. I was used to him in casual outfits, and his ass in a good pair of jeans was hot, but this was dangerous.

A powder blue shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, the sleeves rolled to his forearms and exposed both tattoo sleeves. The top two buttons were undone just enough to make me painfully aware that two more would reveal the beginning of his Don’t Panic astronaut tattoo. I still didn’t know the story behind the tattoo, but I’d spent an unreasonable amount of time studying it when he had me sprawled out on my back.

His navy pants were tailored perfectly to his long legs, and I was dying for him to turn around so I could see his ass. The dark color perfectly contrasted his shirt, creating a combination that looked good on him. His long hair was brushed out, his beard trimmed, and his stance powerful. Everything about him screamed professional and controlled. This wasn’t the Rhodes I was used to—the one who grabbed my hips and called me little wolf when no one else was around to hear it. It wasn’t the version of him that wandered around his parents’ house and got into arguments with Jude.

This was another version of him entirely, and fuck me, it was hot. Was this what he was like outside of Everdale? At work? Around his friends? I wanted to know, which was an incredibly inconvenient thought, considering the rapidly developing situation in front of me.

“Thank you, Dean. I’ve got it from here,” he said. Dean Wirtz whispered something to him as he shook his hand before leaving. Rhodes cleared his throat, facing us. His gaze drifted over the field, slow and assessing. I knew that look. He was cataloging us into variables that made sense to him.

His gaze clashed with mine, holding for only a fraction of a moment before moving on. There was nothing there, not even a flicker of acknowledgment. His expression remained completely neutral as his attention continued down the line. For some reason, my heart sank.

“All right, for those of you who don’t know, my name is Rhodes Kennedy,” he said. “Yes, before you ask, I am Jude’s older brother.”

Dozens of heads immediately turned toward Jude. He looked deeply unimpressed by his brother’s arrival.

“Dude, you were a legend at E-High,” Brent commented. Everdale High School. Yeah, I’d seen the display dedicated to Rhodes in the trophy case. It was full of photos, newspaper clippings, and records. Quarterback Rhodes Kennedy had apparently been a force of nature. Everyone in town had a story about him, and everyone had been convinced he’d eventually play professionally.

But when he’d graduated, he’d disappeared and joined the Army. Why he’d walked away from something he’d been that good at was still one of the thousands of questions about Rhodes I hadn’t gotten an answer to.

“I was.” He nodded slowly. “Now, I know most of you are worried about what’s going to happen with this season. That’s an understandable fear, considering what’s on the line for many of you. As your new coach—”

No one gave him the chance to finish as the team’s reaction was instant. There were questions and excited commentary. Jude muttered something I didn’t catch in the chaos. Someone behind us said we might actually have a chance if Rhodes still knew how to run an offense.

I heard none of it as my mind latched onto that single word: coach.

Rhodes Kennedy was our new coach.

My coach.

The man I’d been secretly fucking for almost a year now was standing in front of the team telling us he was going to be responsible for our season. And with that understanding, my relief about the season not being canceled disappeared with a new kind of panic—one I had to keep to myself.

Yesterday, secretly hooking up with my best friend’s older brother had been complicated enough. But today?

Today, I was the one fucking the head coach.

CHAPTER 04

Rhodes