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“He’s a drunk. And that’s why I’m helping him,” Zach said, thinking the other coaches should be helping their kids in their sports.
It was a real possibility that Jayden’s father wouldn’t let him attend college, but he hoped for Jayden’s sake, he could get the student out of here. The boy needed a break in life.
The other coaches shook their heads.
“Always a dreamer,” Kyle said. “Well, fancy this. Guess who is going to be our new girls’ basketball coach?”
The current girls’ coach had to go on complete bed rest starting mid-January for the remainder of the school year. And while Cody had been subbing for her, baseball season would soon be starting and all his attention would go to that. The girls needed a woman coach to finish out the schedule, not a man.
Zach sank down in a chair across from the other three men. The coffee pot had been turned off and he figured they were just sitting here shooting the breeze before they left for the day. As the only single coach out of the four, he did his best to stay as far from the girls’ locker room as he could.
“Who? Right now, our girls are in last place in the division. Who would want to take on a losing team and hold their hands and wipe their tears when they lose?”
“None other than professional ball player Emily Martin.”
Oh, crap! His chest squeezed at the memory of the two of them together until the day he walked away. The way her lips felt, the feel of her body snug against his own. The memory of her sighs and whimpers when they made love. And then the knowledge that basketball was more important to her than him.
“Hey, didn’t you two attend the same college? Duke?”
Oh, yes, not only had they attended the same college, they had dated until she’d stepped all over his ego and left him to play professional ball. When she made the announcement, there had not been any discussion on how they could stay together. It had been their last conversation.
“Yes,” he said, knowing he’d never reveal their history to these men. “What brings her here? Who in their right mind would want our girls’ team?”
“I think she needs a job,” Max Vandenburg, the football coach said. “Last I heard, she was fired from the Washington Miners.”
Oh, yes, Zach read all about how she’d had an affair with someone in the front office. Not something you did if you wanted to continue playing for the team. Upper management frowned on any associations between the front office and the players. Especially women players. Especially with married men.
“Yes, it’s rumored she was having an affair with a married man in the organization,” he told them, trying to contain the glee he felt. No, he shouldn’t feel that way, but the woman didn’t choose him, but rather her professional career. And look how that turned out.
In the small town of Cupid, being an adulteress would not go over well, and he could hardly wait to repay some of the pain she’d gifted him.
Why had she chosen Cupid? Did she know he was here? Well, she would certainly know soon enough, and he was going to enjoy tormenting her.
“Why in the world would a professional ball player come to a small-town school like ours? Especially one with a team who hasn’t been out of the bottom of the division since the nineties,” Cody asked, shaking his head. “Makes no sense.”
The girls’ team was hopeless.
“Maybe to hide from the world,” Zach said. “When your name is spread through the press for the worst reasons, I would think you would want to crawl into the nearest cave.”
The man must have been really good to spark Emily’s interest.
“And our school board approved hiring her?” Max asked. “Hell, they did a thorough background check on me.”
“Me as well,” Cody said.
“Oh hell, guys,” Kyle said with a laugh. “They want her for the prestige of having a big-name star in our midst. Kind of like the way they felt about Max. Sure, they checked her out, but they’re hoping she’ll bring the girls’ team a state championship. You know how Texas’s sports are. The home town loves for our kids to make it to the finals. And the superintendent’s daughter is on the team.”
They all nodded.
“Well, I certainly hope they enjoy bringing her scandal here,” Zach said, knowing he was not going to make her life easy. There was a score to settle.
Max stood. “I kind of feel sorry for her. I loved playing for the Dallas Cowboys. The transition from professional player to coach is difficult. I’m glad I’m here, but damn, I would give anything to play one more professional game. Just one.”
“That’s different,” Kyle said. “Who pays attention to women’s professional sports? When was the last time you watched a professional women’s basketball game?”
No one said anything.
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Maybe the scandal made big news, but I doubt she even got paid a fourth of what the male professional basketball players receive. I doubt that most people even know who the Washington Miners are. She’s a nobody and she’s come to Cupid to hide.”
