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She's in love with me. I'm still floating on cloud nine after last night. Hearing her say those words…Fuck. Every one of my dreams came true with her in my arms. It took everything I had to let her leave my bed. But she's not ready to let Todd know about us yet. I think she's worried that he'll freak out. I'm a little concerned myself. I've never been in this situation before, and the last thing I want to do is hurt the kid or make him feel like I'm trying to take his sister away from him.
They're a package deal as far as I'm concerned. I worship the ground Ciara walks on, and Todd is a great kid. I wouldn't dream of trying to come between them. I'm just kind of hoping he has a place in his life for me, too.
We'll cross that bridge when Ciara is ready, though.
Until then, I'm just going to enjoy every damn second with my little Cherry. I hate feeling like we have to sneak and steal moments, but I'll steal them every fucking day if that's what it takes. Whatever makes her happy.
"What are you smiling about?" Reid tosses the ball, hitting me in the stomach with it. "You look like a jackass. What do you know that I don't know?"
"Most things," I mutter, glaring at him.
"Touché, fucker." He scrutinizes my expression, his eyes narrowed. "You look different. Less like you have a giant stick up your… Holy shit! You finally slept with your girl."
"Shh!" I hiss like a fucking schoolgirl, cutting my eyes in the direction of the boys. "Will you shut the fuck up before someone hears you?"
"Holy shit," Reid whispers. "You did sleep with her, didn't you?"
"I'm not gossiping with you about my sex life, Lawless."
"Fuck that noise. I don't give a shit about your sex life," he says. "But you've been in love with this chick since you moved here. If you finally made a move, I want to know it."
"It's complicated." I scrub a hand through my hair and then bring the whistle to my lips, issuing a sharp blast to halt the team.
They jog over to us, drenched in sweat and exhausted.
"Good job today," I say. "You guys hit the showers and be ready to work just as hard tomorrow if you want to beat Mills on Friday."
"Yes, Coach!"
"We're going to stomp them!" Grady boasts, earning high-fives from some of his teammates.
"You said that last time, too," Todd mutters. "They murdered us on the field."
"What? You think we can't beat them or something, Sharp?"
"I didn't say that," Todd protests. "I'm just saying that focus goes a lot further than trash talk."
"He's not wrong," Reid pipes up, drawing the eyes of everyone on the team. It's not the first time that he's stopped by practice. Since he plays for the AHL, the boys respect the hell out of him and what he has to say. "You can talk all the shit you want, but unless you put in the work to back it up, at the end of the day, it's just talk. And talk hasn't ever won a game on any field."
Several of the boys nod.
Grady hunches his shoulders, scowling.
"Alright, hit the showers." I send them off before Grady thinks up a smart-ass response. With him, it usually doesn't take long. Once they're out of earshot, I turn back to Reid. "Thanks for that. Todd's a smart kid."
"Seems like he knows what he's doing on the field, too."
I incline my head in a nod. "He has a chance at a scholarship if he doesn't fuck it up."
"You think he will?"
"I hope not. He borrowed his older sister's car without asking the other day and wrecked it. She's worried she'll lose custody of him over it. Their parents died a few years ago."
"Jesus."
"She's the one. My one." I cut my eyes at Reid. "He doesn't know."
Reid whistles. "Goddamn. You were not lying when you said it's complicated. No wonder you've been a crabby asshole. Does the school board know?"
