AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I managed four hours of sleep before I had to be at the practice complex to ride the bus to the airport. Instead of my usual planning and obsessing session on the flight, I slept the entire time, raising the suspicions of my fellow coaches on if I was feeling sick or not.
Ty eyed me a few times as well, but never said anything other than a nod and a quick, “Good to see you, Coach.” He was letting me off the hook for the night before because the more I thought about it, the more obvious it was that I had been spending time with someone that I didn't want him to know about.
He still wouldn't have known it was Charleigh Wright, though.
By that evening, I was settled into my room, on my bed, and I pulled my phone out to call Charleigh. It was foolish, but I dialed anyway, and when she answered, my smile stretched so wide my face hurt.
“Hey Coach.” Her voice sounded like she was smiling too.
“Hey Stripes,” a nickname some players and coaches called the officials. “You naked?”
Her laughter warmed me, and I tucked my free arm behind my head, settling in for what I hoped was a long talk with her. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I completely agree. So, tell me, did you sleep the day away?”
“Oh, hell yeah I did. No traveling for me. No game to officiate. No work to do at Bobby’s. Mom and Jesse were at the flea market all day. So yes, I slept, cleaned, relaxed, and read a book.”
“Sounds like heaven. I fell asleep on the plane so now everyone around me thinks I have the flu.”
She laughed again and then asked the million-dollar question. “Why are you calling me, Levi?”
“I don’t know, Charleigh. Just felt like it. But I do have a question.”
“Okayyy…” she trailed off nervously. “Shoot.”
“Not this Monday, but the next, I have to fight Sisco. So, for every moment I am not coaching, Al wants me to be getting work in at the gym. The old man cleared his schedule and I kind of feel like I owe it to him to put the time in.”
“Or you could cancel the fight,” she suggested again.
She had been insistent that it was dumb and silly. That Sisco was just butt hurt and I didn’t have to prove anything with a rematch. That she was over the whole fighting scene and probably wouldn't even be there. Bobby had asked her to call the fight and she said no.
But none of that was why I was fighting. I was doing it because I wanted to, because it was fun and freeing. Something I had done for myself for as long as I could remember. It didn’t matter what she said, or how foolhardy she thought it was, I was fighting. But I wasn't going to fight withher. Not when we had finally found solid ground to exist on together.
“Okay we won’t talk about the fight, but my point is that I have a full schedule next week and probably won't see you until the home game next Sunday.”
“So what? Another quickie at half time?”
She was keeping our relationship about sex and fighting, just like we said we would do, but for some reason I grimaced as she spoke. “No Stripes, just warning you I will be full of agitation and insults by then.”
“And pent-up sexual frustration, I am assuming. Since you have been getting some pretty regularly these days.”
“Think you can handle it?” I teased.
“Bring it on,” she countered. “I could use a good fight and you’re my favorite coach to throw the flags at.”
My laugh was a bark, surprised by her readiness to go head-to-head next Sunday during the game. The day after that would be the fight and since she had no plans on being there, whatever we said on the field would have to fuel me for the spar the next day. I needed her worst, or her best, however you wanted to look at it. Nothing made me want to hit someone more than Charleigh being on that football field.
“Rest up this week, baby, you're gonna need it,” I teased.
“You too, Coach.”
I hung up on that note, knowing I couldn’t drag out an intimate conversation with her. It had to stop there. But then I had an idea, a deal I could offer her. And even though I was making the deal in jest, a part of me hoped she took it.
Pulling my text messages up, I found her name and made my plea.
If you quit officiating, I will cancel the fight.
I smiled when I sent it, picturing her rolling her eyes as she read it.
