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And yet why would the man turn her in if he was married? Wouldn’t he be trying to hide this affair from his wife? Something felt off, but Zach was going to take advantage of the situation.
This was revenge.
Though somehow it didn’t feel as good as he’d hoped. In fact, he was regretting what he’d done already.
Watching his boys practice, his mind drifted in and out of the past. The kids were playing well today, though being outside, their attention was often distracted when a teenage girl walked by or one of their buddies called to them.
At the end of his practice with his team, he told them to hit the showers. Tomorrow, they would have the inside court.
The kids ran into the building excitedly. One week to their next game, and tomorrow he would strategize with them. They were going to beat the Granbury team just to show up the girls. They had not won a game all season.
When he walked into the gym, Emily had her girls sitting on the floor as she walked around them, talking.
“I was hired by the superintendent to turn a losing team into winners. That’s what I plan to do. Each of you needs to decide if you want to be on a winning basketball team or if playing ball is not important to you. If you want to quit, I’ll help you get your schedule changed, so you can go do something you love. It’s your choice.
“But if you decide to stay, there are going to be tryouts. No one is guaranteed a position. No one. For two days, I’ve watched you girls and some of you are in the wrong place. Some of you don’t give two flips about basketball, and some of you are just hanging with your friends. I want dedicated players. I want a cohesive team. I want girls who crave the championship.”
Now that was funny. These girls couldn’t care less about basketball.
She stopped in front of them. “New rule. On the days we’re practicing outside, like tomorrow, we meet at six a.m. to practice before school.”
There was a round of groans.
“Do you want to play basketball? Do you want a winning team? Your choice. Six a.m. in the morning. Don’t be late unless you want to do laps. Now, hit the showers.”
The girls slowly stood and walked to the locker room. Some of them were grumbling about how they missed their old coach.
“Six a.m. practice?” he said, walking over to her. “They’re going to hate you.”
This could work to his advantage. The superintendent’s daughter played on the team and she was always trouble. She would rally these girls against Emily and she’d soon be gone.
“You got a problem with that? I would think you would love for my girls to hate me. Are your boys going to be practicing at that time?”
“Oh no,” he said. “The gym is yours. I’m sure their parents are going to love dropping them off that early in the morning.”
She shrugged. “Good, I plan on putting the gym to good use. As for their parents, they’ll thank me when we have a winning team,” she said and started to walk away, then she turned to him.
“A little birdie told me that you contacted the papers. Did you tell them about my scandal?”
He’d never been good at lying, and he didn’t want to start now. Maybe it would be good to show her that he was not on her side.
“Yes, I did,” he said, grinning. “I thought the parents of Cupid, Texas, needed to know who their daughters’ new coach was and how she’d been run out of professional ball.”
She walked over to him and smiled.
“Keep going, Zach. Keep making my life even more miserable, and I’ll repay the favor. I could always tell them how when you learned I was going into professional basketball, you dropped me faster than lightning. Which could only mean that you were so damn jealous, you couldn’t stand it.”
She poked her finger in his chest and he took a step back.
Damn, but she was right. At the time, he’d not realized that part of his problem was she’d been accepted and not one team tried to get his attention. At the time, he believed she chose basketball over him. And she had.
“At least I didn’t choose basketball over you,” he said, his voice low.
She started laughing. “The hell you didn’t. You would have given your right nut to play professional ball. I would have been dust in the wind and you would have been on the next plane out of town. Don’t lie to yourself, Rowling. It isn’t becoming. Makes you look weak.”
With that, she turned and walked away. Over her shoulder, she said, “See you tomorrow. Have a great night and be sure to drive through town.”
Drive through town? What was she talking about? Why would he drive through town?
