Dorson glanced back at her, but Marlie folded her arms over her chest and glared back at him. The guy looked over at his brothers, who seemed undecided.
Dorson coughed. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Then fuck off.” Damon leaned close and lifted Dorson up by his shirt, pulling the guy up on his tiptoes.
Marlie wanted to cheer.
“You threaten her ever again, I’ll rip off your nuts and feed them to you one at a time. Then I’ll break you in half before I start on your buddies.” He tossed Dorson at his brothers. “You hear me, you pieces of shit? You threaten a woman, three on one, over a kid’s game?” To Marlie he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “No offense.”
“A little taken,” she whispered back.
“Well?” Damon took a step toward Dorson.
“Sorry. We gotta go.” He turned and shoved his brothers down the hall, away from the pending threat.
Once the hallway had cleared, Damon turned to her with a bright smile. “You know I was kidding, right? I think basketball is more than kid’s game. But I was trying to insult the guy.”
“Damon?”
“Yeah?” He looked nervous.
“Shut up.” Marlie yanked him down for a kiss that had them both breathless by the time she finished.
“Not mad at me?” he rasped.
“Nope. That was hot.”
He broke out into a wide grin. “It was, wasn’t it? But not half as hot as you staring down that old lady as you went down the line. Honey, you’re so sexy when you’re mean.”
“We’re a pair.”
“We are. So, ah, do you have all your stuff? We should probably go before they key my truck or knife my tires.”
She laughed. “Good point.”
They drove home, where he went over her team’s movements play by play, impressing her that he’d paid attention. He also told her a lot of what the parents had been saying about her and the opposing team, much of which she agreed with and made her laugh.
“Yeah, the parents were saying that Barbara Mereford hates you because you ran rings around her daughter in college when you were hooping.”
“True. Our rivalry is kind of legendary. Plus, everyone in the JV league hates the Farndon Hares. These guys suck. They never play fair, and they always try to pick fights. Not just the girls’ teams but the boys’ sports as well.”
“Dicks. You really stuck it to them. I was so proud.”
She blushed. “You’re just saying that.”
“Marlie, you’re an amazing coach.”
She could hear that he meant that, and his opinion made her feel ten feet tall.
“I’m not just saying that to get lucky later.” He’d been pretty demonstrative earlier that morning about using orgasms to help with her cramps.
He hadn’t been wrong at all.
By the time they arrived back at her house, she found herself wanting to make him feel as good as he’d made her.
“Damon?”
“Yeah?”
