I squared my shoulders and answered firmly, "No, sir."
His scowl deepened. "I would hate to find out that something happened between you two. Especially something that ended with her being upset."
I stood firm, not wanting to move in case my movements proved I was a liar. If he learned that we'd made out, I was a dead man. "Nothing's happened, sir."
He stood up straight, keeping his glare on me. "I sure hope so for your sake, or your ass will be warming the bench all season, and your future on this team won't be guaranteed."
"Yes, sir. I understand."
"Now get out of my office," he said, dismissing me with a nod at the door.
I hurried to leave, but before I left, he added, "Oh, and Monroe?" I glanced back at him. "Nice game tonight."
"Thanks, Coach."
His door clicked shut behind me, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
That was close. Too close. I couldn't risk him finding out about Scarlet and me, let alone any potential future make-out sessions. I really need to stay away from her, even if I wanted to do the exact opposite.
I couldn't jeopardize losing my football scholarship. My parents were scraping by to make ends meet, and I didn't have any money. I was living off the money I'd earned working a part time job during the school year once football season was over plus the two jobs I'd had during the summer.
Being poor wasn't new to me. I'd grown up my whole life knowing I couldn't afford the things other people had. Both my parents worked to support our family of eight. I was the oldest of six kids, and yes, it was loud and chaotic most of the time, but our house had always been filled with love. My whole family was supportive of my football dreams, from when I had been in peewee football all the way through to high school, coming to all my games with signs, my mom yelling so loud I could hear her even when I was on the field.
Now I was a six-hour drive away from home, so they weren't able to come to see me play, but my mom called before every game, giving me her little pep talk like she always did. Then I'd call after the game and be put on speakerphone so anyone who was home could hear how the game had gone. I missed them a lot, but knew I was making them all proud by living out my dream and going to college.
That was another reason for me to keep my distance from Scarlet. Letting down my family was the last thing I wanted to do. If I got caught with Scarlet and ended up being benched, how would I explain that to my parents?
Oh, hey Mom, I'm not playing anymore because I couldn't keep my hands off a girl. And you know that scholarship I had? Yeah, it's not going to be offered to me next year.
Not exactly the conversation I wanted to have with my parents. They'd worked hard to help get me where I was, and I didn’t want to let them down.
After my shower, I made my way to my locker to get dressed and head home. Wilder and Slate were already there, packing up their things.
Wilder looked up when I walked in. "That was an interesting press conference."
I let out a huff of air. "More like a train wreck."
"I rather enjoyed it," Slate said, putting on his shoes.
I opened my locker, trying not to roll my eyes. "Of course you did."
"What?" He smiled. "That must have been one hell of a night if she's still pissed about it nine months later."
Ithadbeen an amazing night. I'd never felt anything like it before. Or after, for that matter. And if it had only been the kissing, that would be one thing, but it had been more than that. We'd talked most of the night, and spending time with her had felt the most like home since I'd been here.
But it didn't matter. I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't change the fact that I was a football player, and she was the coach's stepdaughter.
"It was just a kiss," I said, repeating the same thing I'd said last year after a few guys on the team had found out I'd made out with Scarlet at the bonfire.
"I call BS, but we'll let you keep pretending," Slate said, slapping me on the back. "Better to forget about it than risk Coach's wrath. You don't belong on the bench. We need you to help us win games this year."
Oh yeah, I couldn't forget to add the pressure of not wanting to let the team down just because I had a thing for the wrong girl.
"What did Coach say?" asked Wilder.
"Nothing much," I shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure I remember what his number one rule is, and I assured him I do."
Wilder nodded. "Glad he just gave you a warning."
