“Emily!”
Alex jogged over to me, his beaming smile almost blinding me.
“You can gather up the first string now. Time for kickoff. I hope you’re not nervous.” Alex cracked a wide grin.
“Nope, we’re all ready,” I said, shooting him a half smile in an attempt to get him to shrink the beam of the megawatt grin on his perfect face.
“I’m sure. Penny said you were a pro.”
“I stopped right before pro.” I shook my head. “I’m just here to make sure my kids have fun and don’t get hurt or pass out trying.”
“Really? You look pretty pro to me.” He smiled, and I couldn’t tell if he’d flicked his eyes up and down my body or was shielding them from the lights. “Anyway, good luck, even though Penny keeps telling me it doesn’t count.”
Maybe it had been too long since a man had tried to flirt with me, or that I’d noticed or cared if one was, but I was painfully clueless as to how to react other than to inch away.
I nodded a thanks and went back to our side of the field.
“Who’s that?” Jesse asked, the playful lilt in his voice from a few minutes ago now gone.
“Penny’s brother-in-law. He’s the ref for today.”
“You know him?” Jesse asked, glowering across the field to where Alex was adjusting the cones around the other team’s goal.
“No. I just met him a few minutes ago. Why?”
“He acted like he knewyoupretty well,” he gritted out before uttering a humorless chuckle.
“He’s friendly, I guess.” I crossed my arms and marched up to Jesse. “You’re notjealous, are you?”
“What? No. He just seems full of himself.”
“And you could tell that in five minutes?”
“I could. Full of himself and pushy. It’s a kids’ game, not a bar. Not the time or place for whatever he was trying to do with you.”
“I see.” I tapped my chin. “Says the guy who went home with four containers of home-cooked meals from his fan club last week.”
“It wasn’t four—wait, you were counting? I thought you were too busy coaching,” Jesse said, stepping closer to me while the corner of his mouth curled up.
“I hate to interrupt whatever this is, but I think you need to line up your kids, Coach,” Sabrina said, nodding to where Penny’s team was already lined up.
“I’ll be right there,” I said, holding Jesse’s gaze as I followed Sabrina.
“Tell me again how you’re just friends and neither of you is interested in anything else?” Sabrina whispered as we jogged toward the kids.
“Later. Right now, we have a game. Come on, guys.” I pointed to the field.
“Yes,” Sabrina said with a snicker. “We sure do.”
10
JESSE
Maddie’s breathscame out in pants, wisps of hair falling from her ponytail and tickling her reddened cheeks. The other kids had trickled off the field after the game with their parents, most of them bored toward the end and ready to go, but we had trouble keeping Maddie in her seat.
“If I went back in at the end, I could have made a goal. I know it,” she said, still gasping between sips of water.
“Making a goal isn’t everything,” Emily said, shaking her head as she settled on the bench next to Maddie. “Learning how to move the ball where you need it to go is what is important. You did great for your first game, so don’t focus on goals yet.”
