“Fuck off.”
And even knowing Trey’s attention was on me, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing in Sutton and Laurel’s direction once again.
“Iknewit.” He clapped me on the shoulder, a broad grin on his face. “I fucking knew it.”
“You didn’t know shit.” I glanced at the countdown clock. “And why the hell are the boys still stretching? You should’ve shifted them to isolated position drills already.”
“I’m on it, Coach. You keep making googly eyes at the pretty nurse. I’ll make sure we win the football game.”
I glared at him. “Stop looking at her, and don’t call her pretty. Unless you want me to tell Alicia what you think of another woman.”
“There’s the vicious Steele I know and love. Knew that smile was a fluke.”
Except, as Trey blew the whistle, calling for the players to group with their coaches, I couldn’t stop my attention from drifting back to my girls. Nor could I stop the smile as I watched them be welcomed into the place I called home.
SUTTON
I hadn’t knownwhat to expect for Starlight Cove High’s homecoming game. But I knew, without a doubt, whatever I would have imagined would have paled in comparison.
The entire town went all out for this thing. Every storefront on Main Street was decorated in the school colors, the café had renamed all its breakfast sandwiches after football plays, and more than half the people in the stands had their faces painted blue or gold or both.
Thank god Atlas had given me a Starlight Cove Sharks jersey with his name to wear, and that he’d picked up a shirt for Laurel from the student store. Otherwise, we would have been woefully out of place.
The game wasn’t scheduled to start for another thirty minutes or so, but it was already crowded. Luckily, Atlas had saved us a spot in the first row of the bleachers, or we would’ve been in the nosebleed section.
I’d never been one for football. Or sports in general. I’d never even given athletes a second thought. But I couldn’t denyhow hot Atlas looked standing out there on the field. He wore a dark blue Sharks half-zip, his arms crossed over his chest, brows drawn down, a scowl firmly on his face while he studied the players warming up.
I was all too aware of what it was like to be on the receiving end of all that focus. Mygod, the things I wanted to do to this man. More than half of them were probably illegal in at least fifteen states.
“You know everyone can see you, right?” Laurel said dryly.
I snapped my gaze to hers. “What? Why?”
“Um…because we’re in public?”
“No, I mean, why would you say that?”
“Because you’re staring at Daddy Grump like he’s a Double Stuf Oreo.”
“Really? Only like he’s a single cookie? I thought I was looking at him more like he was the whole damn package.”
“Gross,” she said, though the word lacked heat.
With a quick glance around to make sure no one was within hearing distance, I leaned into Laurel’s side and lowered my voice. “I’m starting to question if this thing between Atlas and me is actually fake.”
She rolled her eyes. “Only starting to? I figured that out weeks ago.”
“You did? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I didn’t want you to get all in your head about it. Historically, you and relationships haven’t gotten along very well.” She shrugged. “And I thought this one deserved a fighting chance.”
“You do?” I asked, unable to keep the interest out of my voice.
“Whatever. Don’t make a big deal out of nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. As you’ve pointed out many, many times, I don’t have the best track record when it comes to men. I’msecond-guessing myself a little bit on this one. You see this way better than I ever do. So I want to know what you think.”
“I think…” Laurel blew out a long sigh. “He rescued a kitten, even though he hates cats. He brought me tampons at school and handled my bloody jeans like it wasn’t a big deal. He took care of you when you had a migraine. He scared off guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer—for both of us. I think…he’s actually one of the good ones.”
