“You mean the clinic?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
I rubbed my stomach to fight off the sudden butterflies. Could I really do this? Stay here in South Carolina?
“Let me ask you something,” I said.
“You already know I sleep naked half the time.”
“I thought we weren’t talking about that. And from what I’ve seen, it’s more than half.”
He laughed. “What did you wanna know?”
I repositioned my feet and shifted on the couch. Thinking about this was making it difficult for me to get comfortable. “Do you see me as a coach? Long term, I mean.”
The question wasn’t what I’d planned to ask him, but now that it was out, I realized I wanted to know.
“I don’t know that I can answer that, babe. I’ve never seen you coach. I’ve seen you play, so I know you’re amazing. And all the videos I’ve watched are proof of how passionate—”
“You’ve watched videos of me?”
He laughed again. “Are you kidding? Of course I have. I looked you up after you told me who you were.” He paused, and when he spoke again, there was a hint of desire in his voice. “You’re hella hot on the field, babe.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re ridiculous. Watching me play turns you on?”
“Watching you do anything turns me on. I bet you could read a phone book and I’d pop a boner,” he complained. “Shit, we really shouldn’t talk about this.”
“Aww, you miss me.”
We were both quiet for a minute. Jake was probably trying to force his mind in a new direction while I was still taking in the news that he’d looked up videos of me on the field. I loved that he cared that much.Reallyloved it.
“Come to my practice on Thursday,” I blurted.
“What?”
“You heard me. Come watch me on Thursday. I want to know what you think.”
Jake didn’t respond right away, and I thought for sure he was going to say no. I wouldn’t have blamed him. He was uncomfortable around kids so I doubted hanging out on the sidelines sounded like a good time.
“What time?” he asked softly.
I thought I’d imagined it and actually pulled the phone away to make sure it was still Jake I was talking to. “I’m sorry, did you just say yes?”
He gave a small laugh. “Shut up. What time, Rey? I’ll be there.”
My chest ached, in the best way. “Thank you.”
