He's near her age.
I drain my glass and reach for the fresh pitcher Leo left while Shelby was busy napalming Tate.
As if he heard me thinking, Tate rights his chair and leans on the table. "So Coach--what's this about practice with Molly? You're not playing favorites, are you?"
"She's never even thrown a ball. I'm her coach. There a problem?"
Tate watches me. I bet he wears that fucking smirk in his sleep. "Nah, no problem, Brooks. Makes perfect sense. You're just looking out for her, right? Like how shoved me out of the way at the Ferris wheel last fall so I couldn't ride with her? Or how you run off anybody who tries to talk to her? I mean, except for Carlin. They're awful chummy, huh?"
My eyes cut to Carlin and Molly, but I mumble, "Mind your business, Casanova," and take a sip of my beer.
"He doesn't know how," Shelby notes. I didn't realize she was listening.
"Says the one who butted in," Tate volleys just as Carlin gets up, freeing the seat next to Molly.
"We should put people between you two as a punishment." I stand, taking the fresh pitcher with me. "Don't kill each other."
She glares at him. He smirks at her. I roll my eyes and head for the empty seat. A trickle of nerves surprises me, and I hesitate when she looks up at me and smiles, the color rising in her cheeks.
"Mind if I sit here? Nobody should sit between them without Kevlar."
Molly laughs, nodding as she scoots her chair a little to make room for me. When she tucks a curl behind her ear, I almost cut and run.
"Leave your bulletproof vest at home?" she asks.
"The one time I forget …"
I revel in the chuckle I earn. But as I sit, she looks in the directions of the bathrooms where Carlin went, her smile falling. I can't figure out if it's longing or guilt. But when she turns her attention back to me, she's smiling again.
"Hey, thanks for offering to help me with softball. You already have such late days. It means a lot you're willing to stay even longer to teach me stuff I shoulda learned in the third grade." She chuckles, shaking her head. "I'm a little bit worried I'm hopeless."
"Don't worry--I'll teach you everything you need to know." The words come out lower than the rest. Rougher. I hear it even as I'm saying it and immediately wish I could take it back. I shift, suddenly very much aware, then clear my throat, take a drink and change the subject. "Sorry I can't help right after school. Hate for you to have to go home and come right back."
"Oh, I'll still be at school. I ran a book drive that went like gangbusters. Jessa donated too." She leans in a little. "Like, she donateda lot."
"She'll do that."
"I mean, I tried to give it back to her, but she said she'd just order the books herself, and I'd probably end up with a hundred copies of50 Shades of Grey." Her eyes spark when I laugh. "But wow--I got so much great stuff. The kids are gonna lose it. I've been working on making decorations though and designing little bookmarks and stickers and stuff for the library. I even have a theme for next quarter."
"What's the theme?"Why am I smiling?
The spark in her eyes explodes into glitter. "Reading Is Magic." She's so excited, she starts to talk real fast. "I have all these cute sayings and ideas. Like the fliers are going to sayOnce upon the time…in the Roseville Elementary Library. I've been collecting fridge boxes from the appliance store so I can make a big archway to walk through that looks like a portal. I've been making all these decorations too--like I have an idea for a paper mâché Wish Tree--the kids can write their daydreams on these glittery stars and then hang them in the branches. Gah, it's going to beso neat. But…" She lifts up like a balloon, then deflates. "Well, it's a ton of work. I might have overdone it." Then she's up again, smiling brightly. "But it'll be fine. I've got it. Point is, I'll be at school anyway, so practice will be a good reason to stop. Otherwise I'd stay all night duct taping fridge boxes together."
She laughs, and I laugh, and then we're sitting there laughing, and I'm not sure how I got here.
"Hey, Coach," Carlin says amiably from the other side of Molly, pulling a chair behind him. He turns it around and sits on the other side of her.
My smile flattens, but I try to keep it up. "Hey, kid."
He asks Molly something, and she turns to him to answer. I didn't hear him because my ears are ringing. So I take a drink, realizing I still haven't had food. I make a point to flag Leo down. There's no way I'm getting up, or Carlin will end up in my spot.
I don't want to go sit between the Bickersons again, that's all.
Couldn't be anything else.
CHAPTER 6
COACH BOOTY
