~HENDRIX~
Jase fires another ball at me and I block it.
“Good, nice save!” he calls to me from the top of the eighteen. “Ready for another one?”
I give him a thumbs up and stand on my toes, waiting for him to strike.
He fires.
I hit the turf and grab the ball that he sent low and hard towards the net. My outstretched hands grab it and pull it to my chest. I hop up on my feet and lightly kick the ball in Jase’s direction. Back on my toes, I go ready and waiting for the next ball to strike.
We keep this up until Coach Watts blows the whistle and calls for a water break.
I head over to the goal post where I keep my water bottle and start chugging it. It’s so hot out here today.
“Why does he like these mid-day practices so much? I wish we would do this in the morning or early evening. I feel like I’m sweating to death,” I say, picking up my towel and wiping off my face.
Jase chuckles. “It’s not that bad out here. It’s September, remember?”
He says it like that means that it should be pleasantly breezy and all this humidity should be gone. If I were back home in Pennsylvania, that just might be the case. However, not here.
I shake my head. “Doesn’t appear to matter in Tampa.”
Jase nods. “Have you heard from August since Ash punched him?”
“I’m surprised it took you so long to ask me that question,” I say, smiling at my goalie coach.
“I figured I’d let you settle into practice a bit. Get some of your aggression out. You seemed a little keyed up when you got here,” he replies.
I nod. “I suppose I was.”
“Well, are you going to answer my question?”
“And if I don’t?” I ask him.
“Then you can run sprints,” he says, grinning at me.
“You wouldn’t make me do that just because I won’t discuss pieces of my personal life with you.” I stare at him, trying to figure out if he’s really going to make me run if I don’t share.
“No, I wouldn’t. But I just want to make sure you are doing okay. It’s coming up on playoffs; I want to make sure that you are focused and ready. Not distracted by all this nonsense with Ash and August.”
I nod. “I’m focused and ready, don’t worry.”
“That’s good,” he replies and looks over where the rest of the team is still enjoying their water break.
This is one of the things I enjoy about being the keeper. The field players have their practice, and I get some one-on-one time training with Jase. The back-up keepers are working with Coach Andie currently; usually they join us but not tonight. Then it hits me.
“Is that why Miranda and Kate are working out with Coach Andie right now? You wanted to talk to me about what happenedlast night?” I ask him, leaning up against the goal post for support.
He sighs heavily. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure that you were doing alright. I could see the concern and fear written all over your face right now. You were really pissed that Ash punched him last night. I got here early to see if August was in—he wasn’t—so I couldn’t talk to him. But don’t worry, I plan on having that discussion. I want to make sure that he knows that it was all Ash, and you shouldn’t be punished for it.”
I hold my hand up and shake my head. “August isn’t going to punish me for it.”
“How do you know that?” Jase takes a few steps towards me and his voice drops to a whisper, as if he’s ensuring that no one can hear. “What’s going on Hendrix? What don’t I know?”
He, like Mac, has always been too perceptive for his own good.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, actually,” I admit. “Like how I used to date August when we were in college, that he abandoned me when his father came to collect him.”
