Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
I stepped out of line with the parents and trotted forward with a grin on my face. Court flopped the hat back down and met me at his bag.
“Good game, Coach,” I said with a barely suppressed grin.
“Did you understand any of it this time?” he asked with his own smile.
“Ball goes into the mitt thing. You use the stick to try to get it into the net. They did not do enough into-the-net action.”
He shook his head in dismay. “You catch the ball in the head of the lacrosse stick. The stick part is called the shaft. And yeah, scoring could have gone better.”
I snorted. “Head and shaft. This sport was clearly created by a man.”
“I can’t with you.”
“Oh, come on. Try to tell me it’s not phallic.”
He shrugged. “Fine. But isn’t everything?”
“You can show me later.”
“That I will.” He gestured for me to stand to the side while he answered a few parent questions. He waited until his entire team had left with a parent, and then we walked off of the field.
Despite the wind, it was a beautiful day. The trees faded from vibrant green into gorgeous fiery red, burnt orange, and golden yellow. Leaves lined the walkways, crunching under our feet. And already, the sun lowered earlier on the horizon.
It was most people’s favorite time of year. But as a California girl, I was not looking forward to my first year with seasons. And absolutely dreading the snow. Why couldn’t it be seventy-five degrees everywhere?
“Bummed that you didn’t win?”
He shrugged. “My competitive side says we should up practices to two or three times a week. That maybe I should recruit some other kids from better teams. I could probably convince the parents to switch.”
“You’re insane. You realize these are, like, ten-year-olds, right?”
“Yeah. It’s just supposed to be fun, right?”
I laughed at his distressed face. “It will be fine. You’re not doing it to win championships anyway. You’re doing it to help kids with an outlet. Most of them wouldn’t even be able to play lacrosse if it hadn’t been for your donation. Between uniforms, masks, sticks, cleats, and all the fees. You’ve done a great thing.”
“I still want them to win,” he said, determined.
“I like this side of you. Why did you ever hide it from me?”
He grinned and slipped his arm around my waist. “Mostly, I didn’t want it to be a publicity stunt. I thought you’d see it as one.”
“I probably would have,” I agreed.
“And now?”
“Now, we’ll just use it if we have to.”
He snorted. “You’re a trip.”
I wished I were joking. But if we had to use it, then we would. I just hoped that we stayed far enough ahead of everything that it wouldn’t matter. We had a month left before his mother’s campaign ended. I thought we could hold it together until then. So far, nothing more had come of Jane’s trial announcement. But I knew December was going to be a rough month. At least it was after the election. We could deal with everything one at a time.
Court stowed his bag in the trunk of the awaiting car service and then held the back door open for me.
“Are you still okay with us driving to the river? I don’t know if you want to meet Taylor… or do Oktoberfest with a bunch of New School college kids.”
“I want to meet Taylor,” he agreed easily. “After I change.”
I laughed. “Obviously. Didn’t think you’d want to head down there in your coaching uniform.”
“That is a fact.”
“But… you know, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
He turned to face me. “Why do I get the impression that you don’t want me to meet your sister?”
“It’s not that. Taylor and I only recently started to have a good relationship. It’s kind of new, and I’ve never done this before.” I bit my lip.
I wish I could get him to understand. My family wasn’t like his family. Everyone had problems. Money didn’t fix that. But I hadn’t shared any of that with him. He didn’t know that side of me.
“My family is just… different.”
He put his hand on my knee. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
I nodded, reassured by his easy demeanor. “I’m sure it will be.”
He sat back in his seat until the car pulled over in front of his building. We headed upstairs at his apartment. I flipped through his collection of fantasy novels as I waited for him to shower and get dressed. He had hundreds of books in the back bedroom. I never would have guessed by looking at the living area. He really didn’t want people to know who he was. All they’d see was the TV and video games and the wet bar. Perfect Upper East Side bachelor.
Court appeared in the doorway. His hair still wet from the shower, his shirt only half-buttoned, and he was still barefoot. He looked sexy as fucking hell.