Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“What was that?” Avery whisper-shouted after practice as she followed me into my office. “Why did you tell them you were the assistant coach after Ray said you were the head coach?”
“I turned down the position. He told me you knew and agreed to the first arrangement, and when it became achingly clear that that wasn’t the truth, I told him I’d only be the assistant coach or I’d walk. So”—I slightly bowed—“I’m here to assist, Coach.”
She rolled her eyes. Leave it to Avery Kingsley to somehow make eye-rolling attractive. “You’re so annoying.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’m annoying for letting you keep your head coach position?”
“You didn’t let me keep it.”
“Technically, yeah, I did.”
“Technically, piss off,” she replied.
I smirked.
She rolled her eyes again. “Stop smirking, Nathaniel. Your smugness is annoying.”
“I get the feeling you think everything about me is annoying.”
“That’s because it is. You, as a whole human being, are annoying.”
“I missed you, too, Coach.”
The rage that shot through her system erupted into a burst of shouting and hand gestures. “You are a pain in my ass, Nathaniel, and I cannot stand you.” She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “But if we are forced to work together, we have to have some ground rules.”
“I’m more of a rule breaker.”
“Trust me, I know. I saw your baseball stats.”
I smiled slyly. “So you’ve followed my stats?”
“Deflate your big head, Mr. Ego. I study all the top baseball players’ stats.”
I smiled wider. “So you think I’m one of the best?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Rule number one,” she scolded. “You’ll respect my decisions around the boys. If you disagree, you discuss it with me in private.”
“Does that go both ways?”
“Of course. I don’t need the boys thinking there’s an issue between us coaches. Coach Erikson didn’t adhere to that rule. It made the past few years of my life hell. We don’t need to showcase a disconnect.”
“Even though there is a clear disconnect, based on the room's energy right now.”
“We are as disconnected as two people could ever be.”
“I’d like to take an opportunity to plug us back together.”
“That sounds highly inappropriate, which brings me to the next rule. No inappropriate comments toward me.”
I arched an eyebrow and dramatically slammed my hand over my heart. “When have I ever been inappropriate?”
She cocked an “are you shitting me right now” eyebrow.
I chuckled. “Okay, no inappropriate commentary.”
“Rule number three—”
“How many rules are there?”
“A lot. There are a lot of rules.” She smoothed her hands over her hoodie and rolled her shoulders back. “No talk about us.”
“I can’t talk about us?”
“No. Not the old us, at least. Not like…what we once were.”
“You mean how we were in love?” I questioned.
Avery’s cheeks flushed as she moved over to my door and shut it. She continued to whisper-shout as she looked my way. “Exactly that! No talk about any of that. No one even knows about that whole situation.”
“I’m sure Yara and Willow do. Didn’t you tell your sisters?”
She pointed a stern finger my way. “I would answer that, but that’s breaking rule number three, and we will not break these rules.”
“Whatever you say, Coach.”
She rolled her eyes—again. It was as if whenever I spoke, she displayed a heavy level of disgust. I’d never had someone react so intensely to my mere existence. It was as if whenever I spoke, Avery got a damn hairball stuck in her throat that she wanted to hack up.
Most women had the complete opposite reaction to me. Not to sound cocky, but Avery made me feel like a slimy alien that she loved to belittle.
Oddly enough, that only made me want to be closer to her.
Call it a shame kink, if you will.
I took a seat in my office chair and spun around. “Any more rules?”
She narrowed her eyes and shrugged. “Don’t baby these boys. They need a tough love training.”
“They need a bit of soft love, too. How about you play bad cop, and I’ll be good cop?”
“Why would I be the bad cop?”
“Because you said tough love. That’s not very good cop of you.”
Another eye roll!
I should’ve gotten a cookie every time I got her to roll those beautiful brown eyes.
“Just don’t take it easy on them, Nathan. We’re here to coach them, not to change their diapers.”
I didn’t argue with her because I got lost in those eyes of hers. Avery Kingsley was the kind of beauty that people wrote songs about. She’d only gotten better with age, too. I’d been back in Honey Creek for a while and watched her from afar. Mainly because she did everything in her power to avoid me.
It was clear as day that she was determined not to interact with me. When we were on the same sidewalk, she’d always cross the street. She’d dip into stores, too, if she saw me coming. Once, we were in the grocery store at the same time, and she’d abandoned her cart just to avoid meeting me by the grated cheese.