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)
“Hi there,” I whispered.
“Hi there,” she replied.
I stepped closer to her. She stood still.
My hands fell to her lower back, and I pulled her against my body. I moved closer, our faces almost touching. “Hi there,” I murmured.
She came a little closer. Her lips brushed against mine. “Hi there,” she replied as her eyes fluttered shut.
I placed her bottom lip between mine and bit it gently before I kissed her, taking her all in. Her back arched against my touch as her hands fell to my chest. She kissed me back, deepening our connection. I felt her smile against mine, feeling dizzy from how high I grew from her simple kisses. I never knew a simple kiss could feel so important.
She moved back slightly and pecked my lips softly before pulling away from me completely. Her hand fell softly against my cheek as she held eye contact. “Good night, Nathaniel,” she said with a bit of flirtation.
I rubbed the back of my neck, wanting nothing more than to kiss her more, but not wanting to push it too much. We had all the time in the world for our mouths to find their way back to one another. Maybe our hearts could do the same.
I wasn’t in a rush at all.
“Good night, Coach,” I replied.
I headed back to my room, already looking forward to kissing her good morning.
I wasn’t sure if it was exactly friends-with-benefits. I’d call it friends-with-kisses, but I’d take it. I’d take whatever I could get from that woman. Friends-with-kisses was good enough for me because it held two of my new favorite facts. Avery and I were friends. And we’d sometimes kiss.
I’d call that a win.
29
NATHAN
With each game we played, the crowds grew more and more. It turned out the Honey Creek Hornets were finding a spark of light in the media realm. The boys were eating it up, too. I’d played the game long enough to know that a team always played better when they had a strong crowd behind them. Something about the energy of being cheered on from the bleachers pushed players harder.
Something was so rewarding about it, too. Not only for the players but also for Avery. She’d finally been given the chance to lead the team and had more than proved herself in that position. It wasn’t every day you ran across a female coach in the league, so it was refreshing to see her do better than most of the men in our conference.
Still, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to slip in rude comments along the way. After we beat the Parkway Giants, we shook hands with the coaches. Their head coach, Frank, shook my hand and gave Avery a dirty look. Then said, “I think it’s nice that you’re pretending to be the assistant coach, Pierce. Everyone knows this team was shit without you. Way to carry this team on your back. It’s good to see this sport run by a man.”
The dig was said loudly enough for Avery to hear it. I flinched, knowing that wouldn’t sit well with Avery.
“I beg your pardon?” Avery snipped with a puffed-out chest. If there was one thing she wouldn’t allow, it was disrespect of any kind.
Frank smirked and held his hands up in the air. “Don’t get your tampon in a twist, Kingsley. You make a stellar assistant coach. But don’t get confused. This ain’t your sport, sweet pea.”
“I’ll show you a fucking sweet pea,” Avery yipped, marching toward Frank with invisible smoke blasting from her nostrils.
“Whoa, there, slugger,” I said, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her back behind me.
Avery’s brows shot up as she stood there, stunned. She tilted her head and pointed a stern finger my way. “Don’t fucking do that again, Pierce,” she scolded, her warranted anger spewing toward me.
I took a deep breath and stepped toward her. I said softly, “He’s a dick trying to get under your skin because we just smoked his team. Walk it off, Coach.”
“You walk it off!” she hissed, a fire brewing in those brown irises. “That’s some sexist bullshit.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But walk it off. Otherwise, everyone around us will label you the angry, unstable coach.”
Avery glanced around to see all the eyes on her. She grimaced, seeing people staring at her, waiting for her to snap. It wasn’t fair. She’d always be judged harder than any other coach in the industry because there wasn’t a dick between her legs. Even though Avery was better than most, she’d always have a target on her back if anything went wrong in the slightest. People like Frank were waiting for her to lose her cool and snap so they could label her in such a way. It was bullshit, but it was the way of the world.
Women in the industry had to prove themselves fifty times more than men.