This wasn’t me. I was never this unfocused. And there was only one thing I could blame it on, or rather, one specific person.
“What’s going on, man?” Ben asked, leaning over, and resting his hands on his thighs. “You better get it together before you get pulled from the game next week. You know Coach doesn’t play around with that shit.”
He was right. Our coach, Peter Hawkin, was one of the toughest in the sport. Not only had he been an all-star player in his day, but he was one of the most tenured coaches in the league.
“I know.” Sweat poured down my face, the midday sun beating down on me, working to drain me of whatever energy remained. We’d been at it for over three hours, and I didn’t doubt for a second that practice would be extended because of me.
“I got a lot on my mind.” I lifted the bottom of my shirt to wipe away the exertion.
Ben shot me a disapproving look before he jogged off toward the center of the field, positioning himself close to Tom and Andy, all three of their expressions too similar for my liking.
Tom Collins, a name I laughed at when he first told me because it just so happened to be my mom’s favorite drink, and Andy Tynan, had been with the team for four years, and they were the first two to welcome me. The other guys were okay, if a bit standoffish, which I was sure had everything to do with the rumors that I was some sort of hothead or diva type. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I didn’t need any of them to give me the side-eye. I knew what was at stake if I didn’t get my head out of my ass. We were set to play my former team, the Miami Mavericks, in six days, and I didn’t want to negatively impact the possible win because I struggled to keep focus.
For the rest of practice, I tried my hardest to concentrate, burying all thoughts of Olivia as best I could. And even though I accomplished the not-so-easy feat, it didn’t stop Coach from reaming me out after practice had finally ended.
After a quick shower, I was getting dressed when Ben appeared next to me with his bag flung over his shoulder. I thought he was on his way out, but he took a seat on the bench in the locker room, staring at me, like I was supposed to know what was on his mind. To be fair, I did.
The last thing I needed was another lecture. Ben was a good guy, one of my best friends, but he wasn’t perfect. And neither was I, so if he started in on me, I doubted I’d hold my tongue.
“What?” I finally blurted; my tone riddled with aggravation. I’d caught the attention of some of the other guys. I wanted to shout that not everything should rest on my shoulders, but when a player got paid as much as I did for my skills, I didn’t have much to stand on spouting off otherwise.
“Don’t get mad at me because you played like shit.”
“Fuck you.” I pulled a fresh shirt over my head and slammed my locker.
“What’s the matter?” His tone switched from bothersome to concern. “You never play like that.”
“I know.”
“Are you having a hard time adjusting here?”
“No.”
“Is something wrong with your dad?”
I breathed a sigh of relief at his last question. “Thankfully, no.”
A heart attack last year almost killed my dad, his years of smoking contributing to the incident. He’d quit right afterward and had been doing well since. But there was always the chance he could succumb to another incident, as he liked to refer to it as. My mother, on the other hand, referred to it as stupidity. She’d been on him to give up the bad habit since my sister and I were kids, but it took staring death in the face to do the trick.
“Do you need to get laid? Are you pent-up?” He laughed at his lame jest, but I wasn’t amused. “That’s it, isn’t it? The great Luke Sorenson needs to get some.”
“I got some last night. That’s not the issue.”
“Play better tomorrow, Sorenson,” Andy said as he walked by. I was going to tell him off, but I held my tongue when a glint of a smile crossed over his face right before he disappeared.
“Then what is it?”
Silence was my friend while I pondered whether to inform Ben about my arrangement with Olivia. I teetered between wanting to tell him so I could bounce a few things off him, now and in the future, if need be, and keeping it to myself.
In the end, I divulged everything, even going so far as to say Olivia had been the one woman I’d thought about over the years, the one I compared all others to.
9
Olivia
Pulling up outside my parents’ house, I killed the engine of my white Jeep Wrangler and leaned back in my seat, needing a few extra seconds to prepare myself for what I’d encounter as soon as I walked inside. I hadn’t spoken to my mother yet, only having read her texts from last night. She mentioned she had a surprise for me, and I knew what that meant. I had no doubt she’d invited someone over to dinner to join us. Someone for me.
Wearing a jean skirt, a cream-colored sleeveless top, and ballet flats, I looked appropriate for dinner, but there was no way I was going to get all dolled up to meet someone I had no interest in.
As I sat there, working up the strength to deal with my upcoming situation, I couldn’t stop thoughts of Luke from infiltrating. Heat bloomed between my legs remembering the way he kissed me, the way he made me feel when we touched. Even when he dropped me off at home afterward, the way he looked at me made me feel like a conquest, and the only woman in the world.
The blend of emotions didn’t make a lick of sense. Although, to be fair, the entire night had baffled me, from seeing him again after so long, to agreeing to have sex with him that night, and in the future. We’d agreed not to sleep with other people, but we weren’t dating.
A rap on my window startled me out of my daydreaming. Or was it night dreaming, as the sun had started to set? When I looked to see who’d scared me, Mark grinned. Many people had told me there was a family resemblance between us, but the only similarity was the reddish tint to his hair. He was tall like our dad, both standing at six feet even. While they also had a similar thin build, Mark was bulkier.
Grabbing my purse from the seat next to me, I opened my door, pushing him back a step.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Mom invited me. She said she had a date set up for you and thought it would be less awkward for everyone if I was here, too.”
“Do you think she’ll ever stop fixing me up?”
“Never,” he responded, throwing his arm over my shoulder as we walked toward the front porch of the house. “She did this after you broke up with John, and now with Cody.” John was the guy I dated right before my most recent ex. He was nice enough, and never cheated like Cody did, but it took me a year after we started dating to figure out we were better off as friends.
Having my older brother here did make me a tad less uncomfortable, but what I would’ve liked was to have dinner with only my family. Realizing I had to suck it up for the next couple hours, I released one breath after another. And if things did get too awkward, I only lived two minutes away.
My parents were lucky enough to find this two-year-old ranch home in the same neighborhood of Henderson we’d lived in since I was born. Once their offer was accepted, I started the process to buy my childhood home.