I shrug a shoulder. It happens to be my bad shoulder, and it throbs pathetically. I’d laugh if it weren’t all so terrifyingly uncertain. “I like kids.”
“You more than like kids, Asher. You were born to work with kids. I called your high school coach.”
I rear back. Nothing she could have said would surprise me more. “You did what?”
“I called Coach Miller. Your mom gave me his contact information. He was thrilled to hear his best player of all time was in town. He was so excited, in fact, that he called his team together for a special winter practice. And you’re going to coach it.”
“I’m going to what?”
Julie snorts out a laugh. “Your vocabulary this morning isparticularly impressive. You’re coaching a high school football practice.”
“But I’m not a coach.”
She gives me a look. “Didn’t I hear you on the phone with Jeremy yesterday talking about a coaching schedule for his foundation football camp? Your schedule for the football camp that you are going to coach?”
“Okay, yeah, but that’s like, just for the offseason.”
“And this is just for one single practice in the middle of the winter when there shouldn’t even be practice.”
Julie leans closer to me and takes both my hands in hers, her gaze steady on mine. “Listen, if you really don’t want to do this, I’ll turn the car around right now, and we can spend the rest of the afternoon lazing around in the hot tub. But there is a field full of high school boys over there who could probably use a role model like you to teach them how to be a good player and a good person. You’re both of those things. You have a gift with kids. Anyone with eyes can see it. Look, we don’t know what the team doctor is going to say. He could have a fix for your shoulder that will keep you playing for ten more seasons. But one way or another, someday, your time in the NFL will come to an end. You can use your gift and keep football in your life long after your playing days are over. If you’ll let me, I’d like to help you work out how.”
Emotion winds its way through me, and I look at Julie, overwhelmed at the thoughtful care she put in to today, without knowing how I would respond to her frank talk about the end of my professional career. It’s definitely not my favorite conversation, but somehow, having it with her makes it easier. She makes a lot of things easier. I reach out and pull her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her. It’s awkward with the center console, so I pick her up and settle her right on my lap. She lays her head on my shoulder, arms around my neck.
“Thank you,” I whisper in her ear.
She leans up and kisses my cheek, trailing kisses along my jaw. “I know none of this is easy, but you’re not alone. You have your parents and your sisters, and you have me, for whatever you need.”
Pulling away, I frame her face in my hands. “I need you for everything.”
Then I bring her mouth to mine, kissing her hard. She lets out a sexy little moan, and her hands pull at my hair as my tongue swipes inside her mouth and glides against hers. The kiss is all passion and a little filthy, and I try and say with lips and teeth and tongues and hands everything I can’t say in words. Julie sucks my bottom lip into her mouth, nipping it a little with her teeth, and the tiny bite of pain goes straight to my cock. I almost unzip my pants so I can fuck her right in this car, but then I remember where we are and pull away, resting my forehead against hers. Julie is flushed and panting a little, and when she smirks at me, I wonder for a split second if maybe a quickie in the back seat wouldn’t be totally out of the question.
“You were thinking of a way to fuck me in this car, weren’t you?”
I laugh, a little breathlessly. “Juliette, I am constantly thinking of ways I can get inside you, wherever we are. It is my most favorite thing. But since I’d rather not get arrested for public indecency and whatever else they can charge you with when you’re having sex in a car in broad daylight in a high school parking lot, let’s stick a pin in that.”
She grins at me. “Come on, Hot Shot. You’ve got some kids to coach.”
“Holy shit, it’s Asher Hansley!” When one of the kids on the field says my name, thirty or so heads pop up.
“Language, Brent! Jesus Christ, he’s going to think I don’t teach you boys anything.”
“Sorry, Coach,” the kid mumbles, his wide eyes still glued to me as Julie and I approach the group standing in the middle of the field.
I grin at Coach Miller. “Still haven’t realized it’s an exercise in futility to try and get football players to clean up their language?”
“I’m surprised you even know the word futility.”
I chuckle and he grabs me in a bear hug, slapping me on the back. “Good to see you, kid. It’s been way too long.”
“You too, Coach. It’s good to be back.” And it’s the honest truth. I take a deep breath and look around the field and can see the younger versions of myself everywhere. The me I was before college and fame and the NFL. When I played for the love of the game and nothing else. It’s a bittersweet relief to realize that not much has changed since I ran this field. Even when my career hangs in a precarious balance, I still love the game. And I know now Julie is right. I need to keep it in my life, no matter what happens.
“And you must be Julie.” Coach Miller reaches a hand out to Julie.
Julie shakes his hand. “I am. Julie Parker. It’s nice to meet you in person. Thanks for doing this for our guy.”
“It was no big deal. The second I said Asher was in town, the boys couldn’t suit up fast enough. Anyway, our guy, huh?” Coach elbows me in the ribs. “How did a guy like you end up with a smart, beautiful woman who does things like this?”
I put my arm around Julie. “Like I always tell her, a little luck and unwavering persistence.”
