minutes.
Coach Shaw didn’t like players being late. I would have to run five extra laps and then be labeled as the prima donna of the squad for the day, which meant endless rounds of smack talking from the rest of the team. I hated every second of the few times I had earned that punishment, but it proved to be an effective tool for ensuring that players were rarely late to practice.
Making a mental note to talk to Maddy as soon as I could, I started to head for the locker room to grab my gear. All thoughts of Olivia and the snarky conversation we had just had, I wiped out of my mind. I had a job to do and a game to focus on. Sunday would be here before I knew it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It turned out that even as I trudged out onto the field, all I could think about was Maddy. That wasn’t a good thing at all. I could hear Coach yelling already at some of the players further on down the field. I barely had time to get my hands up before a football hit me squarely in the chest.
“Man, you’re really daydreaming today. You barely caught that, and I put it right in your hands. You’re going to be running extra laps today for sure,” Marvin called out to me with a smartass wave.
I gave him a death look but found it difficult to be angry at him. Marvin knew me almost better than I knew myself, at least on the field and especially during game days. If I was anxious or off my game, Marvin used an imaginative blend of tough love and an uncanny paternal instinct to shift my mindset back to where I needed to be. I owed him a lot, and any shit he threw my way was always in good fun. He had never deliberately tried to demean me, which was more than I could say for my own blood relation of a father.
He trudged up next to me. “I saw Olivia in the hallway just now. She looked pissed off enough to spit tacks.”
Marvin’s unusual euphemism was still fairly accurate. I was currently the target of those tackles. I shrugged my shoulders. “Olivia always has her panties in a bunch about something.”
Marvin shook his head at me. “If she has her panties in a bunch, it most likely has something to do with you. You know she thinks there something more going on between the two of you. Shit, the whole team knows that too. Are you sure there’s something you’re not telling me?”
I tossed the football back at Marvin. “There’s nothing going on between me and Olivia. It’s nothing different than what she’s pulled with countless other guys on the team. I never should’ve gotten involved with her to begin with. I should have known better. She’s used goods.”
Marvin looked a bit affronted at this thought. “Maybe she just keeps picking the wrong guys who treat her like shit.”
I didn’t understand what Marvin saw in Olivia that he always jumped to her defense. Marvin was one of the few guys on the team Olivia hadn’t pursued at one time or another. To me, there was little beyond the surface with her at all. The one time I had gone along with her suggestion and attempted a regular date had been a disaster. After that, it was strictly kept to apartments and bedrooms. Not that we’d even done that much of that.
That got me thinking about the previous evening with Maddy. I had been with my fair share of women in the last nine years since we had broken up, but that experience with her blew them all out of the water. I knew it likely had something to do with the fact that I still had feelings for her. They went far deeper than I had ever imagined.
“Are you thinking about Olivia right now?” Marvin asked. Then a sly grin spread across his face. “Or are you thinking about that pretty doctor that you decided to give an office call to when we both know you are as healthy as a horse?”
Damn Marvin. He was too astute for his own good. “I knew her back in high school,” I admitted.
Marvin looked surprised. “Knew her, knew her?”
I got his obvious hint. “Could you be more juvenile?” I asked. “She lived in my
Coach Shaw didn’t like players being late. I would have to run five extra laps and then be labeled as the prima donna of the squad for the day, which meant endless rounds of smack talking from the rest of the team. I hated every second of the few times I had earned that punishment, but it proved to be an effective tool for ensuring that players were rarely late to practice.
Making a mental note to talk to Maddy as soon as I could, I started to head for the locker room to grab my gear. All thoughts of Olivia and the snarky conversation we had just had, I wiped out of my mind. I had a job to do and a game to focus on. Sunday would be here before I knew it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It turned out that even as I trudged out onto the field, all I could think about was Maddy. That wasn’t a good thing at all. I could hear Coach yelling already at some of the players further on down the field. I barely had time to get my hands up before a football hit me squarely in the chest.
“Man, you’re really daydreaming today. You barely caught that, and I put it right in your hands. You’re going to be running extra laps today for sure,” Marvin called out to me with a smartass wave.
I gave him a death look but found it difficult to be angry at him. Marvin knew me almost better than I knew myself, at least on the field and especially during game days. If I was anxious or off my game, Marvin used an imaginative blend of tough love and an uncanny paternal instinct to shift my mindset back to where I needed to be. I owed him a lot, and any shit he threw my way was always in good fun. He had never deliberately tried to demean me, which was more than I could say for my own blood relation of a father.
He trudged up next to me. “I saw Olivia in the hallway just now. She looked pissed off enough to spit tacks.”
Marvin’s unusual euphemism was still fairly accurate. I was currently the target of those tackles. I shrugged my shoulders. “Olivia always has her panties in a bunch about something.”
Marvin shook his head at me. “If she has her panties in a bunch, it most likely has something to do with you. You know she thinks there something more going on between the two of you. Shit, the whole team knows that too. Are you sure there’s something you’re not telling me?”
I tossed the football back at Marvin. “There’s nothing going on between me and Olivia. It’s nothing different than what she’s pulled with countless other guys on the team. I never should’ve gotten involved with her to begin with. I should have known better. She’s used goods.”
Marvin looked a bit affronted at this thought. “Maybe she just keeps picking the wrong guys who treat her like shit.”
I didn’t understand what Marvin saw in Olivia that he always jumped to her defense. Marvin was one of the few guys on the team Olivia hadn’t pursued at one time or another. To me, there was little beyond the surface with her at all. The one time I had gone along with her suggestion and attempted a regular date had been a disaster. After that, it was strictly kept to apartments and bedrooms. Not that we’d even done that much of that.
That got me thinking about the previous evening with Maddy. I had been with my fair share of women in the last nine years since we had broken up, but that experience with her blew them all out of the water. I knew it likely had something to do with the fact that I still had feelings for her. They went far deeper than I had ever imagined.
“Are you thinking about Olivia right now?” Marvin asked. Then a sly grin spread across his face. “Or are you thinking about that pretty doctor that you decided to give an office call to when we both know you are as healthy as a horse?”
Damn Marvin. He was too astute for his own good. “I knew her back in high school,” I admitted.
Marvin looked surprised. “Knew her, knew her?”
I got his obvious hint. “Could you be more juvenile?” I asked. “She lived in my
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