Chapter 10
Ten
L eslie
“Coach Payton?”
Leslie had been talking to the school’s financial officer, who’d been in the meeting, when Joe came up behind him. Acting like they were just colleagues.
“I’ll catch you later, Bob.”
Bob waved, gave Joe a glance, and then went back inside the ad building.
“What’s with the ‘Coach Payton’?” he asked, but Joe was walking away, down the sidewalk and around the back of the building. Leslie nearly had to jog to keep up with him.
“Hey,” he said when he caught up to him, hands on his hips, chest heaving with breath. “What’s wrong?” Leslie asked him. “What happened?”
“Tell me again whose idea it was to hire me.”
“Where’s this coming from? Did my brother say something?”
“No, not really. It’s just, I’m not afraid to work hard, and I want to help out. I’m afraid people think I’m some prima donna—”
Les reached out suddenly and placed his hands on Joe’s biceps, causing Joe to flinch.
Les stepped back, realizing he’d overstepped his bounds.
Joe had said more than once that he sometimes had issues being physical with people, especially ones he didn’t know well.
Les hadn’t thought that applied to him. “I’m sorry, Joe, I just want to make sure you know I don’t feel that way.
I know how hard you’ve worked to get where you are.
I wouldn’t have encouraged you to be here if I didn’t believe in you. ”
Joe blinked up at Les. “That means a lot to me. I couldn't stand it if you felt that way.”
“No way, Twinkle Toes,” Les said, stepping closer again but keeping his hands to himself. “I’m sorry if touching you is out of line.”
“It’s not,” Joe said, and then he laughed. “Well, except for the fact that now we’re supposed to be some big rivals. That certainly changes things.”
“I’m not happy about any of this,” Leslie said. “I was hoping…”
Joe stepped closer and looked up, shading his eyes from the sun. “You were hoping?”
“I wanted us to have this time, you know, to see where things, how things—”
“I know. I want to see how things play out, too.”
“I really want to kiss you,” Leslie breathed.
“It’s all I’ve been able to think about since April.
” He leaned a little closer, feeling Joe’s breath, warm and minty, against his face.
“I want to bring you home with me. I want to pamper you, spoil you. I want long talks and longer kisses. I guess I thought we could have all that—”
“In the middle of football season? Really? Not that I don’t love where your mind is at.”
Les ran a hand down his face. “I guess you’re right. So what do we do?”
Joe sighed. “We do what your brother brought us here for. We coach. And now? We fundraise. And if you aren’t totally sick of me in, say, November, maybe you take me out on a proper date.”
“ November ?” Leslie shouted and Joe pressed a finger to his lips.
“Someone’s going to find us,” Joe said with a laugh. “I know, it’s only August. At least we get to see each other every day. It’s better than texting while hundreds or thousands of miles apart, isn’t it?”
Les groaned. “I don’t know. To see you and not be able to touch you might be worse.”
“I promise it will be worth the wait,” Joe said in a husky voice, winking at Les.
Les didn’t think he could withstand temptation, not with perfection right there in front of him.
His first sight of Joe that morning had nearly buckled his knees.
Those slacks he was wearing highlighted the fact that Joe was in top shape, that he’d just come off a show.
He filled them out so well, Les wanted to curl himself around Joe and feel their bodies pressed together in all the right places.
He wanted to finally explore all of Joe’s topography with his own hands.
Of course, if he tried to tell Joe how he felt it would come out in grunts and growls at this point.
He lost his cool whenever he was near Joe.
“Or, I mean, we could always sneak away to the Motel 6 on the highway.”
“Stop it,” Les said. He planted his hands on his hips and let out a bit of his tension by laughing at Joe’s suggestion, however tempting it was.
“Soon you won’t be telling me to stop it,” Joe said. “Until then, we’re rivals, and I do intend to out-fundraise you, so I hope you’re ready to bring it.”
Les was ready to fall to his knees and give it. All . “You’re enjoying this a little too much.”
“See, Leslie Payton, this is the part where the two of us get to know each other better, and this is me. I’m competitive to a fault. I wasn’t kidding before. I’ve had to scratch and claw my way to everything I’ve ever had or done, and I’m willing to do it now.”
Leslie wondered if Joe would ever fight that hard for him, or if this was all another avoidance strategy, but he had to clear that out of his mind. He needed to focus on the task at hand, and now wasn’t the time to get all intense and scare him away.
One of their near-misses had been in Hawaii.
Leslie had been on an extended vacation after what turned out to be his last season in the NFL, or so he’d said to the public.
In reality, he was having extensive medical tests run to determine the extent of his brain injury.
The last few concussions he’d suffered had been worse than the previous ones and his personal physician had been concerned that he’d passed the point of no return.
When the tests showed that indeed he had a serious TBI, he’d let the team management know that he would be retiring.
They’d fought him, said he had a few good years left in him to play, but he’d insisted and bought out the remainder of his contract.
After telling his family, Leslie had texted Joe and it turned out Joe was in Hawaii doing a photoshoot.
Leslie had told him about his impending retirement and asked Joe to meet him, offered to send his private jet to pick him up from Oahu after his engagement and fly him to Maui where they could hang out for a couple of days at the Payton’s home there.
Joe had agreed, but then at the last minute he’d texted that he’d been called back to LA.
It hadn’t been the first time, but that rejection in particular had stung.
Was Leslie setting himself up for that again?
The team had their first official practice that afternoon.
Some of the players had come two weeks early for conditioning, but this was the first time the whole team was together.
They met in the gym where at least they’d be out of the elements.
The power had just been restored to that side of campus and the kids were hyped up.
Once they were all seated on the floor, Leslie stood before them, his brothers behind him, and he chose his words carefully. Normally he was completely at ease with his players, but these were extraordinary circumstances and he needed the kids to be in the right mindset going into the season.
“Welcome to Jackets football. I’m your new coach, Leslie Payton.
Behind me are Randy and Sandy Payton, who will be taking care of special teams and drills, as well as keeping you on your toes.
You’ll understand what I mean soon enough.
” Lord, these kids better be ready for the twin terrors .
“We also have Damontae Marcus as defensive coach and Terrence Simmons is our head trainer.” The men waved at the kids.
“Those of you who know me know that I have a different approach to the game than many coaches.” There was a lot of shuffling and smiles.
Yeah, these kids knew exactly who he was and for many of them, he was the reason they’d chosen to forgo lucrative scholarships or acceptance at bigger schools for the chance to work with him.
Leslie knew he was a good coach and knew he had a lot to offer players at all levels, and he wanted all of his players to be there for the right reasons.
“My philosophy is based on the notion that there are three I’s in team.
Integrity, Inclusion and Ingenuity. I believe all of you have the potential to learn those qualities and skills.
As long as you keep those three I’s at the forefront, we’ll get along just fine.
You’ll also learn that I love to talk about the three I’s, so get used to it. ”
Randy groaned quietly and Leslie shot him a look. The little shit grinned at him.
Sandy elbowed his twin and the two of them put on serious faces. Leslie hoped they weren’t going to require more babysitting than the players.
“Some of you may have noticed we had a little redecorating done on the east side of campus.”
A few kids snickered, but most of them looked rightfully concerned.
“As a result, this is going to be a year of the three F’s for Jackets football.” He smiled. “Yeah, I just made that up. The three F’s will now stand for flexibility, focus, and…fundraising.”
More shuffling, a few uncomfortable coughs.
“Flexibility means we practice where and how I say, no matter what that entails, and no questions asked or complaints tolerated. The weight room is toast so we’re going to get creative.
Focus means there’s going to be a bunch of distractions on campus like construction and, well, members of the press.
Ignore it. You’re here for two purposes: learning and playing.
Learning comes first, always, and we will be having conference three times a week.
What is conference, you ask? It’s our time to practice mental toughness and to tackle any academic struggles you’re having.
It’s more than study hall, more than tutoring.
It’s transformative time, and it’s mandatory to attend if you want playing time. ”
This time there were a few more grumbles. Too bad. One stern look from Leslie and they quieted down real quick .