Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Asher
“ B ut where are we goinggggggg? Tell me, Juliette. Tell me, tell me, tell me.”
Stopping the car at a red light, Julie gives me an exasperated look. “Are you five? Have some patience. You’ll know when we get there.”
We’re in the Range Rover and Julie is at the wheel. She woke me up at dark o’clock this morning and insisted I get up and get dressed. When I tugged her back on top of me and slid my hands around to grab her ass and grind up into her, she swatted me away and called me a crazed sex maniac. Then she threw a pair of jeans at my head while she sailed out the door to go make coffee. Spicy morning Julie turns me on even more, so I had to lay in bed waiting for my hard on to deflate, which took a while. Then she came back upstairs all irritated that I wasn’t out of bed yet, and, well, spicy Julie, what can I say? I’m not saying I’m irritating her on purpose by asking her where we’re going ten thousand times, but I’m also not not saying that, if you know what I mean .
“Patience isn’t a quality I’m well acquainted with. I’m a professional athlete, baby. We like action.”
She reaches over and pats me on the leg, smiling sweetly. “Well, if you ask me where we’re going one more time, I can guarantee you that you won’t be getting any action anytime soon.”
I grin at her then grab the hand she’s still resting on my leg and bring it to my mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “You’re my favorite human, Juliette.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbles. “I kind of like you too.”
The reluctance in her voice has me grinning even harder. She may still be a little baffled by us and how quickly this all happened, but that, from her, might as well be a love declaration. Even thinking the word love has my heart pounding in my ears and my palms sweating. I’ve seen the way she’s been looking at me and the way she is around my family. She is feeling some kind of way, and I am here for it.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t realize we’re here—wherever here is—until Julie parks the car and turns off the engine. Then I look up and see it.
“What are we doing at my high school?”
She turns to me, her expression solidly Lawyer Julie on a Mission . “Okay, hear me out. I’ve been thinking. A lot. I know you’re worried about what your shoulder means for your football career. You took a big step the other day when you told your family, and I know how hard that was for you. How much it cost you to tell them the truth and face what your injury might mean, and how that makes you feel.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat as my stomach tightens with nerves. Because she’s right. I am worried. Telling my family did cost me something. And thinking about the potential end of my football career is impossible. Talking about it now makes me want to jump out of my skin. Or stick my fingers in my ears and pretend none of this is happening. But Julie obviously has a reason to bring it up, so I force my feelings down and focus on her.
“I think I know you, Asher, just like you know me. And I think you’re feeling like the end of your professional career is the worst thing that could ever happen to you. That it means the end of football. And I want to show you it doesn’t.”
I hear the words she’s saying, but they don’t really compute. Because if I can’t play, then it is the end of football.
I think she really does know me like I know her, because she reads my mind. “I know what you’re thinking. If you can’t play, it’s all over. But it’s not. Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve seen how excited you get whenever you talk to Jeremy about the sports camps you’re helping him with. I know you coached youth football in college. I know how anytime a teammate is doing a philanthropy project that has to do with kids, you’re the first one in line to sign up. And I see how you are with your nieces.”
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 is particularly 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. ”
Julie wraps her arm around my waist. “He was so annoyingly persistent that I finally gave in just to shut him up.”
“And look at us now.” I smile and kiss her temple.
“So,” I say, looking around at the kids gathered around. “Anyone want to play some football?”
“That’s awesome, Kyle. See how much more accurate your throws are when you lift your elbow like that?”
The freshman third string quarterback grins at me. “Did you see how far that went?”
“Sure did. Go grab some water and take a break. You’ve been working hard out here.”
“Thanks, Coach. Then I’m going to try the quick feet drills you showed me.”
Coach . I can’t help but get a little thrill when he calls me that. Kyle reminds me a lot of myself as a freshman. Not the fastest, and definitely not the biggest, but he has the purest heart, and he loves the game so much. I can see it every time he touches the football. Watching his face light up when I showed him that small adjustment to his throw had everything inside of me lighting up too.
“Quick feet are going to have to wait until tomorrow, Kyle.” Coach strolls over as Kyle tosses me the football. “It’s almost noon and it’s freezing out here. Time to call it.”
I tug my phone out of my pocket and am stunned to see that it is, in fact, almost twelve. We’ve been out here for four hours but it felt like four minutes.
“Thanks for coming Asher, seriously,” Coach says.
“I feel like I should be thanking you. That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. ”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, or why your girlfriend was adamant that you needed to come coach my team for a day, but whatever it is, you should know you’ve got the touch, Ash. Watching you with the kids—especially with Kyle—was a special kind of magic I don’t get to see very often. If you ever want to coach, I think you’d be a natural.”
“Thanks, Coach,” I say, too thrilled from the day to get into the actual reason I’m here. “It’s never too early to start planning for the future.”
“Son, I’ve known you too long to believe that bullshit, but if you ever need a listening ear, or someone to talk to, you’ve got my number. Don’t hesitate to use it. I’m going to head out, but feel free to stay as long as you want. I get the feeling you might need it.”
He turns and walks away, stopping to say something to Julie on the way out. I stay where I am and reach out my hand to Julie when she walks up to me. She looks absolutely delicious in leggings, a puffy jacket, and shearling boots. Her electric blue hat with the giant pompom on top makes her cobalt eyes even bluer, and they sparkle when she looks at me. When she takes my hand, I feel the zing of electricity even though our gloves.
“So, how did it go?”
I tug Julie into me, wrapping my arms around her and leaning my head against hers as I survey the field.
“It was actually…kind of great.”
“I’m so glad,” she says, cuddling into me. She doesn’t ask anything else, content to stand in silence as I work out my feelings in my head, and I’m grateful for it. I need some time to sort it all out. But what I do know is that in this moment, with my girl in my arms after spending the last four hours immersed in the sport of my heart, I want to hold on to the joy and fun a little longer. My eyes fall on the bleachers and an idea pops into my head.
“Hey, Juliette?”
“What’s up, Hot Shot?”
“You ever make out under the bleachers in high school?”
She chuckles. “No, I can’t say I ever experienced that particular high school rite of passage.”
I grin, untangling us and grabbing her hand, tugging her towards the sidelines.
“Well then come on, baby. Let me show you how it’s done.”