Chapter 30 – Dean
My wooing plan was going about as well as you could expect when the woman you loved was terrified of relationships and feared making life-altering decisions.
I hadn’t kissed Grace in almost six weeks. Not a real kiss, anyway, one where time stopped and the earth opened up and swallowed us whole. I had kissed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead. But I hadn’t spent more than a few seconds on her lips because I didn’t want to scare her away. Yeah, I thought about it way more than was healthy.
Being her friend was so great, because it meant spending uncomplicated time together. We had been to a few more GoWithFriends outings and given each other a hard time on the app. At least once a week, we played Jackbox games until late with Charlie and Olivia from our respective houses. I was even helping Grace coach Piper’s basketball team. But I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t hurt a little, too. Everyone wants to think they’re irresistible. I was definitely resistible. At least, for now.
On this particular Saturday, I hurried out of my car and ran into the gymnasium, blinking at the sudden shift from blinding brightness to indoor lighting. Once I could see, I spotted Grace standing across the gym floor, surrounded by tiny basketball players, some listening to her expectantly and some paying no attention whatsoever.
She wore a whistle around her neck, a light gray coaching t-shirt, and black jogger shorts made for the sole purpose of making me lose my mind. Love me, woman. My thoughts were often in growl form these days.
I jogged over and joined the huddle to listen to the pregame instructions. No one noticed me until Piper darted across the circle to slap my hand. Grace stopped midsentence and took in what I was wearing. I’d traded my generic coaching shirt the league gave out for one I had specially made.
ASSISTANT COACH
Come see me for:
The post-game snack schedule
High fives
How much time is left
The score
They didn’t officially keep score in the six-to-seven-year-old league, but I did. The only task that hadn’t made it onto my shirt was my job of rotating the players in and out during the game. They were all supposed to get equal playing time, even the kid who used the bench as his nap station with his jersey tucked over his head.
“Nice shirt, Coach Dean.” Grace gave me a smile that promised trouble later. Didn’t I wish. Turning back to the team, she asked, “Which basket are we shooting for?”
All eight kids pointed up at the basket behind them. “That one!”
“Good job. Now jog to the black line and back. Ready? Go.” Grace blew her whistle, and the kids took off running.
“You’re so great at this,” I told her, knowing it would make her scrunch her nose at me and start a tirade about blackmail and volunteer-coaching leagues. When she’d inquired about getting Piper on a team with a later practice time, they told her to pull Piper from the program or coach and set her own practice times.
Sure enough, Grace rolled her eyes at me. “I’m here. That’s about as great as they can expect.” She stepped closer and surprised me with a hug, burying her face in my chest before letting me go just as quickly. We had kids running at us, after all. “You know they have your phone number now. A few months from now, someone from the rec center will show up at your house with pictures of your kidnapped lawn ornament and say all you have to do to get it back is coach soccer next season.”
“Good thing I don’t have any lawn ornaments.”
“I ordered you a gnome. You don’t want them breaking in and stealing something good.”
I gave out high fives as the kids made it back to us.
The refs ordered all the spectators off the floor so the game could start, and Grace handed me the starting roster. “Um, just so you know, Rob is planning to be here.”
“He is?”
She nodded. “Would you come with us to lunch after? You can take a minute and think about it.” With the game starting, her concentration was pulled to the middle of the floor for the jump ball. The opposing team had a kid who looked like he might be hitting puberty soon up against our tallest kid, who happened to be Piper. If her jersey wasn’t tucked in, it would have hit her knees. The other kid probably would have worn it like a crop top. Piper gave a pretty epic jump for the ball, but the other kid hit it over her head to his teammate, who took it down for a basket, traveling the whole way.
I touched Grace’s back. “Of course I’ll come. You sure you want me there?” I wasn’t the boyfriend. I was more like the guy trying out for the role of boyfriend when the director wasn’t even sure if the role was up for grabs.
“Yes.” She looked guilt-ridden for having asked, but also determined. “But only if you want to come and you won’t like, try to defend my honor or anything. He’s doing better, but dumb things come out of Rob’s mouth on a regular basis. ”
“How dumb?”
“Pass!” Grace directed, when she saw one of our players getting mobbed by half of the opposing team. Man-to-man defense didn’t set in until these kids were much older. “Ollie, help him out.”
We both focused on the game, and it wasn’t until I followed Grace’s gaze at half-time that I spotted Rob sitting in the second row of the bleachers.
He was definitely eyeing me in return. He didn’t look intimidated or bothered by my presence next to Grace, but he did look invested in it.
I knew he’d been putting in more effort lately to see Piper. I knew that he had hurt Grace in ways I couldn’t fully understand when he’d left her. I just didn’t know where all that would put me.
I was doing what Isaac had suggested. Being that guy, showing up day in and day out. Not that it was hard. Every moment I spent with Grace and Piper wasn’t enough. I loved our goofy phone calls at the end of the day. I loved seeing Grace rock out to music while cleaning up a kitchen or completely immersed in a sketch she was working on. After work, her clothes and hair and skin would smell like green things and roses and lilies, and I’d miss the scent of it on her after she sold the shop in August.
Not wanting to bring a florist flowers, I’d found other ways to carry out my wooing plans. One night, while she was illustrating, Piper and I worked together on a construction paper and plastic straw bouquet for her. She kept it on their kitchen table in a vase, and every once in a while I’d sneak a new paper flower in.
The buzzer sounded, indicating the end of our halftime break.
“Okay, Dunkers. Let’s get back out there and kick butt!” Grace put her hand into the middle of our circle, and we all followed her lead .
“What’s the score, Dean?” One of the dads in the crowd hollered.
I waited until our starting players ran out on the floor and our subs were sitting on the bench to walk over and answer. “We have six points. The other team has sixteen.” I tried to never be emotional about it. We had good parents on this team, but you never knew who was going to freak out and start yelling at a ref. It was weird to know these things firsthand. Not that having kids was a requirement to be a coach, but doing this with Grace felt like a trial run for more than just the role of boyfriend. Boyfriend was not the endgame here.
I watched Grace yell out encouragement to our team. She caught me staring at her and raised both eyebrows. I jogged past her to help a kid throw in the ball from the sidelines. “You’re so hot,” I whispered. “Super hot.”
She blushed red and shook her head at me.
Mission accomplished.