Chapter 10 #2
Miles picked his head up from where he lay pinned underneath Delgado, grass sticking to his wild hair. “Where’s your hat? I need you to tip your head down—we have a bet going on whether you’re bald under there.”
Jace squinted down at my feet. “Are those the same boots, though?”
“You look like a finance bro at a parent-teacher conference,” Molly added with a smirk.
“Oh dang, he does,” Delgado said.
Beckett shoved his hands into his gym shorts pockets. “You just lost so much aura, bro. Watch and learn how to have rizz all nonchalant.”
The kids all groaned, throwing anything they could find at Beckett as he laughed.
“Never again,” Molly called through her megaphone. “You’ve lost speaking privileges for a week, Coach.”
I dragged a hand over my neatly trimmed mustache. “You’re all hilarious.”
Junie slid off Beckett’s shoulders and sprinted over, throwing her arms around my waist. I ruffled her hair, my chest loosening the way it always did around this crew.
“Hey, bug,” I said. “You take Smash down?”
She tilted her chin up, those too-big front teeth showing in her wide grin. “Yeah, I did.”
“I swear, she’s got better aim than half the team,” Beckett said. “We need to get you on the ice, Rookie. Wanna come to the rink with us tomorrow and try it out?”
Junie shook her head, then looked back at Beckett. “No skating, but I want to go.”
I was glad I still had my head tipped down so only she saw my smile. This kid was something else. The way she advocated for what she was and wasn’t comfortable with? Fuck, I loved that. “Rookie, huh?”
She looked back up at me with that big, toothy grin. “They said I need a nickname if I want to be on the team someday.”
I nodded, then looked at Jace. “Is your mom inside?”
My nephew glanced at the back door into Emmy’s kitchen. “Yeah.”
“Rook!” Miles shouted from the grass, still pinned under Delgado. “Come tickle him!”
Junie sprinted across the lawn, and Delgado let out a high-pitched squeal the second her little fingers hit his ribs.
“Go for the neck,” Molly drawled from her chair, sounding bored.
Miles wriggled free, flipping positions and holding Delgado down by the shoulders while Junie kept tickling the poor kid like a pint-sized agent of chaos. Smash laughed so hard he started snorting, and it set Junie off too.
Damn, I loved this.
After I retired, there’d been a hole in my life I couldn’t seem to fill. I’d come home expecting to work alongside my dad at the hardware store, fixing what had frayed between us by meeting him where he’d always been happiest.
Instead, Dad had a heart attack and left the store to me, packed up his life, and moved to Arizona with Mom. Just like that, I went from son to caretaker—of the business, of the legacy—without ever getting the chance to be either alongside him.
I should have known they didn’t need me. Didn’t want me.
But then Beckett came home last fall and signed us both up to coach the Mayhem. These loud, chaotic kids stormed in and gave me more purpose, more joy, than I could ever repay.
Coaching them, watching them grow, being a part of something again—this was my home. My family. My legacy.
When Daisy didn’t come forward, I glanced back at the truck. She stood by the passenger door, my hat still perched on her head, watching the whole circus with wide eyes.
I raised a brow. “Last time I checked, daisies weren’t wallflowers.”
Every head in the driveway snapped toward her like I’d just dropped a puck. Delgado propped himself up on his elbows, grass in his hair and a grin spreading across his tan face.
“Oh, shit,” he said. “Coach brought a little Ten to practice.”
In unison, Beckett and I said, “Language.”
Daisy’s eyebrows shot up at “Ten,” but the corners of her mouth twitched. She shoved her hands into her back pockets and gave me a look that was equal parts unimpressed and amused.
Junie sprinted toward Daisy to wrap her in the same rib-crushing hug she’d given me. “This is Dizzy!”
Miles fixed his glasses with the back of his hand, leaving a streak of bright green grass smeared across the bridge. He wiped his palms on his jeans, then lifted a hand in a sheepish wave.
“Hey,” he said with a crooked grin. “I’m Miles Claussen, but they call me Pickles. Cuz of my last name. Claussen Pickles? Everyone has nicknames. Jace is Juice, and Delgado is Smash, and Molly is uh… Molly.”
Molly groaned, shaking her head at his awkward introduction, and I fought to keep a straight face as Pickles’ ears turned bright red.
Before Daisy could react, Delgado popped to his feet, brushed grass off his shorts, and spread his arms wide. “C’mere, Ten. I’m a hugger.”
I stepped in and shoved him in the chest before he got too close. “Dial it back, Fabio.”
“Coach,” Delgado laughed, stumbling a step but not losing the grin.
From her lawn chair, Molly didn’t even look up. “You’re all idiots.”
“Beckett,” my best friend said, hand out to shake. She took it, and Beckett’s grin widened, staring at me over her shoulder before looking back at her. “You must be Daisy. Welcome to Linwood.”
The moment he released her, Junie grabbed Daisy by the hand, tugging her toward the group.
Jace, however, didn’t join the chaos.
My nephew hung back near me, arms crossed, his gaze flicking between me, Daisy, and Junie.
That look on his face wasn’t just teenage attitude—it was the quiet wariness you learn when people leave.
His dad was a piece of shit, and Jace had learned early not to count on anyone sticking around.
Beckett had been working to repair that over the last six months, but I knew Jace loved Junie like she was his sister.
I could see it written all over his face: the fear she might get pulled away.
Damn, I felt it too.
I squeezed his shoulder, leaning in to murmur, “Be nice.”
He said nothing, but he didn’t shrug me off either.
“Alright, Rookie’s aunt,” Molly said, sitting forward just enough to be heard. “Your turn.”
Daisy blinked. “My turn?”
“Yeah.” Molly pointed toward the hoop. “Spin around three times, between the legs, bank it off the garage, nothing but net. Winner takes all.”
Delgado whooped, then passed her the ball. “Ten’s up!”
Daisy reached for it and immediately fumbled the damn thing. It slipped through her hands, bounced off her knee, and she scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground. She finally snatched it out of the air, cheeks flushed, but smiling.
She bent toward Junie. “Okay, Rookie. No promises. But you did it, so maybe I can too.”
Junie clapped her hands as if this was the most exciting moment of her life.
Beckett stared right at me, a smug look on his face.
Oblivious to it all, Daisy took a deep breath, spun around twice, and attempted to bounce the ball between her legs. Instead of bouncing back toward her hands, the ball launched forward like a cannon shot—not at the garage, not at the hoop—but at Delgado’s chest.
It nailed him with a solid thump, knocking the air out of him.
He stumbled back, gasping, “I’m—fine!”
Molly grinned. “Honestly, that’s a better outcome than I ever hoped for.”
The kids howled with laughter. When Daisy was sure Delgado was okay, she laughed too, hands on her hips, chin on her chest. The late afternoon sun hit her hair just right, turning the loose strands around her face into gold.
She was flushed, a little windblown, completely unpolished, and the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
The back door creaked open, and Emmy stepped out, looking unsurprised by the chaos. She grinned at Daisy and said, “I see you've met the world’s worst welcoming committee. Sandwiches are ready inside.”
In a damn near Pavlovian response, the boys stampeded toward the door. Queen Molly strolled in among her jesters, knowing they’d give her whatever she asked for.
Junie tugged Daisy’s hand as they followed. She glanced back at me, cheeks still pink from laughing, a spark in her eyes that cut straight through whatever defenses I had left.
“Coach, huh? It fits.”
I tilted my head toward the hoop. “Keep playing like that, and I might start giving you drills.”
Daisy’s grin curved slow and wicked before she said, “Good thing I follow directions well, then.”
The words landed low, soft but pointed. Immediately, my mind jumped to all the scenarios where I could test out that claim, and my dick gave a quick, traitorous twitch in my pants.
Fuck.
I reached up to fiddle with my hat, only now remembering she still wore it. My hand dropped uselessly to my side before I shoved it into my pocket, heat crawling up the back of my neck.
A low whistle sounded behind me right before Beckett’s hand clapped down on my shoulder. “Well, this is a fun new development.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said, but the words didn’t have a bite to them.
Beckett laughed, then we walked inside my sister’s house.
Daisy was in the kitchen hugging my sister, and I just stood there and stared. For one stupid second, I felt just as bashful and off-kilter as my team.
She looked right at home in my world, and for the first time, I had to face the truth: no matter how bad our timing was, I didn’t just want to take care of her for the next six weeks.
I wanted her.
And maybe I always would.