23. Noah
Chapter twenty-three
Noah
Nice hair, Shane.
We make it back to the house and step out of the huge SUV, with Hayes carrying six boxes of extra-large pizzas, while Burkley and Ford hold cases of beer and drinks. Ellis has two bags full of different ice cream flavors, and I have an equal number of bags filled with snacks.
“Are you sure he has someone watching the girls right now? Because I don’t see anyone looking suspicious.” Silas looks down both sides of the street.
“Yeah, the only cars parked on the street are like ten houses away. If that’s really how he’s watching the girls, I’m not sure I trust the guy.” Greyson frowns.
“Gentlemen.”
We look across the street and find Julian crossing the road in what seems to be his everyday wear, a suit and tie, as he adjusts his cufflinks with a glare. Cropped black hair, stubble along his tight jaw that never seems to relax, and electric green eyes. I swear, the guy always looks pissed off.
Behind him is his younger brother, Jason, who looks like a menacing military sergeant ready to put you to work.
With his huge build, tattoos littering his body, hair tied back in a bun, and thick beard.
And just like his brother, a stern expression rests on his face and in his equally piercing green eyes.
Then there’s Jessie behind him, the youngest of the three, who’s dressed casually and looks way too excited at the thought of being in a house with our women.
He seems to be all warm and sunshine, with a constant smile on his clean-shaved face.
Same identical eyes as his brothers and short cropped black hair like his oldest. One look at them, and there’s no doubt they are related.
His arm is awkwardly looped around our coach’s neck, pulling him along.
Shane Jefferson is just a bit taller than Silas, hitting the six-foot-five mark, while Jessie is around my height.
A clean face as usual, and dark hair that seems longer than what we’re used to seeing.
He’s dressed pretty casually as well, with gray golf shorts, a white button-down shirt, and white sneakers.
The closer he gets, the more nervous he seems, which is so unlike him unless he’s in the presence of a certain someone.
Shane is a really good guy and an outstanding coach.
He’s so different compared to all the others I’ve had in the past or heard about.
Where they tend to be more aggressive with their players to get the message through, he’s always so calm and collected and treats us like equals.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him raise his voice at anyone.
Most might think that’s not a good coaching technique and that he should be sterner with his players. But it works for us and helps us thrive to our fullest potential. And in the end, we respect him even more for it.
“Julian.” I reach out with my hand once he stands before me and shake his. “Jason, Jessie, Coach.” I nod to the others. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, but this was a matter that couldn’t wait.”
“Completely understandable.” Julian dips his head.
“So, where’s your guy? Adler said you had someone watching the girls, but we didn’t see anyone,” Silas asks from beside me.
The side of Julian’s mouth twitches. “If you could see him, then he wouldn’t be doing his job properly, would he?”
“How do we know you’re not full of shit?” Greyson narrows his eyes at him from Silas’s other side.
Julian sighs heavily and closes his eyes momentarily, clearly annoyed with us already.
He pulls out his phone and types out a message quickly.
A few seconds later, blinking headlights down the street catch our attention.
When I look the other way, the same thing happens. Two different cars at opposite ends.
“What the fuck! They’re watching from all the way down there?!” Gabe steps up, anger and disappointment in his eyes. “They can’t even see the house!”
“This is why I hate dealing with amateurs,” Julian mutters under his breath.
“Julian,” Coach warns him.
He sighs again, then tells us what we want to know.
“There are microscopic cameras hidden around your house, and we have taken the liberty of installing some at your homes as well. Except for the penthouse, but we have hacked into their security system and will be keeping a close watch on everyone who enters and exits the building.” He looks all of us over.
“There is no way someone could get within ten feet of your property without us being notified. And if by some miraculous way someone did make it inside without our knowledge, I have infiltrated your security system and have been listening every few minutes. If someone unwanted entered the house, I would have known.” Okay, this guy really is good.
“What the fuck? You’ve been listening in on them? Through my security system that’s supposed to be hack-proof. Isn’t that against contract policies?” Clay glares at him.
Julian’s lip twitches with amusement again. “It is hack-proof to anyone else but him.” He nods toward Jessie.
“I created the impenetrable algorithm, which means I’m the only one who knows how to get in. They don’t call us the best for nothing.” Jessie winks with a beaming smile.
“Still, that feels like an invasion of privacy.” Silas frowns.
“Do you want me to keep them safe or not?” Julian asks sternly.
“We don’t actually have to listen in. The program picks up on every voice in the house, matching them with the person.
Every time a new voice is heard, it notifies us, and we’ll be able to pair it with its owner.
It also sends out a different notification if a scream or loud noise is heard,” Jessie informs us, settling our nerves slightly.
“Which I must inform you has happened quite frequently while you were all away. I understand congratulations are in order to the both of you.” Julian looks from Clay to Greyson.
“Thank you.” They both smile at the mention of the new changes in their lives.
“May we go inside now, or will we be standing out here all day?” Julian asks, once again looking annoyed as he swipes through his phone like he has better things to do than talk with us.
“Yeah, I’m starving. And I happen to know there’s a party going on in there that I’d really like to see.” Jessie grins with his hands in his pockets as he rocks back and forth on the heels of his shoes.
“You do know all those women in there are taken, right?” I ask him with furrowed brows.
“Oh, I know.” He looks over to Shane with a smile, then back at us. “But it doesn’t hurt to look.” He shrugs. This guy is constantly flirting with any woman he sees. I honestly think he might be worse than Gabe and I were before Veronica.
“All right, let’s go.” Clay turns around and walks up to his front door, all of us following behind.
We enter the house and immediately understand Jessie’s reference to a party as loud music blasts from the entertainment room. We wander over with curious eyes and find the girls all dancing and singing together in the middle of the room.
‘Made You Look’ by Meghan Trainor plays loudly on the speakers, and the Stanley Cup that was in the living room a few hours ago now sits on a table in the center of their dance party.
The girls haven’t noticed our arrival and continue to sway their hips to the beat, hands in the air as they turn and rub their bodies up against each other.
It’s a fucking sight to see. We all wait by the open double doors, eyes glued to their movements.
Although my focus is stuck on only one of them.
Veronica swings her ass around in that cruel short high-waisted skirt, thigh-high stockings rubbing together, knees slightly bent with stilettos on her feet. A tiny white crop top covers her breasts but exposes a portion of her tanned stomach and ribcage.
Her hands are up as she dances against Aubrey, who wears a spaghetti strap flowy blue dress. They’re back-to-back, eyes closed as their asses rub up against each other. God, I can’t wait to get home and rip those schoolgirl clothes off her slender body and devour it.
When I look over at the guys, I find them all watching with hungry eyes, except for Julian, who looks bored, and Jason seems to find this amusing. Gabe bounces with excitement at my side, while Jessie looks extremely pleased with the sight in front of him.
When I glance at Coach, his eyes are wide and unblinking.
A light blotch of pink settles over his cheekbones as his gaze tracks every single movement a young blonde in a blue dress makes, his chest rapidly rising and falling.
I bet if I got close enough, I could hear his heart racing a thousand beats a minute.
Jesus, both of them are completely gone for each other.
Veronica turns around, spinning Aubrey with her so that they now face each other.
She places her hands on Brey’s hips, making her dress slide up her thighs a fraction.
She says something to her that we can’t hear over the music, and Aubrey throws her head back and laughs.
When her face comes back down, her eyes open and finally fall on us.
She gasps loudly and takes a step back, straightening herself. “Shane!” That catches the attention of the other girls, and now all five sets of eyes lie on us as Aubrey blushes violently.
“Hi.” Her voice comes out squeaky, making her clear her throat. “Your hair. You haven’t cut it. It’s… really nice.” She quickly glances at her brother, then back at Coach, turning a deeper shade of red. “It suits you, I mean.”
The girls all watch the awkward encounter unfold, unsure how to save her from this one.
But then Greyson laughs, clearly not picking up on their attraction.
“Jesus, Brey. That was embarrassing even for me. Come on, you’ve been around Coach for some time now, shouldn’t you be past all this shy stammering stage? ”
She giggles nervously as everyone chuckles.
Emma picks something off the table and comes running up to Greyson, throwing herself in his arms as he catches her. “It’s positive! We’re having a baby!” she squeals.