Chapter Four
As soon as Kenzie shut the door, she turned around and sagged back against it.
She’d kissed him…again. And it had been even better than that kiss on Central Avenue last spring.
Closing her eyes and resting a hand on her growing belly, she drew a slow, careful breath as she relived what had just happened.
She remembered the lovely press of his hard body to her soft one, the feel of his lips on hers…
A silly spurt of gleeful laughter escaped her and she clapped her hand over her mouth. She sounded ridiculous. She was being ridiculous.
And at the moment, she didn’t even care.
She’d kissed Finn good-night and that kiss had been perfect.
But then later, after she’d changed into a giant sleep shirt, when she stood at the bathroom sink brushing her teeth, she stared into her own eyes in the mirror and watched her face turn beet red.
The kiss had been great. True, it meant nothing. But it had been beautiful, nonetheless.
It was what she’d done before the kiss that bothered her.
Before the kiss, she’d overshared in the worst way.
The last thing Finn Monahan needed to know was the most pitiful, humiliating truth about her marriage.
She’d married a guy who’d not only lied from the first, said he wanted kids when he didn’t, but had also cheated.
Repeatedly.
“TMI,” she growled and shook the toothbrush at her own beet-red face in the mirror. “Never again.”
But later, in bed with the light out, it was Finn’s kiss that she remembered. He’d always been the best kisser, alternately tender and possessive, playful and intense.
A long sigh escaped her as her hand strayed downward under the covers.
* * *
In the next week, Finn saw Kenzie every day at football practice. When their gazes met, she would smile and wave.
And that was it, the whole of their interaction Sunday through Friday.
There was no time for more—not at practice, no way.
Not during that particular week. That week, every single second at practice had to be about making the Titans the best they could be.
Because Friday night, they would be playing their first game of the season, at home.
As for after practice, well, then there was work. He scrambled to show houses, write offers and close sales. More than once when he finally got home in the evening, he grabbed his phone to check in with Kenzie…and hesitated.
He thought of the previous Saturday night and wondered if she might be thinking about it, too. About the things she’d revealed to him. About that kiss at her front door…
They were getting closer, he and Kenzie. At least it felt that way to him. Did she feel the same?
He realized he was a little bit afraid to find out.
So he never did call her, and she didn’t call him.
But he would call. No doubt about it. As soon as the Titans won their first game Friday night.
Until then, he was all about the team.
Those boys worked hard. Tenacity was not only the name of their town and their school, but it was also who they were. They got knocked down. But they never gave up.
As each practice went by, Finn felt better about the opening game Friday night.
The Titans would play Bronco Valley High.
Barrett said, “Bronco Valley will definitely give us a run for the money. But our boys are better now than last year, or any year in more than a decade. I’m thinking positive. We just might squeak by with a win.”
Finn was thinking the same thing.
Oscar, who had his own system now to organize the stats he loved so much, wasn’t so confident.
He offered the names of several of the Bronco Valley players who had considerably more skill and experience than the corresponding players on the home team, twisting the knife in his calm, supremely logical way by rattling off performance metrics as well as physical attributes and performance data.
“Numbers don’t lie, Coach,” Oscar warned.
Finn respected Oscar’s analysis of the situation.
Last year, the Titans had lost to Bronco Valley by a dismal 55–3.
This year, their town and their team were coming back strong.
But the hard fact remained that Tenacity hadn’t won a game against Bronco Valley since the year Finn headed for the University of Michigan.
Still, Finn had proudly drunk the Kool-Aid when it came to the Titans’ chances this year. He was rooting for his boys and he just knew they would come through.
Friday dawned cloudy and cool with no rain in the forecast. Great football weather.
At 5:00 p.m., when the team assembled on the field for warm-ups, every player was raring to go.
Barrett led them through an easy jog, dynamic stretches, and some light speed and agility drills.
After that, they reviewed position-specific walk-throughs and special-team plays.
Back in the locker room before the game, Finn delivered a pep talk and ran down the starting lineup.
In the previous week, he’d spoken to each player privately to assign them their positions and explain the reasoning behind his decision.
They all knew already whether or not they would be starting.
But as tradition dictated, today Finn formally announced the starting lineup to the entire squad.
All the guys seemed pumped. No one was surprised that Remy O’Dare would lead the team as starting quarterback.
Remy was tall, lean and smart. He was damn quick on his feet and he had a hell of a throwing arm.
On another happy note, middle linebacker Darren Tuttle, son of Rufus the EMT, had made the starting lineup, too.
At the rear of the group of players, Kenzie looked every bit as proud of the team as Finn felt. She sported school colors—maroon scrubs with silver trim—and she rested a slim hand on the proud swell of her belly. When their eyes met briefly, she nodded.
And then quickly glanced away.
* * *
Kenzie loved game night. The energy was palpable, as everyone was excited, ready to cheer the team on.
Yeah, she was a bit annoyed with Finn. She and Finn were supposed to be friends. And shouldn’t a friend have called or texted her to check in at least once in the past week?
And was she being absurdly unfair? Absolutely. After all, she could have called him.
But she hadn’t called him. Because that kiss on Saturday night…
She might as well just be honest about it. Friends did not share kisses like that one.
She needed to stop thinking about that kiss.
But she didn’t. Instead, during random moments alone at home, she would find herself idly brushing her fingers against her lips, daydreaming about the exact feel of his mouth touching hers.
“Get a grip, girl,” she muttered under her breath.
Because tonight was not about whatever was or was not going on between her and Finn Monahan.
Uh-uh. Tonight, the Titans were playing and she had a job to do.
By kickoff, the bleachers were packed. Kenzie sat on the sidelines not far from the team, her medical bag at her feet, ready to jump into action the moment she was called upon.
In the stands, both sets of cheer squads shook their pom-poms and challenged everyone to “get fired up!”
On the Titan side, tall, burly math teacher Joseph Cutbank roamed the stands.
As T-Grizz, the team’s mascot, the math teacher wore a surprisingly convincing grizzly-bear costume, one with sharp teeth and wicked-looking claws.
Mr. Cutbank also wore a Greek helmet and a shiny maroon cape.
In his giant paw, he brandished a double-edged wooden sword painted silver to match his helmet.
T-Grizz backed up the Titans’ cheer squad, urging everyone to their feet to shout “Go! Fight! Win!” He also mimed the way they should stomp their feet as they roared, “De-fense! De-fense!” and join in to holler “Score, Titans, Score!” when the offense got anywhere near the goal line.
Truly, Joseph put on a great show. Besides encouraging the crowd, he provided sound effects, alternately growling like a giant bear and letting loose with a battle cry that would have done a Greek warrior proud.
The Titans scored first. What a moment! Tenacity fans—Kenzie included—surged to their feet, shouting and clapping, whistling and stomping. The Titan side of the stands went wild.
But then, the Bronco Valley team took control.
The Titans made it to the end zone a second time, and converted the extra point. They also scored a successful field goal, giving them a final score of seventeen points.
It wasn’t enough. When the game clock ticked down to zero, Bronco Valley had triumphed by a score of 27–17.
* * *
Finn kept his head up and his shoulders back. He acted proud, smiling and waving, shaking hands with Bronco Valley’s head coach. He played it cool and confident. Because it was part of the job to walk tall no matter the final score.
And come on, what was his damn problem, anyway? What had he expected? He’d known going in that the Titans were unlikely to win, yet the loss had hit him hard.
But why?
It was high school and the team was just pulling itself together. It took time to build a winning lineup, and any coach worth the title knew that.
Didn’t matter. Finn was embarrassed. And furious, too.
At himself. He couldn’t help feeling that he’d let every-one down, and he entered the locker room expecting to confront a sea of glum, pissed-off faces to match his own.
Wrong.
“Coach!” Darren Tuttle shouted as he pumped his fist in the air. “Titans rule!”
The whole team started clapping then, Barrett included. Finn realized he should say something. Instead, he just stood there with his mouth hanging open, stunned at the totally undeserved applause.
Still, he couldn’t deny the proof of his own eyes and ears. Everyone was thrilled. They were high-fiving each other, honestly excited at how well they’d played.
Biff McGuffy, a cornerback, declared, “Two touchdowns! And we only lost by ten.” He clapped Finn on the back. “And we will get better, Coach. Just you wait and see!”