He was a brawler just like me.
I had a close eye on my girls, which was when I saw a tall behemoth that looked like she was twelve, not eight, creep up behind Ashland.
Gracelynn hadn’t allowed the move to go unnoticed, either.
Which was why, when she saw the tall behemoth pull Ashland’s hair and yank her to the ground before, in fact, kicking her, Gracelynn struck.
See, the thing about Gracelynn was, she had plenty of uncles around to teach her how to play dirty.
Blood and club ones alike.
So Gracelynn had skills.
And one of those skills was to attack without being seen.
One second the behemoth was standing, and the next she was on the ground crying.
Who wasn’t crying was Ashland.
She was pissed.
“Baby,” I said, catching her attention.
My daughter’s eyes, so much like her mother’s, lifted to meet my own.
“Now’s not the time,” I said. “Score. Shove that win down their fuckin’ throats.”
Ashland’s eyes narrowed.
Then the team went on to do just that.
And in the end, when the big guy who’d been running his mouth about a penalty kick not actually getting into the goal, and then came up on my girls threateningly, I’d had enough.
Once again rising from my chair, I stalked across the field and got right in that motherfucker’s face.
“You either get your annoying fuckin’ ass away from my kids, or I’ll make you.”
Aaliyah, the lightweight boxer of our team, snickered as she whispered, “Mr. Marks, you’re not supposed to say those bad words.”
I winked at Aaliyah as she caught Ashland’s hand and led her over to her coach who was giving them a congratulatory speech as they talked about their next game.
The dude in front of me bowed up his chest. “Your team played like hood rats.”
I looked at the man that probably had never had dirt underneath his nails before and said, “Our girls played like a team that wanted to win. There was no unnecessary fouling. There was only playing. Get the fuck over your loss and go home.”
The man took a threatening step forward but I felt the heat of someone at my back.
I didn’t have to look over to know it was my club brothers.
“I suggest you go back to your seat and think about the consequences of your actions,” Sin drawled.
“Or, you could go ahead and try,” Zach suggested.
“Or, you could stop being a little bitch and let the kids play,” Hunt piped in.
The man growled in frustration and turned away, but not before saying, “I’ll be calling league officials about this.”
I rolled my eyes and turned around to find everyone at my back but Lynn. Lynn, who was now at Tucker’s game talking to him on the sideline.