My heart ran and ran and ran. Without thinking about it, I put my hand on his chest and felt. I felt the furious pounding beneath all that muscle and bone, just like mine. Excited, racing, sprinting, trying to win like always.
I loved this man.
Sure, it made me an idiot and loving him didn’t necessarily mean anything, especially when I wasn’t positive that Kulti wasn’t on drugs but…
Well hell. Life was about taking chances. Going for what you wanted so that you didn’t get old and have pages of regrets. Sometimes you won and sometimes you lost, as much as I hated it.
His thumbs dug into the soft place between my jaw and ears, placing one more sweet simple kiss on my cheek that I felt under my skin. “Two more games.”
Two more games.
The words had me jerking back. What was I doing?What the hell was I doing in the freaking Pipers parking lot?
Luckily, he decided to take a step back right then. His lips were pink, his eyes glassy. His nostrils flared as he watched me closely. “Let’s go, yes? Every day this gets more difficult.”
I nodded, trying to shake off the stupor that had taken over.Get it together.
We got into the car and I scrubbed my hands over my face before starting it.
Focus. What I needed to do was focus.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Where’s Coach Kulti?” I overheard one of the girls ask in the locker room that evening as we got ready to head to the field for the start of the semi-final game.
“No clue,” someone else answered.
I kept my head down and continued stretching. Besides Gardner, I was the only one who probably had any idea that Kulti was sitting in the stands incognito. He had made the wise decision to ditch the beanie he wore all the time, and instead went for a white Corona cap I’d taken from my dad’s truck years ago.
With a plain T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, I felt pretty confident no one would have any idea who he was. When we’d gotten to the stadium, he hadn’t seemed worried about sitting alone, surrounded by people who would more than likely cause a riot if they knew who he was.
We’d taken his car and driver to the stadium at his insistence. He was supposed to be picking up a ticket that someone had gotten for him at the main gate. Right before I began walking toward the player’s entrance he’d asked, “Will your parents be here?”
Like my dad would ever miss a semi-final game. Ha.
Once I made it to the locker room, Gardner looked around at the girls. “Listen up, quick change to the starting roster: Sal, you’re in. Sandy, you’re sitting this one out,” he called out.
I didn’t miss the ugly groan that made its way out of the other player’s mouth. I sure as hell kept my face even, a talent I’d picked up from the master, Kulti. The truth was, I hadn’t cooled down even a little bit.
These assholes were going to bench me for freaking ‘political reasons’. Sure it sucked for Sandy who now wasn’t going to play, but that sure as hell wasn’t my problem. With the exception of the two times I’d been benched and the thing with my ribs and concussion, I’d played every single game from beginning to end. I had earned my spot. Plus, I wasn’t the only forward’s place Sandy could have taken. I had busted my ass to get what I had, on the field and off the field. On top of that, she was only twenty-two. There were a lot of things I’d let myself feel guilty for, but playing in a semi-final game instead of her wasn’t one of them.
From across the locker room, I spotted Jenny looking in my direction, but I still didn’t change my facial expression. Gardner went over some details and plays he wanted us to keep in mind as we went up against the New York Arrows.
One thought prevailed: I would rather do a dozen more press conferences and move to Brazil than be traded to New York.
They could even be press conferences like the one I had done at the beginning of the season.
Which finally made me wonder after all these months… Sheena had never said anything else about it or the video she’d planned on pulling together after the press conference from hell. What had happened with that? I’d worry about it later, for now my one and only subject of focus was the New York Arrows and their dumbass captain, Amber.
I hadn’t even begun dreading seeing her with everything else going on. Even now that I finally remembered, I still didn’t give a crap. If anything, it gave me that much more motivation to wipe the turf with her whiny black heart.
I could do this.
I closed my eyes and relaxed. Everyone had their own way of mentally preparing for games. Me, I had a gift for zoning things out and clearing my head. I didn’t need music to get pumped up. I just visualized our game and calmed down.
“It’s time, Sally,” Harlow tapped my elbow.
I opened my eyes and grinned up at her, smacking what had to be one of the tightest butt-cheeks in the world, and walked alongside her all the way to the field.