“Oh, okay.” Chris looked up at Kiersten expectantly. “Ready to go to Friendly’s?”
“I’m always ready to go to Friendly’s,” she replied. When she slung his gym bag over her shoulder, her gaze met Garrett’s for one brief second. “Good bye, Coach Garrett.”
“See ya,” he murmured.
He watched her walk away, the swing of her hips teasing him. Over the past three months, they had been getting together at her place to have a few drinks on the weekends, but not as lovers. Just as friends. Very platonic friends. It’s all they could ever, and would ever, be. He was her kid’s teacher and coach. Though the school didn’t frown upon such things… other parents did.
All it would take was one game where he played Chris longer than another kid and all hell would break loose. So no matter how much he might like to discover how those swinging hips felt in his hands…he needed to keep his head on straight.
And his hands at his sides.
Rolling his shoulders, he headed back to Mike. Upon seeing his return, Mike flashed him a dirty look. “About time,” he muttered under his breath. “Done drooling over my sister?”
Garrett ignored him. “Okay, everyone. Listen up. Practice is Monday at five. We’ll see you all then. Coach Mike and I have to go over some end-of-game plays, so we’re gonna head out now.”
The women dispersed, leaving him and Mike alone. Mike scowled at him and punched his shoulder. “Look, f**k-wad, stop chasing her.”
Garrett ground his teeth together. “I’m not chasing her.”
And he wasn’t. They were friends. If there were a moment or two where he wished they could be more, then so be it. That’s life. It didn’t mean he had to act on the desire. Making a move, especially an unrequited move, certainly wouldn’t do at all for his image—the image he’d worked very hard to build. He was the perfect picture of the content bachelor with no intention of ever changing his ways.
“Looked to me like you were chasing her,” Mike said.
Garrett gritted his teeth. “Then you weren’t looking close enough. I’m over her. I’ve been over her since college. You’re the one who needs to move on, man.”
“I did.” Mike eyed Garrett in a way that all too clearly conveyed that he doubted Garrett had.
“Yeah?” Garrett grabbed the clipboard. “So did I.”
“Good. Now, I need to drink a few beers and find a woman with a lot of daddy issues and no attachment issues whatsoever,” Mike said, gathering up his jacket and clipboard. “You in?”
Garrett hesitated. After all of the ribbing Mike had been giving him, the last thing he wanted to admit was that he was spending his Friday night at Kiersten’s. “Nah. I think I’m getting sick. I’m gonna go home and take it easy tonight.”
“Like you’ve been doing almost every weekend lately? Are you going to shave your legs and douche, too?” Mike snapped. “What the f**k, man?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly right. I’m going to go home and douche. See you later, ass**le,” Garrett called over his shoulder. “Don’t forget that we have our own game tomorrow.”
Mike called out, “See you then. Wear a pretty skirt for me, will ya?”
Garrett flipped him off and stalked out of the gym. The cold air blasted his face as soon as he walked outside and he inhaled deeply. Damn, he loved winter. Tiny snow flurries drifted down from the sky and Garrett took a minute to appreciate the sheer beauty of the unblemished white snow falling around him. Too bad it wouldn’t stick to the ground. It wasn’t cold enough in Vegas for that.
But it sure looked pretty.
And then it struck him how very much like life falling snow could be. It looked great at first glance, but within minutes all you had left was yellow snow and gray streets. Nothing ever stayed pure and fresh—which was why he avoided romantic entanglements.
It wasn’t because the only woman he really wanted didn’t want him. No. All he needed was a warm body in bed every once in a while and he was good to go. It didn’t matter who she was or where he found her. Intimacy was overrated and overbearing.
Unfortunately, the more he told himself that…the less he believed it.
Chapter Two
Kiersten glanced in the mirror and smoothed her hair back out of her eyes with a trembling hand. Tonight, she was going to do something completely out of character. Terrifyingly so. When she had been sitting in the bleachers earlier, reflecting on the fact that today was supposed to have been her wedding day, she’d compared her life now to what she’d expected it to be. And quite honestly…it sucked. Pete was probably married to his skanky secretary by now. Blissfully and happily getting ready to raise cheating little babies to match their cheating, lying parents.
While she hadn’t even gotten laid since the break-up.
Today was supposed to have been her special day—the day she said I do. As the time had ticked down on Chris’s game, it also had ticked down on her contentment to just…be alone. Then it came to her—she didn’t have to be alone tonight. She could give a final f**k-you-Pete and sleep with the one man Pete had always been threatened by.
Garrett.
Pete would never know, but she would.
And it would feel good.
Now all she needed to do was tell Garrett.
She hoped she hadn’t misread the interest in his eyes. And hoped he wouldn’t turn her down. She was choosing him as her target because of three reasons. One? Proximity. He was coming to her place tonight anyway. Two? He used to have a crush on her back in high school and probably still wondered what it would be like between them, so less likely to reject her. And three? That whole secret f**k-you factor he would give her.
Maybe it was childish but so what? Pete had decided he loved to bang his secretary more than he loved Kiersten, so why shouldn’t she celebrate tonight with a little too much wine and a good bout of forbidden sex?
And hopefully some sore legs tomorrow.
Yeah. That’s so what she’d envisioned for this day when they had sent those save the date cards out.
Kiersten sent a quick goodnight text to Chris, who was sleeping over at his cousins’ house, and hurriedly brushed her hair. At most, she only had thirty minutes before Garrett arrived—and the furriness of her legs appalled her more than words could say. After a fast shower and an even quicker make-up session, she stood in front of her closet gripped with indecision on what to wear.