Play Me, Coach Read online

  I nodded. “That doesn’t sound so terrible, actually.”

  Coach looked at both of us, a puppy dog look on his handsome face. “Well, that would break my heart. I’d miss you both so much.”

  “Well, hopefully by then you’ll have found love,” Holly said. Suddenly the table was awkwardly silent.

  “That’s doubtful,” Coach said, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. “No woman is going to put up with my lifestyle and schedule.”

  I would, I thought. What woman wouldn’t? He was gorgeous. Kind. And rich as fuck.

  As Holly cut into her steak, I could feel his eyes on me. I found myself staring back, and for a moment I was lost in his. It wasn’t a look we’d ever shared… I didn’t want it to end.

  After dessert, we’d loaded our bloated tummies back into his sleek SUV and headed back in silence to his house. I sat in the front seat next to him as Holly fell asleep in the back. She always fell asleep after eating a big meal. It was one of her childish eccentricities.

  Coach’s hand rested on the console between us. For some reason, I wanted to hold it, to feel the roughness of his large palms under my fingertips.

  But I wasn’t brave enough. He’d probably jerk away in horror if I tried to touch him. And then tell Holly I wasn’t allowed over anymore.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked, quietly so as not to wake Holly, that gorgeous grin lighting up his face. “You look so pensive.”

  I stared out the window at the mountains speeding by. “I’m lonely,” I admitted. I had no idea why I’d said it.

  “How is that possible?” he asked. We were pulling up into his long driveway now. It was chilly outside and the moon was full. The mountains around his home cast shadows on us. It was a romantic scene and it made me realize how terribly lonely I was.

  I had Holly, yes. But that was it. Holly and books. And Holly had friends and guys and all kinds of things going for her that I didn’t.

  And sometimes, it made me sad.

  It wasn’t that I wanted to be more social. I just wanted a man in my life to be anti-social with together. I wanted to be held and kissed. I wanted what I read about in all my books. Passion. Forbidden love.

  And every time I was near Coach, it just reminded me of that. He represented the impossible.

  As we put the car in park, he turned to me. I shook my head, feeling silly.

  “I have Holly,” I said. “But no one else. My family is so far away. I just get homesick sometimes. Or really, just homesick for the future, if that makes sense? I want more than good grades. I want… adventure. Love.” I stared at him, realizing I must have sounded like a moron to him.

  But he was looking at me as if he was seeing me for the first time.

  Holly was snoring quietly behind us. He looked back at her and then looked at me, as if he was thinking of something.

  And then suddenly, he was leaning in, his broad shoulders touching my own and we were kissing. A passionate kiss, one I could tell had been on his mind for a long time. It was delicious and perfect.

  And totally wrong. Which we both realized immediately as we both pulled back, shocked at what had just happened.

  Coach Sutton had kissed me.

  Nothing would ever be the same.

  Chapter Three

  Coach Sutton hadn’t said anything after that. He’d just quietly climbed out of the driver’s seat and softly shut the door behind him. The sound of it made Holly stir.

  “Are we home already?” she asked, stretching her arms and yawning. “I’m exhausted. And I still have to pack for Chicago!”

  I smiled, grateful for the tension to be dissipated for a moment. Even though I could still taste him on my mouth. “Why am I not shocked you haven’t packed yet?”

  “Because you know me too well!” she laughed. “Come on, we should get back to the dorms. We’ll come back here tomorrow. Have you packed?”

  I nodded. “You know me. I packed 3 days ago.”

  “Of course,” Holly said. “Why am I not shocked? You’re my little Type A.”

  As we piled into Holly’s car I couldn’t help but stare at the front of Coach’s house. He hadn’t even said goodbye. That was very unlike him.

  “Shouldn’t we go say bye to your dad?” I asked Holly as she put her keys into her ignition.

  “I’ll just text him,” Holly said. “He probably had to rush in to use the bathroom after that meal. Not to be TMI or anything.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I was also nervous. If only Holly knew the truth.

  But right now, I was grateful she didn’t.

  The next morning, I couldn’t get him off my mind. And I felt terribly guilty about that.

  I watched Holly pack up her Louis Vuitton luggage, completely clueless to my anxiety. I usually shared everything with her. But of course I couldn’t share what had happened. I had no idea how she’d react, and she was too important to me.

  Besides, it didn’t mean anything. I just hated that it now meant things would be awkward between me and Coach. I was afraid he wouldn’t look at me the same way as he once did. I was already learning that I didn’t look at him like my best friend’s dad anymore. And that was fucking crazy.

  And now it was probably all ruined. Because of a kiss.

  An amazing kiss. That I couldn’t stop thinking about.

  That afternoon we’d gone to the mall to pick up a few things and then lugged our bags into her car and driven over to Brookshire. It was the first time that I was dreading seeing her dad. Normally I was excited to see him and be around him.

  I didn’t know what to expect.

  After he’d kissed me, he’d looked scared. Of what, I couldn’t be sure. My guess was it was about Holly. That was my first fear. I didn’t want Holly to find out about this. It was paramount she never found out about what happened.

  As soon as we walked into the Sutton mansion, we were greeted by him. Like he’d been waiting for us.

  He looked gorgeous in khaki slacks and a Carolina blue button down shirt, his hair freshly cut. Our eyes met for a moment and his had a smile in them. As soon as he saw me, he immediately pulled me in for a hug. Just like normal.

  Thank God. We could get past this.

  “Hey, Em,” he said. His hug went on a beat longer than normal, something I didn’t mind. He smelled amazing. Holly wasn’t paying attention to us anyway. I didn’t want him to let me go.

  “So I’m exhausted,” Holly said. “My flight leaves at 6 am. Ugh! So I need an early bed time if it’s okay. You’re both taking me tomorrow right?”

  “Right,” we both said in unison. I couldn’t help by laugh inside. We were so nervous. The tension was thick, despite the normalcies.

  I would have killed to have known what he was thinking right at that moment.

  Chapter Four

  After we dropped Holly at the airport early the next morning, Coach drove us back home. We drove in complete silence except for the sound of sports AM radio as background noise.

  As he pulled up to the driveway he finally spoke.

  “I’ll make sure you get in,” he said. “You’re sure you’ll be okay by yourself? You’re welcome to come with me, I shouldn’t be too long.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. I’m a little tired.”

  He had to go back to campus to meet with a player who was having academic issues, leaving me alone for the day at Castle Sutton.

  As I watched him drive away, a part of me felt so despondent. I could feel a tension between us. Everything was different.

  What happened now?

  Holly’s mom came from a large family, and Holly’s maternal grandparents annually hosted a large Christmas gathering along with their Hanukah festivities, since they knew she celebrated both. Holly had so many aunts, uncles, and cousins she could barely keep them straight, and she anticipated a whirlwind few days in Chicago with them.

  Staying at the Sutton residence in Brookshire was how I imagined visiting a fancy five-star resort might fe
el, so I didn’t mind at all making the sacrifice of staying behind with Eric when Holly left to visit family. Coach got along great with his late wife’s family, but with his basketball responsibilities, getting away in the middle of the season was nearly impossible.

  With the place to myself, I decided to take a morning dip.

  Yes, the Suttons had an indoor pool. Attached to their house. And it was heated, so it could be enjoyed regardless of the weather. Eric swam laps every morning, and seeing him for the first time shirtless when he came in with a towel draped over his shoulder, dripping on the kitchen floor, nearly had me dripping. It had been only my second visit to Holly’s house at the time, and I was praying it wouldn’t be my last after seeing that.

  The previous evening after we’d lugged our suitcases into the house, Holly and I had been having dinner and checking out the new Snapchat filters when he’d walked in wearing just a pair of pajama pants and opened the fridge, standing there with his rippling, muscular back exposed as he studied the contents.

  I hoped Holly wouldn’t catch me staring. And that she hadn’t heard me gasp.

  My curves wouldn’t fit any of Holly’s bikinis, and I hadn’t brought my swimsuit to Moultrie with me from home, so we’d taken her dad’s credit card to the mall that previous afternoon, right before it closed. Our shopping spree included a two piece of my own, along with what seemed to me to be an almost entirely new wardrobe for Holly. I’d only ever worn one-piece swimsuits, but Holly was buying, and she insisted. She claimed I looked good in it, although I had my doubts my stomach was flat enough or my ass small enough to be seen in public wearing it. But she was insistent that I have a suit and that I avail myself of the pool.

  “What else are you going to do while I’m gone?” she’d said. “Might as well get some laps in. Take a break from the sexy novels.”

  And now, I was alone. No audience to impress.

  I dove in, finding the water exquisite, and despite the light dusting of snow that had fallen overnight, it was so cool to know I could swim indoors. I could get used to this.

  I swam a few leisurely laps before getting serious and going all-out. Swimming was something I’d only ever really done for fun, but I’d watched enough of the Summer Olympics to know that swimmers had some of the sexiest bodies around.

  Coach Sutton was proof of that.

  My technique would have gotten me laughed out of the Olympics, but it got me up and down the pool and had me winded and aching before long. I pulled myself up and out of the water and grabbed a towel to wrap around my hair when I was startled by a voice. His voice.

  “How’s the water, Emily?” Coach asked.

  He’d slipped out to the pool unnoticed by me, still dressed in his khakis and blue Moultrie Basketball polo. I dropped my towel and made the most embarrassing little “yelp” noise when I heard him and turned, instinctively, toward the sound.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you. I was halfway to school when I got a call that my meeting had been cancelled. When I didn’t find you in the theater or your bedroom, I thought you might be out here.”

  He’d closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, bending to pick up my towel just as I had. Our hands brushed as we both held the towel, and when I straightened back up, he was right there. Like, in my personal space. Close enough to kiss.

  God, I wished he’d kiss me again. As wrong as it was, for so many reasons, it was all I’d thought of since it happened.

  But he just smiled his impossible smile and let his grip on the towel relax, letting me wrap it around my middle.

  “You don’t have to stop your workout on my account. I hope you know that. You can swim anytime you want to. I mean any time. You’re family here.”

  As comforting as that was, I wanted to be something other than family. Or, maybe, a different kind of family than a surrogate daughter. Something more. I didn’t want to be whatever the equivalent in our situation would be of being friendzoned.

  I wasn’t entirely comfortable being so close to Coach in nothing but a bikini and a towel; I didn’t want a man as flawless as he was appraising my very flawed body. But he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to go back into the main house.

  “I have practice this evening, a light workout, then I’ll be home. I’m giving the team the next couple days off, so I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with me hanging around here more than usual. I have lots of tape to watch, but most of that I can do in my office. I’ll try to leave the theater room to you.”

  “Thanks again, for everything,” I said, trying to use the single towel I’d foolishly brought with me to both dry my hair and obscure as much of my body as possible. “I’ll try to stay out of your way. I plan to read and sleep as much as possible.”

  “I bet. Finals must have kicked your ass. I wish I could convince Holly that they’re important enough to spend some late nights studying rather than partying. She forgets that I have eyes and ears all over campus.” He closed his short rant about Holly by winking at me.

  What did that wink mean? And why did he have to be so fucking handsome? Was I more wet from the pool or from his proximity and brief touch?

  Coach finally, mercifully, went back inside and I waited a few minutes before I was brave enough to leave the confines of the pool. I planned a route back to my room that would avoid him, if only I could guess where in this maze of a house he might be.

  I went with the direct route, in from the pool through the laundry room and the kitchen, down the hall and up the staircase. I had only a few steps left to get to my room when he stepped out of the door next to my room, nearly knocking me over.

  Instead, he caught me, the arm with which he reached across my body brushing against my left nipple, making me gasp.

  “Oh! Sorry Emily!”

  He was dressed only in swim trunks. I was more or less in the arms of a nearly naked Coach Sutton, while nearly naked myself. Half of my mind screamed, Run into your room, lock the door, roll into a fetal position, and don’t come out until Holly gets home.

  The other half, the part that gained steam as he looked down into my eyes, making sure I was alright, went to a much naughtier place.

  “I was going to join you, but I couldn’t find my swimsuit. This is the smaller of our guest bedrooms, Holly and I use it as sort of a catch-all storage closet. I knew I had a pair in here, I just didn’t expect you to be walking down the hall. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  His hands remained just below my shoulders as he spoke, rubbing my arms gently. The nipple he’d inadvertently touched was fucking throbbing. I was a mess. I needed to get to that bedroom.

  “It’s fine, I promise, I was just coming up to change. I’m… hungry. I’ll be back down in a bit. Thanks for the catch!”

  He held our eye contact a heartbeat longer than I expected, and the thought of him bending down to pick me up and carry me to my bed where he’d make love to me for the rest of the day wasn’t the most unappetizing notion that had ever crossed my mind.

  “Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I’m going to have a quick workout then get back to school for practice. See you this evening, maybe we can watch a movie or something?” he asked.

  “That sounds great, yes,” I replied.

  Once I got into my room, I leaned back against the door and caught my breath. I reached up to pull the cups down on my bikini top to give my nipples the stimulation they screamed for. I caressed them gently at first, sending a shiver down my spine, before pinching and tugging at them roughly.

  What the fuck are you doing? He could be right next door or out in the hallway!

  I bit my bottom lip and turned my head sideways so I could ostensibly hear him if he were outside my door, and I clawed at my nipples, despite my conscience trying to convince me to ignore the need coursing through my veins.

  I reached down and slipped my fingers inside the waistband, rubbing myself in that well-practiced rhythm that I knew would take me where I needed to be, as quickly as possi
ble. In my mind’s eye, Coach was right outside the door. He could hear me. He could smell me. I was in fucking heat around him. My orgasm wasted no time in arriving, warmth radiating from my core to the tips of my toes and the (unfortunately, split) ends of my hair. It was wonderful, and left me breathless. I slid down the door to the floor, laughing softly at the absurdity of the entire situation. Societal norms and mores aside, in another culture, another time and place, and, let’s face it, if I were about three levels higher on the hotness spectrum, Coach Sutton would be fucking me right now.

  I mean, isn’t that why sex feels so good? Or, why I imagined it must feel so good. I’d never had it, not with another person, anyway. The urge to reproduce is programmed into us, it tricks us by being so amazing, feeling so good, like a drug. Two single, attractive (well, semi-attractive in my case) people, with a good rapport, who had already expressed our affection by kissing? I couldn’t think of a reason why we shouldn’t be having sex, in a sane world.

  Aside from the fact that I’d lose Holly as a friend, Coach would probably lose his job, and we’d be social outcasts, at least. Wouldn’t getting him inside me be worth all that?

  No. It wouldn’t. But at the moment, did I care?

  Before I knew it, my hands answered the questions for me, bringing myself off again and again, moving to my bed, legs lewdly spread, half-hoping he’d walk in and accept the wicked invitation I was extending. I realized at some point I hadn’t locked the door.

  Good. Please walk in, please walk in, oh God please don’t walk in, yes, yes, yes walk in right now and fuck me!

  The climaxes came rapid-fire, and by the time I got it out of my system, I needed a shower and to wash my sheets. I lay my head back on my pillow and let myself float into that light place between asleep and awake, out of it just long and deep enough to panic when I came to and glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand, not sure whether it was AM or PM.