Chapter One
Garrett Kelly might have been a laid-back middle school math teacher by day, but at night he was a basketball coach who yelled and cussed and fought for his team. And right now? He was yelling. And in his head? He was cursing up a storm. Mainly because his star player, Chris Worth, stood frozen mid-court of the middle school gymnasium.
What the hell was going on out there? Chris never choked. Never missed a chance to win a game. But he was just standing there. Not moving.
“Dribble the ball, Chris!” Garrett screamed down the court, his entire body tense. The damn score was tied at fifty-six with thirty seconds left and he still wasn’t moving. Garrett looked up in the bleachers at Kiersten Worth, Chris’s aunt and legal guardian…as well as acting mother, who shrugged back and scrunched up her nose. “Move!”
Chris finally launched into action, dribbling in between the opposing team’s defense as if they merely stood still, and banked another two points. The crowd went wild, both with moans and shouts, depending on which side they were rooting for.
“There you go. You got this down, boys,” he called out, rubbing the back of his neck. Now, they just needed to figure out how to prevent the other team from scoring in the next twenty seconds, and they would be able to maintain their undefeated record. And if they failed? He might have to give them all double homework duty on Monday.
His assistant coach, and best friend, paced behind him. “If they let this kid score, I’m gonna lose it,” Mike whispered. Then he raised his voice and shouted, “Arms up, defense!”
“You’re preaching to the choir.”
Garrett tensed as the opposing team headed down the court. Sending a prayer above—God had to like basketball…He was a man after all—Garrett clenched his hands tight. The other team’s tiny point guard dodged between two players, only to be caught off-guard by Chris. Chris snatched the ball out of his hands and dribbled down the court. He squared off and took a shot just as the buzzer sounded.
Swoosh.
“Yes!” Garrett said, turning to give Mike a high five. “And the streak continues.”
“Thank God,” Mike grinned.
They lined up all of the kids in the most unorganized row ever, slapped hands and huddled for an after-game pep talk. After they finished, Mike and Garrett headed toward the waiting moms, who hovered like vultures waiting for their meal.
“Oh, God, Susan is eyeing me again,” Mike groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Help me.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have slept with her, dumbass,” Garrett replied, smiling at the woman in question as they approached the crowd. “I warned you to avoid her like the plague. Her ex-husband had to get a restraining order against her. If that doesn’t scream caution, I don’t know what does. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Yeah,” Mike shrugged. “But she’s hot. That throws the crazy scale askew.”
Garrett rolled his eyes. He scanned the crowd for the woman who wouldn’t be chasing him. Kiersten stood in the back of the well-wishers, waving at Chris and beaming with pride. Her straight blond hair looked silky smooth today and Garrett’s fingers twitched with the desire to see if it was as soft as it looked. But friends didn’t fondle other friends’ hair.
Or so he kept telling himself.
Chris held his index finger up to Kiersten, obviously needing a minute to collect his stuff and say his good-byes. Though Chris’s mom had died in a car crash when Chris was an infant, the boy had never lacked for a mother. Kiersten, though barely more than a child herself at the time, had stepped into her sister’s role without hesitation. She had even refused to let her older sister take on the responsibility, since Brianna had just had a baby with her husband. That was just one of the many things Garrett admired about her so much.
“Don’t even think about abandoning me for her,” Mike said between clenched teeth, following the line of his gaze. “You don’t stand a chance and you know it. Besides, she’s still depressed over Pete leaving her. Fucking ass**le.”
“Agreed.” Garrett shrugged. “We’re friends, is all. Stop trying to make it more than what it is.”
“Are you so sure about that? Need I remind you of high school?” Mike called out. “Move on and leave her alone.”
Mike, of course, referred to the huge crush Garrett had held on to all throughout his teen years. But he was over it. He’d grown up and moved on, as people did. “You have no clue what you’re talking about,” he said before walking away.
“Yeah, I do. She’s my sister,” Mike retorted. “And you’re an as—” Mike broke off and looked at the kids surrounding them. “Uh, an astounding fool.”
Garrett rolled his eyes at his friend’s quick recovery, waved over his shoulder—with one finger conspicuously higher than the others—and stalked to Kiersten’s side. All of the other moms let out a sigh and zeroed in on Mike. The poor sucker stood no chance, and deserved every second of it.
The closer Garrett got to Kiersten, the faster his heart thumped in his ears. It felt more like he was sprinting down the court for a winning shot instead of walking up to his longtime friend. She saw his approach and straightened, cheeks rosy. Her green gaze latched onto his, pushing him away without saying a word. “Coach Garrett, how are you doing tonight?”
Her voice washed over him like a soothing balm. He shook his head and grinned at her. “Kiersten, you can call me Garrett.”
“Not here,” she murmured. Her gaze flitted over his shoulder to where Chris probably approached. “Don’t want to give anyone anything to gossip about.”
He pasted his generic playboy-smile on and ran his fingers through his hair. “No one would get the wrong idea. It’s quite obvious we’re just friends. Speaking of which…are we still getting together for drinks tonight?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Now be quiet. Chris is coming, and I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.”
The wrong idea being that she was actually interested in more than friendship from him. Garrett knew all too well that wasn’t the case, even if he occasionally wished it weren’t. “Right.”
“Hey, coach,” Chris said. He walked over to Kiersten’s side and looked at Garrett with eyes far too wise for a thirteen year old. “What’s up?”
Garrett cleared his throat. “Nothing much. I’m just letting your mom know about practice on Monday at five.”