Page 110 of His Reckless Freshman

“Come on, man. Please stay. We need you.” A silent plea crosses his expression, and it’s clear to everyone that he’s saying, “I need you.”

With a snicker and an exaggerated eye roll, Mac moves back to stand beside his buddy.

The coach has been silently watching this exchange, no doubt assessing that Mac’s gonna be trouble and Darian likes to think of himself as the leader, even though he’s not officially our captain.

The guy naturally assumes that position, though, and we all just let him… because he’s good at firing us up when we need him to.

He’s obviously liking this new coach and gives a little nod in the man’s direction, silently telling him to keep going.

Coach Paxton smirks for a second, then clears his throat and runs his gaze across each of us.

“Like I said, it’s a privilege for me to be here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all. I’m excited about what this team can do. There’s some real talent among you.” His eyes land on Jimmy. “I’d really love to see you unleash a little hell on this court when it matters most—game days. And that’s what I’m gonna teach you how to do. Over this week, I’ll be assessing each of your skills, and we’ll also be spending time on game strategy and mental toughness. That’s a real area of weakness with this squad, and we’re going to fix that. We’re going to turn this thing around, and by the end of the season, there will be no more ‘last in the league.’ You hear me? We’re gonna win!” He claps his hands again, indicating that speech time is over. “Now, let’s get to work.”

Stepping back, he rattles off instructions like a drill sergeant, and we’re soon practicing like we never have before.

He makes us work until my body is aching and sweat is pouring off me like rainwater.

We have to repeat, repeat, repeat until we get it right.

The squeak of sneakers, the bouncing of balls, the puffing breaths of tired players on the verge of collapse are the only things to fill my ears as we show the new coach exactly what we’ve got.

Damn, this season is gonna be hard work.

My legs are about ready to buckle when he gives the whistle a double blow and stops us all.

“Time’s up for the day. I’ll be emailing you all a book I’d like you to read. It’s called Mind Gym, and we’re going to be studying it together. Eighty percent of winning a game is done up here.” He taps his forehead. “You guys get mentally strong, and all this work on the court will come together into win after win after win.” His eyes start to glow with enthusiasm. “This is our year, men. We’re gonna show this school… this whole country… that we are elite. No more easy wins over the Nolan U Cougars, you hear me?” His voice rises. “You hear me!” He spreads his arms wide, and Darian’s the first to let out a whoop.

“Hell yeah, Coach!” He claps, and Coach Paxton points at him with a grin that quickly grows as we all start to clap and cheer like some cheesy sports movie.

I really want to think it’s lame, but I can’t help getting into it, cheering along with my teammates and thinking about our game against Lennox.

We are capable of winning.

And maybe with Coach Paxton at the helm, we can do it more than once this year.

35

JOLIE

I’ve spent all day perfecting my speech.

Now I just need to get over to Ben’s place and give it to him.

Eeeep! I hope I’m right about this. What if I say it all, and he’s like “So, it’s still over anyway no matter how you feel”?

I mean, he wouldn’t word it quite that bluntly, he’s way too nice, but still…

What if me going there is just awkward, and then I’m forcing him to tell me straight that he’s not into me?

Then at least you’ll know, right?

“Just make up your mind already. Are you going or not?” I ask myself as I walk into Buckley Hall. The girl at the bottom of the steps flinches and gives me a weird look. “Sorry, just talking to myself. You know how it is.” I give her a bright smile, and she gives me a closed-mouth smirk that makes it abundantly clear she hopes to never run into me again.

Walking up the stairs, I try to keep this conversation internal and battle back and forth until I reach my dorm room and stop with a huff. My phone is buzzing, and I manage to pull it out of my bag just as the call ends.

Caroline.

She’s trying me yet again, and even though I’m desperate to ask about the pregnancy, I have more important things to deal with right now.