Page 10 of The Penalty

The small talk was also unexpected. It wasn’t anything life-altering, but at least he didn’t look at me like I was the gum on the bottom of his shoe.

So, I’ll take what I can get.

FIVE

TYLER

The last practice before the first game of the season is a big one. The guys come out of the locker room, buzzing with energy. They’re excited, as they should be. The coaches are excited, too. This is what we’ve been training for all summer. We want our boys to show the world what we know they can do.

I’m the first one on the field and watch as each player makes their way toward me. When the last of my guys walk out, McKenzie is behind him. She’s got her camera up to her face, snapping pictures. She looks down at the screen and smiles to herself before she jogs to the sidelines.

Her long hair is curled today and she’s in a La Vista University T-shirt that fits her like a glove. The closer she gets, the bigger her smile grows. And that’s when I realize I’m staring and quickly look away because what the fuck?

“Coach,” she greets me. “The energy today is off the charts.”

“Yeah. Yep. Big day.” Why do I suddenly sound like a blubbering idiot?

I may be trying to be overly nice to Mckenzie since Kylie practically begged me to. There was even a note on the fridge this morning reminding me to be nice, which makes me wonder if McKenzie mentioned that I wasn’t nice.

“Did you get those grass stains out?” I ask. That’s nice, right?

She smiles again, so I must be doing alright. “I did, thanks. The vinegar really did the trick.”

“Good. Good.”

Hayes realizes who I’m talking to and runs over to us. “My future wife. You here to watch the magic happen?”

“I might be here to watch the magic happen, but definitely not as your future wife.”

“You’ll come around.”

I shake my head. I knew he wasn’t going to give up that easily. Thankfully, McKenzie seems more amused than irritated. “Get to the team, Hayes. Leave the poor girl alone.”

“If she marries me, she’ll never be poor.”

McKenzie bursts out laughing.

“Jesus Christ, Hayes.” I push his shoulder to force him toward the rest of the group.

As I walk onto the field, my assistant coaches and the players all crowd around so they can hear.

“Alright, boys. This is it. Last practice before the first game on Saturday. You’ve all worked hard for this. I want you to get out there this weekend and show everyone that the La Vista Bobcats are a force to be reckoned with!”

They all shout in agreement and do their chant, the same one that’s been done season after season at La Vista. It hypes them up and gets them ready to go.

We run some of our newer plays, and I watch every little move, listening to my assistant coaches calling out changes. Even with a few noticeable tweaks, we’re as ready as we can be.

Something makes me glance over my shoulder, and I see McKenzie moving up and down the sidelines, taking pictures of the guys. She crouches down to get a shot, and my eyes follow her long legs as she stands back up.

She doesn’t notice me watching, which is good because that would be fucking embarrassing. But whenever she sits down in the grass to take notes, I start wondering if she’s writing anything about me. I quickly turn my attention back to practice.

It’s none of my business what she’s writing about. She’s a student. Working on her schoolwork.

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting much from McKenzie. It was wrong of me to assume that she wanted to work with the football team to get close to my players because she’s made it very clear she’s not interested in dating any of them. And she actually seems to know and understand football.

That catch she made the other day? It was amazing. Even if she ended up tripping and falling. She followed the ball as it flew through the air and easily caught it. Better than some of the players I’ve worked with on past teams, actually. I was impressed.

Everyone was.