by L. P. Maxa
“Okay, guys, go hit the showers. Practice is over for today.” Dominic dismissed the team and only the coaches remained.
Keller walked over, wearing a flirty little smirk. “Hey there, pretty girl, let me introduce you to the rest of the crew.” Dominic caught his eye and tried to murder him with his glare. It didn’t work. “This is Lincoln Sumner, we call him Linc, and he’s been coaching here for about three years. And this is Baze Carter, here for two years. Boys, say hi to Ms. Cooper.”
The guys came up in turn and introduced themselves. They all looked at her with hunger in their eyes. Dominic couldn’t blame them; she was stunning. And more than that, there was something about her. Something magnetic.
Dominic took his time making his way over to them. He didn’t need her to know that he had been chomping at the bit to touch her since the moment he saw her heading toward the field. “Hey you, are we still on for this evening?” Normally he would have said something like that quietly as not to draw attention to them. Nope, he said it loud enough for the other coaches to hear. Possessiveness rearing its ugly head at only twenty-four hours in.
“Yes, sir, we are. I’ll come find you after the meeting.”
Sir? He liked that. A lot. Aw crap, the basketball shorts were a bad choice today. “I figured we could walk home together. Maybe sit on the porch and hang out. That sound okay?”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you later. Thanks again for helping me break the news to the team.”
“Anytime, sweetheart.”
Corey looked at him funny. “Oh so now it’s sweetheart? We moved from Corey, bypassed honey, and straight to sweetheart?”
He chuckled at her throwing his own words right back at him. “Touché, Corey Cooper.”
She smiled, shrugging one shoulder. “I wasn’t complaining, just wondering.” She called good-bye to the rest of the coaches and headed back toward the athletic building.
“How’d you already have a date with the new guidance counselor?” Linc asked.
Keller answered for him, grinning. “Dom moves fast, you boys know that.”
“I met her when she first got into town, before she interviewed with the dean. And this is actually our second date. Therefore we’re dating, so she’s off limits.” Dominic stared each one of his friends in the eye.
“Off limits after two dates? Date number two is typically when you bang them, act like an ass afterward, and then they’re fair game. Usually looking to try to piss you off by sleeping with one of your friends. What’s different about this girl?” Baze had a question in his eyes as he jerked his head in the direction of the athletic building into where Corey had disappeared.
“Look, it doesn’t matter why she’s off limits. She just is.” Dominic wasn’t ready to share the rest of the story with the group.
Keller, apparently, had other ideas. “She’s his. As in, his forever. He hasn’t told her yet.”
“Dammit, Keller,” Dominic growled.
“They need to know, Dom. You are going to become a jealous dick if they try to push you on this. Plus, when the boys start harmlessly flirting with her and you try to rip their heads off, we’re going to have to do damage control. So it’s best if we get this out in the open and we’re all on the same page. We’re here to help you, man, but this is new to all of us.”
He looked at his friends. No, these guys had become his family. And Keller was right. They were all in this together. If it were the other way around and this was happening to one of them, Dominic would do everything in his power to help.
“I didn’t realize it right away, but yeah, she’s mine. It has me on edge that she is going to be spending the week meeting with the team. I need her to like them and see past all their bullshit. But I’m terrified that if I have to choose between her and them, it’ll be her. I need them to be on their best behavior and not do anything to set me off.” Dominic took a deep breath and continued, “This is something I’ve avoided all my life, but it found me anyway. I am drawn to her. I need to be next to her on a level I don’t even understand.”
“Not trying to make the Hulk angry here, but have you, uh, you know…” Linc took a wary step back, putting some distance between them. “Sealed the deal?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no I haven’t.”
“Well, you need to,” Linc stated firmly. Dominic stared at his friend wondering what he was getting at. No fucking shit he needed to. He sure as hell wanted to.
“Linc is right, after you claim her, you’ll calm down some. I mean you’ll still have jealous possessive tendencies. But once you know without a doubt that she’s truly all yours, it’ll get easier.” Keller clapped him on the back, trying to show some support.
Linc tossed the ball he was holding in the air as he spoke. “The need to kick everyone’s ass will dwindle to maybe wanting to bitch-slap them.” He chuckled, always the one trying to make light of a serious situation.
Dom turned to Keller, ignoring Linc. “How do you know so much about this?”
Kell shrugged. “Anthropology. Riley was having trouble in that class last semester, so I sat in on a few to help him with his homework.”
Dom narrowed his eyes. “They teach that in the anthropology class?”
Linc answered, not liking being left out of the conversation. “Well, it’s the super special anthropology class. Dude, you need to pay more attention to what goes on off the field. All the juniors are required to take and pass that class. Maybe you should sit in on a lecture or two. Learn a little more about yourself.”
“Is that so? Have you taken that class too, Linc? What else did you learn?” Dominic now wore a smile as well. Friendly banter was a lot easier than talking about making love with his soul mate. Holy balls. Making love and soul mate in one sentence? He didn’t even know the first thing about making love. He’d never tried it before. Did they teach that in anthropology?
“I learned that my raging hormones will level out with time. And I learned that girls aren’t playthings and until I feel stable enough to control myself, I should stay away from them. I don’t recognize my own brute strength.” Linc winked as he tossed the ball back up into the air.
“That’s really what they teach in that class? Good god. No wonder our guys are so on edge. They think of themselves as ticking time bombs.” Dominic wondered if he should bring that up with the dean or go directly to the teacher. “We’ll deal with that later. Go get showered up. I expect all of you at the staff meeting tonight.”
“Come on, Dom, we never go to the staff meetings.” Baze spoke up, clearly irritated at having to spend his evening doing something so mundane.
“Tonight we all go.” Dom met each one of their eyes, showing them that he wasn’t even remotely kidding.
Keller nudged Linc with his elbow. “If he’s going to make us go, at least we can make it fun.”
“I like the way you think, K Man, what did you have in mind?”
Dom walked back toward the athletic building, not at all interested in what little scheme those two were going to cook up. The less he knew, the less trouble he could get in with Dean McCormick.
Chapter Eleven
Corey
Corey stood next to the dean later that evening while he was introducing her to her new peers. “Ms. Cooper comes to us all the way from Louisiana with a lot of experience and gumption.” He turned and looked at her, a knowing smile on his face. “I know she will be an asset to this campus. Now if you haven’t noticed, her office is not located in the admin building. We put her in the athletic building, since her main job right now is clearing our baseball team to start the season.” And because everyone thinks she’s helpless and in need of big muscly babysitters, Corey thought to herself. The dean gestured for her to step forward and say a few words.
She held her hand up in a lame attempt at a wave. “As Dean McCormick mentioned, I’m Corey Cooper and I am the new guidance counselor. I graduated from LSU and immediately went to work in an inner-city high
school close to where I grew up. I was the counselor there until last month, so for about four years. I decided I wanted a change and I wanted to see a little more of the world. Which is how I came about applying for a job all the way in Colorado.” She smiled, doing her best to win some friends. “I am really excited to be here.” Corey looked around, wondering what else she was supposed to say about herself.
She caught Keller’s face in the crowd and watched as he pulled his flannel shirt open, stripper style, to reveal a t-shirt that said Hot for Teacher. Then he gave her a big wink, causing her to snort and start to giggle. She cleared her throat, trying to compose herself so she could finish the speech.
“I, uh, well. Honestly I don’t know what else to say. As cliché as it sounds, my door is always open. And I’m always down to help out in any way I can. Please don’t hesitate to ask.” There, she thought, she recovered nicely from Keller’s little joke. Other than the unladylike snort she let out, she thought that went well.
Dean McCormick stepped forward again and started talking about the coffee filters in the teachers’ lounge. She tuned him out and went in search of Keller and Dominic. All four of the baseball coaches were lined up in the back of the room. Three of them were laughing quietly, and one of them looked murderous. Corey walked right up to Keller. “Absolutely love the shirt, Keller, thank you so much for the warm welcome.” She started laughing with them. “You made me snort in front of about fifty strangers. But don’t worry, payback’s a bitch.”
Keller chuckled. “I had to do something to make this meeting fun. I mean, who cares about coffee filters? These things are always so boring. We usually skip them, but Dom insisted we all had to be here tonight.”
Oh, so that was where the shirt came in. Keller was trying to keep himself entertained by pissing off Dominic. And by the look on his face, it had worked.
She gestured in Dominic’s direction, a smile on her face. “What crawled up his ass?” Even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“Oh don’t mind him. He’s jealous of my cool new shirt.”
Dominic looked over at Keller, and then Linc. “You two are worse than the kids on the team. I swear I can’t take you anywhere.” He pushed off the wall and grabbed Corey’s hand. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Yes, sir, I am. I have had a long day and a cold beer sounds amazing right about now.”
“Can we come too? Linc asked. “We like cold beer.”
“Nope,” Dominic answered as he pulled Corey out the door.
She smiled over her shoulder and blew the guys a kiss. It was like having a bunch of brothers. She’d grown up as an only child, so she was really enjoying this nice change of pace. At least they’d keep things fun around here.
Maybe she should make her own t-shirt? I’d Hit That or Backdoor Slider. She could probably make a play on the word wood too. Corey looked down and realized that she and Dominic were still holding hands. Even though she should still be pissed about that morning, she liked the feeling of her hand in his. It felt right. Natural.
They walked the short distance to his house in a comfortable silence. When they got inside his place, Corey dropped his hand and went to explore. His house looked a lot like hers. Where her furniture was white and fluffy, his was dark brown and leather. He was neat and tidy for a guy; his home was almost downright cozy. She was impressed.
“I’m going to run and change my shirt real quick, I came to the meeting straight from practice. Here’s my phone, pick a playlist. The docking station is on the windowsill in the kitchen. If you open the window, we’ll be able to hear the music outside on the patio.”
Corey took his phone and headed in the direction he pointed. First things first, she went to the fridge and grabbed two beers. Both looked like they had homemade labels. She was flipping through his music when he walked into the room. She narrowed her eyes, rereading the playlist choices on the screen. “What’s the Doin’ it playlist?”
“Uh, well…”
“It’s self-explanatory, isn’t it?”
“Yep. Exactly what you’re thinking. That’s what it is. But you know what? I’m sure there is a playlist called Patio Drinkin’ and since that’s what we’re doing you can pick that one and put it on the dock.” His lips were a thin line, waiting on her next move.
She shook her head, laughing. “Oh, no way. I have never wanted anything as much as I want to hear your Doin’ it playlist.” What better way to get to know someone than to hear what he considered sex music?
He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest like he didn’t have a care in the world. “All right, suit yourself. Your panties might fall off though.”
Corey picked the playlist and placed his phone on the iPod dock. The first song came on loud through the speakers. “Oh my god, is this Mr. Boombastic?”
“Hells yes it is. This song gets the ladies going more than any other song on that playlist.” He nodded in the direction of the speaker.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh I seriously doubt that.”
“I don’t. When I start singing that song, it shows them my playful side.” He winked. “Girls love it. They can’t get enough.”
Corey raised her eyebrows, leaning back against the counter. “Prove it.” She didn’t know why she’d said that. She didn’t know why she was egging him on, all but begging him to flirt with her. To touch her. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she didn’t have a lot of control when it came to Dominic Hardy, that much was clear.
“All right, don’t say I didn’t warn you, prepare to be turned on.”
Dominic started singing while he danced around the kitchen. It was the funniest, sexiest thing she had ever seen. He was right. He looked like he was having so much fun, and it was such a huge turn-on. She gripped the counter in front of her to keep from touching him when he danced over to where she stood. He continued to sing as he started to grind against her.
Oh fuck, why was this so hot? She laughed as he started to rap in her ear. Aw hell. She put her arms around his neck and started moving with him. Within seconds his movements went from playful to downright dirty. She had chills running up her spine, and she desperately wanted him to kiss her. She leaned her head back and looked up at him. His eyes mirrored the heat she knew was in her own. He dipped his head and captured her mouth, and she instantly opened for him. She ran her fingers through his hair and he trailed his hands down her back and grabbed her ass. He lifted her up and sat her on the kitchen counter.
The song was still playing as Dominic started rubbing against her core to the beat of the music. He pulled down the neckline of her shirt and placed kisses all along her collarbone and chest. She fisted her hands in his hair and held him in place. She needed more. She wanted all of him. She let out a little moan. “God I can’t get over how yummy you smell all the time.”
Dominic stopped suddenly, jarring her back into reality.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?” She was breathless and confused, and horny.
Dominic stayed where he was and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her against his chest in a tight embrace. “Look, Corey, I want this. Believe me, I want this. But we just met and I really don’t want to go too fast here. I mean we work together and—”
“Okay, yeah, no big deal. You’re right, we work together and getting into something too fast could really make things uncomfortable for everyone. Besides, I’m having fun with you and the other guys are great, no need to jeopardize all that.” She hoped she sounded chill and calm, because inside she was screaming, what the fuck?
“You sure? Please know that I do want this. But I want to know what this is first.”
“Really, Dom, it’s okay. I didn’t agree to come over tonight so we could have sex on your kitchen counter. It’s my fault, you tried to warn me about that song.” She chuckled, trying to seem unaffected by his abrupt about-face. “Let’s take our beers and go outside. We need to talk about my interviews for tomorrow anyway.”
Dominic d
ragged in, then let out, a deep breath as he let her go. He followed her out onto the back patio and sat down on the opposite side of his porch swing. Next to her but not touching her. And damn if she didn’t long for that touch.
“Okay, so who’s up first?” he asked as he opened his beer.
“Tyran Adams, Rhett Calder, and Shep Davenport. I’m doing this in alphabetical order, three boys a day.”
“Those three are all seniors, good kids. Adams and Calder are set to play college ball next year. They never give me any trouble in practice and their teachers have nothing but great things to say about them. Your first day of evals should be a cake walk.” Dominic started swinging them lightly, then draped his arm along the back of the bench. She wanted to scoot closer to him, but she didn’t.
“Good. It’ll be nice to ease into this. It’s going to be a long week and I’d be kidding myself if I thought every day was going to be a breeze.”
“The majority of the team isn’t going to give you any trouble. They’re pissed they have to be interrogated again. It’s nothing personal.”
Corey looked over at Dominic who was staring straight ahead, absentmindedly playing with her hair. She wondered if he even realized he was doing it. It felt amazing. She didn’t want to call attention to it, afraid that he’d stop. “Tell me more about the other coaches.”
“Why, you want to date one of them?” His tone suddenly sounded rough.
“What? No, I’m curious. You guys seem really close.” Was he jealous? He couldn’t possibly be, she had all but thrown herself at him fifteen minutes ago and he’d turned her down. Come to think of it, he’d done the same thing last night.