Hustle and Heart

by Alison Mello

“Okay, I’ll pick two games and let you know when they are.” I make another note. “I didn’t get a huge response from the email I sent out, so I’m hoping after the meeting tomorrow we’ll get a better response.”

  “Karen!” I look over to see who’s calling me. Michelle, one of our team moms who also volunteers with the league, is waiving me over. I jump up and jog over. “Here is your bag of jerseys, pants, and belts. You have a list of who gets which sizes, right?”

  “I do. Thanks.”

  She winks at me. “You got it.”

  I jog back over with the stuff and sit on the blanket. With my list in hand I separate the pants and jerseys by sizes. “Stella, DJ is down for a medium jersey. I have numbers, 73, 69, 54….”

  She cuts me off. “Fifty-four.”

  Misty laughs. “Girl, you will be here forever if you do that.”

  I shrug. “I’m only doing it for you... shhh”

  “Mason is a large, just give me a jersey.” Misty laughs. “He doesn’t care about his number.”

  Stella looks at her shocked. “I bet he does.”

  Misty shakes her head. “Oh well.” She shrugs. “Now he’s number 87,” she says, glancing down at the first shirt on the pile.

  I hand her number 87 and continue handing them out from there. I finish just as Jesse blows the whistle to end practice.

  The kids all come running over and tonight the parents are all gathered around me. “Give me your attention, boys,” I shout, but they aren’t listening, so I grab Jesse’s whistle and blow it hard causing them all to freeze. “Your parents are all gathered around me. I want you to go to each of your parents. Take off your practice jersey and put on your game jersey. They will be tight, but get them on and let us see them.”

  “Here’s the trick.” Jesse scans the crowd of boys. “Gabe, come here.” I pick up his jersey and hand it to Jesse. “Pull the pads off and slip the jersey over the pads. Boys, you’ll put your hands in the air and your parents will feed your arms threw the sleeves and pull both your pads and jersey down over your head. Then you can tighten the string on your pads and tuck your shirt in.” Jesse shows them as he gives the instructions.

  It takes a little bit of struggling, but everyone gets their jerseys on and they all fit nicely. “Don’t forget to try on your pants when you get home. I need to know if anyone has an issue at practice tomorrow so I can get you a different size.” Once all the parents agree, Jesse dismisses the team for the night. It’s getting late and we need to get the kids home and ready for school tomorrow.

  “Gabe, get into the truck,” Jesse tells him, and he walks me to my car. Jason climbs in the back, but before he opens my door he leans on the car. “Listen, about earlier.” I’m about to speak when he holds up his hand to stop me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, but he threw me off showing up here pretending like he cares all of a sudden.”

  “I understand. He threw me off too.”

  He shakes his head. “I need to have more control than that. I need to set an example not only for my son, but yours.”

  “You did. You defended your woman and that, in my opinion, is way more than Brian has ever done.” I look away for just a second to compose myself. “You see, I realized that he thought because he bought me the world it was okay for him to cheat on me and do as he pleased, but he was wrong and the more I think about it, the more I realize I knew what he was doing. I was just scared to admit it.” I take a step closer. “That said, I won’t allow him to mess with my life or Jason’s anymore.”

  He slips his hand into my hair at the nape of my neck. “I’m so glad to hear that.” He presses his lips to mine. “I will always defend the both of you when I feel you’re being threatened.”

  “Thank you.” He kisses me one more time and opens my door. “Have a good night.”

  “You too.”

  I can’t believe how much I’ve missed her in my bed. I see her almost every night at the field. We eat dinner together. The kids play so well together too, but in the four weeks we’ve been seeing each other, she’s only stayed over once. It makes me so grateful that I convinced her to spend the night last night. I told her it only made sense since the four of us have to be at the middle school for our weigh-in shortly.

  Unfortunately, Brian showed up at the field last night, and he made her look like the bad guy. He started to walk off with Jason and asked her what time she was picking him up. When Brian refused to drop Jason off, Karen said he couldn’t take Jason. We would have had to pick him up ridiculously early to get him there on time. Karen told me he cried almost the entire ride to my house, but she was glad they had the chance to talk. Jason sent his father a text and his father blamed Karen but promised to show up to the first game of the season.

  I press my lips to hers, and she starts to stir. “Is it time to get up already?”

  “It is. Did I keep you up too late last night?”

  Her eyes flutter open. “You did, but it was well worth it.” A smile spreads across her lips.

  “I agree.” I press my lips to hers again, and this time our tongues collide.

  She rolls on top of me and pulls away. “If you start that again, we will be late.” She shimmies her body over my semi-hard cock.

  “Are we being a tease?”

  She rolls her hips. “Me?” She feigns innocence, climbing off me.

  “Yeah you.” I throw a pillow at her. She giggles and runs into my bathroom.

  When I hear the water start I jump from the bed and run to the shower to join her. I catch her as she’s tipping her head back to wet her hair. She looks beautiful with wet hair hanging down her back, her perky breasts on display for me. My semi-hard cock is now fully erect. I ditch my shorts and climb in with her. My fingers skim her hardened nipples. She bites her lip and opens her eyes just as my lips meet hers. Her hands glide over my ass pressing my cock into her stomach. She moans into my mouth then pulls away leaving me wanting more, but she grabs my body wash, squirting it into her hand. She begins slowly working my cock, stroking it and cleaning it. Her hand roams down to my balls, massaging them with one hand as she strokes me with the other. Fuck, I think I’m going to lose it until she steps to the side to rinse the soap away.

  When she’s satisfied, her lips connect with my neck. She peppers kisses down my chest and takes a seat on the bench. Her fingers gently caress my balls, and the feeling sends a shiver up my spine. I look down as her lips connect with the tip of my cock. She sucks on just the head of it before she pulls away and licks up the entire length. When she gets back to the tip she sucks me in further. She works me, sucking me deeper and deeper each time. My hips start to move in rhythm with her mouth. I’m trying to be gentle, but I can’t help it. She feels so fucking good. “Yes, fuck my mouth, Jesse.”

  I slip my fingers into her hair, pulling gently as I roll my hips, fucking her beautiful, warm mouth as she requested. “Fuck, Karen. I’m going to lose it.” She sucks me harder, and it sends me over. I feel the pull in my balls, my head falls back, and I seat myself at the back of her throat emptying myself as she swallows down all I’m giving her. My legs shake as she squeezes my ass, not letting me pull away just yet.

  When she finally lets go, I grab her by the arms to pull her up from the seat. I slam her to the wall and my lips crash down on hers, no doubt bruising them. I taste myself on her, and it only makes me want her more. I press my forehead to hers. “God, I want to take you right now, but we have to go.” I gently squeeze her breast. “Tonight, this body is mine, and trust me when I say I’m going to savor every inch of you.”

  She licks her lips. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Good, because we have to get going.” I look down at my watch. “We are running a little late.” She bursts into laughter, but we both quickly wash up and then get dressed.

  When we get downstairs, the boys are pacing the living room. “Gram says we’re going to be late.” Gabe plants his hands on his hips.

  “Relax, bud, we’re
fine.”

  “Here.” Josephine hands us both a travel mug of coffee and a muffin in a bag. She winks and ushers us out the door.

  It’s a Saturday morning so there’s minimal traffic. We pull up to the school with fifteen minutes to spare before the buses are even scheduled to leave. The boys get out to talk with their friends, but Karen and I sit to enjoy our muffins and coffee. When we’re done, we get out of the truck and head over to the area our boys have gathered at. Trystan, Blake, and Derek are all here with their kids. Our team will all be on the same bus, and we all get to go so I have plenty of adult supervision which is great.

  “Brady,” I call over.

  “Yes, Coach.”

  “Did you do as we discussed?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.” He is close on weight, so I told him to watch what he ate this week and to wear the lightest shorts he had with nothing more than a tank top under his jersey. I need him for my offensive and defensive lines.

  Mike blows his whistle and asks all the coaches to gather around. Karen stays with the boys while we go listen to what he has to say. “Jesse and Reggie. Your teams are on the first bus. Make sure you have all your boys and load them up. Report anyone who is missing to me.” We both nod and head over to our teams.

  “Karen, do we have everyone?”

  “We do.”

  “Great, load ‘em up, boys. The first bus, fill in all the way to the back.” They all cheer and run to the bus, hurrying up the steps. It thrills me to see Jason and Gabe sit together. They’re already becoming good friends, and it makes me so happy because I can see Karen and me being together for a long time. I slip into a seat, and Karen sits next to me.

  I nod toward the boys. “Did you notice they sat together?”

  “I did. I think it’s awesome. Jason used to ask me all the time if I would give him a brother, but Brian didn’t want anymore kids.” She looks over to see them talking and playing on their phones. “I think he’s thrilled to have another boy to hang with.”

  “I know what you mean. Gabe was thrilled when we told him he was going to have a sibling, but he was slightly disappointed when he found out his sibling was a sister.” The bus doors shut, and the driver asks everyone to have a seat because we’re about to leave.

  Everyone is seated, but it’s rowdy on the bus. The kids are so excited, they’re playing music, singing, and some are playing on their phones. I look over my shoulder to see Gabe taking a selfie of himself, Jason, Mason and DJ. These are the memories I want for my kids, not the sad ones they have of their mom. Karen sees it too and grabs her phone. She winks at me and then snuggles into my side, taking our first picture together. “Thank you.”

  I kiss her on the head. “Will you send it to me?”

  “Of course.” She unlocks her phone and texts the image over to me and then sets it as the wallpaper on her phone.

  We finally make it to the school we’re weighing in at, and it’s a zoo. Per Pop Warner rules, all players must have one initial weigh in by the Pop Warner board at a predetermined location. Teams from all the surrounding towns are here to do their weigh-ins as well, and it makes me nervous. I blow my whistle and stand up. “Listen up.” I pause, waiting for everyone to get quiet. “There are a ton of people here all looking to do the same thing we are. We need to stay together as teams. Mighty Mights, make sure you stay with your team mom and coaches until your turn. Junior Peewee, same for you. We all have to weigh-in together or this will become a mess and take forever.”

  “Yes, Coach,” my team shouts.

  “Mighty Mights, follow me.” Reggie gets off the bus and gathers his players off to the side. Once they’re squared away, I do the same. We weigh in by order of age, so the Tiny Mights go first, then Mighty Mights, Junior Peewee, Peewee and then Junior Varsity is last. This means we have to keep these kids under control. It seems to be going pretty quickly. They have two lines, and each one takes a team.

  Mike approaches us. “Okay, they’re almost done with Franklin and we’re after them, so let’s keep everyone together.”

  “You got it.” Karen and my other coaches help me keep my team together as we move toward the gym door. There are players running around everywhere, and it annoys the piss out of me. I gather my boys around, using this as a learning opportunity. “You all see how those kids are running around and acting all crazy?”

  “Yes, Coach.”

  “Behave that way and you won’t be able to use your arms for a week, because they are going to ache from all the pushups and crab walks you’ll be doing. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, Coach.”

  “Good.”

  They all stand around in our small circle. They’re talking and playing around, but they’re behaving and I’m glad. It’s important to our town that we represent everywhere we go.

  It doesn’t take too long before Mike comes over and tells us to line up for our weigh-in. Each child has their jersey. When they get to the front of the line their picture is taken with a polaroid camera and attached to their file with their initial weigh-in. There are very specific rules for the league in regard to weight and age. This is to prevent coaches from stacking teams and kids getting hurt. The kids are allowed to gain no more than two pounds a week for a maximum weight of eight pounds. If they go over that, they are bumped up to the next level. Most of my boys are good; the only ones I have to worry about are Brady and Aiden. Aiden isn’t quite as close as Brady is. They’ve just started weighing my team, and I’m keeping an eye out. When it gets to Brady’s turn, I can see from his fidgeting that he’s nervous. He steps on the scale and makes it by one pound. I fist bump him.

  “Nice job, bud. Now keep it up so I don’t lose you.”

  “I got you, Coach.” He walks over to Karen and the boys that have already weighed in to give them the good news.

  As soon as my team is done, I get them loaded onto the bus. They’re all cheering and screaming because the entire team made it through weigh-in. I can’t help but laugh. “Okay, okay. Calm down. I know you’re all excited, but save some energy for the party.” I take my seat, and the buses pull away.

  I thought the bus ride there was long, but the ride back feels like it’s ten times longer. The kids are all singing and trying to guess the team song, but they’re all wrong. It makes me laugh. The coaches and I all took a good amount of time trying to figure out what we should do for a song. We wanted it to be a song that would excite them and motivate them. Something that would really pump them up when they run onto the field. The song that we chose isn’t exactly in alignment with my taste, but it’s about the kids and we all agree they will be thrilled.

  Karen kneels on the seat to record the kids all having fun. She has a huge smile on her face, and it’s infectious.

  “I’m so glad I did this. I wouldn’t want to miss moments like this.” She shuts the camera off and puts her phone into her purse.

  “I’m glad you did it too. You are certainly making the season more bearable.”

  “Oh I know, because you look so miserable out there on the field,” she says with laughter.

  “No, I’m definitely not, but it’s nice to have you standing there looking all sexy.” I lower my voice so no one else can hear me. She blushes, and I’m taken back to our high school days. She was so shy and would always blush so easily.

  When we get to the school[22][23][24], the kids all start to jump up from their seats, but Reggie tells the bus driver to keep the doors closed until they’re under control. This is why I carry my whistle because they’re not grasping what’s going on. One blow of it and the entire bus chills out. “Thanks, Coach Jesse.”

  “No problem.”

  “I’m not letting anyone off this bus until you all calm down.” All the kids take their seats. “That’s better. Now, we’re going to exit the bus the same way we did when we got to weigh-ins. My team will follow me off the bus and down onto the practice field for the celebration. When we get down there, you can all run wild and hav
e fun. NO ONE under any circumstances is to leave that field without notifying your team mom. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, Coach,” the kids all shout.

  “Good, now let’s get off this bus and have some fun.” The bus doors open and, as instructed, the kids get off and follow me down to the field. When we get down there, we’re surprised with a field that has been completely redone. There’s a huge bounce house maze blown up in the middle. There are pop-up tents set up with food and beverages. There are some footballs off to the side for those who want to throw the ball around, and parents are all standing around cheering as the boys’ faces light up with excitement. I tell my boys to run and have fun, and that’s exactly what they do. They all take off down the hill. Some go to their parents to say hi. Some run straight to the food, and others kick off their shoes to run through the bounce house obstacle course.

  Karen and I walk down hand in hand to find our friends and as usual, they’re all sitting together. The mom squad, as they call it, is all hanging in a circle. They instantly stop talking to say hi and hug Karen. I tell her that I’ll be back. I have to go find out what time we’re pulling the kids in and such.

  “Hey, ladies.” I hug all of my friends.

  “How was the bus ride? Was it pure torture?” Haddie asks.

  I show them the picture of Jesse and me on my phone. “What do you think?

  Misty wiggles her brows at me. “It looks to me like you two are getting awfully cozy.” She bumps me with her shoulder.

  “Check this out.” I open the video of the kids from the bus. “They were having so much fun.”

  They all watch the short clip of the kids singing and dancing in their seats. “Jason and Gabe look pretty buddy, buddy,” Stella says.

  “They get along so well.” I tuck my phone in my butt pocket. “He was pretty excited when I told him we were spending the weekend at Jesse’s again.”

  “The hell he is.” My head whips around to see Brian standing there.

  “What are you doing here? I told you last night after you made a stink at the field he was not going with you tonight.”