Zach blows out a breath so heavy he might as well be standing in a windstorm. “Half of Adeline’s team quit after yesterday. All the guys, and in case you’re bad at math, that’s six players.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Surely I’m hearing him wrong. “Training at the park went really well. I’m having building maintenance problems here, so it was a brilliant idea and saved us valuable training time.”
“Really?” Sean says. “Then why won’t any of them come back unless we find a new coach?”
I run fingers through my hair. “You tell me. Everyone seemed happy with the workout at the end of the day.”
Except Mack.
Fuck. That douche must be making waves because Red didn’t welcome his attention.
“Their ring leader wouldn’t happen to be Mack?” I ask.
The silence on the line answers my question.
“Look. Get rid of that asshole, not Red. She doesn’t deserve it.”
“Red?” Sean lets out a sarcastic laugh. “I knew there was more to the story than you let on during our first meeting with Adeline.”
Shit. I’m irritated that I let that slip. “What?” I play dumb. “It’s a nickname.”
“It’s a pet name,” Sean says. “And your judgment is obviously clouded because you’re sleeping with her. Or want to sleep with her.”
I’m so pissed a muscle at my jaw tics. “I’m going to take a few deep breaths and pretend you didn’t say that.” My decision to follow Red’s lead and train both teams at the park was sound.
“You do that.” Sean’s voice rises. “In the meantime, we’ll be out looking for another replacement.”
“First of all, I can’t very well control what she does, since she’s the coach of her own team. And she’s a damn good one, I might add, but I’m not her babysitter. I’m her peer. Secondly, my team is better off for having trained her way. And third, I’m not understanding why she’s getting railroaded here.” I blow out an angry breath, even though I know exactly why. No way can we recruit and train six new team members in the time we’ve got left before the event. “Mack’s a troublemaker. Why not drop him from the lineup?”
“Can’t for a lot of reasons,” Zach says. “He’s obviously convinced all the male players on his team to follow his lead. If they don’t come back, we’re screwed. Plus, Mack’s uncle is on the event committee and a big shot in the mayor’s office. If we get rid of Mack, we’ll likely have to cancel the whole damn thing.”
Goddamn, this is turning into a cluster fuck. When Red came on board, I thought I was doing us all a favor, including Red, by playing Zach and Sean’s game: train with her, bring her up to speed, go easy on her, don’t crush her, suggest a friendly coaches’ challenge…and maybe even let her win it. It seemed harmless at the time, especially since the alternative was canceling the event altogether. If we canceled, I’d lose my chance at expanding in the near future and she’d lose the free advertising for her studio.
But now? After sleeping with her. After starting to fall for her.
It doesn’t seem so harmless anymore. It seems like I helped set her up for failure, now that she’s about to get fired as a coach.
“You do realize what’s at stake if this event falls through after we’ve invested so much time, resources, and money?” Sean’s voice is hard. “We can’t have a competition if there aren’t two teams to compete against each other. Those corporate contracts you want to land will be gone, Adeline’s yoga studio won’t get the exposure she was hoping for, Zach’s PR firm will lose clients because of the bad press, and I’ll be lucky if I can get a job organizing a pie eating contest at a county fair in south Jersey.”
“I get it,” I growl. “None of us will come out of this smelling like a rose garden. If it’s canceled at this late date, we’ll smell more like horse shit.”
“Okay, let’s all calm down,” Zach intervenes. “Ethan understands just as well as anybody what we’ll lose if this event doesn’t happen.”
Yes, I fucking do.
But I can’t let them toss Red out for no reason other than the wounded ego of a guy who goes by the name Mack Truck.
“She deserves for you two to listen to her side of the story,” I say.
“You’re right.” Zach’s smooth, understanding tone tells me he’s switched into public relations mode. “If she’s there, put her on the phone.”
“No,” I say flatly. “Let her show you. Be at the park right after lunch. You can watch the workout in person.”
I fall silent and wait.
“I think that’s fair,” Zach finally says. “Sean?”
“Alright,” Sean says. “The clock is ticking, though. If we don’t like what we see, she’s gone. I’ll have a replacement by tomorrow.”
“Fine.” My voice is flat and choppy. “But I’ve got a demand of my own, and it’s non-negotiable.” I swivel back and forth in my chair. “I want all six of the guys who quit to be at the park today. After you see her in action, they need to look us in the eye and tell us Red’s…” I clear my throat. “Adeline’s workout isn’t worthwhile.”
Zach and Sean both hesitate like they’re thinking it over.
“I’ll make sure they’re there,” Zach finally says.
No idea how Zach’s going to convince them to show up, and frankly, I don’t give a good goddamn. I just know I want all of them present when Red makes Mack look like an ass.
If anyone can prove him wrong, it’s Red. All she has to do is kick ass and take names on the playground again today.
Aaaand fuck. That sounds ridiculous, even to me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I pull Red into my office and give her the details. She keeps her game face on and takes the news better than most would.
“So that’s why half my team didn’t show up this morning,” she says.
I put my arms around her and brush a kiss across her forehead. “We’ll figure this out.”
After we break for lunch, we head over to the park a few minutes early to be sure to arrive before our teams. We stroll across the grassy lawn toward the playground on the far side. A gentle spring breeze shuttles puffy white clouds across the sky, and they cast shadows on the skyscrapers in the distance. No one we know is around, so I take her hand, thread my fingers through hers, and bring her hand to my lips.
“You’ve got this,” I say.
She gives me a nervous smile, then her eyes widen. “I forgot my gym bag.” She shakes her head. “I was so distracted by the news that I didn’t even think to grab it from your office.”
I shrug. “We can stop by the gym later and pick it up. Got your phone?”
She pulls her cell from the pocket of her windbreaker.
“Good.” I give her hand a playful waggle. “I was counting on showing you how hot sexting is when I invite you over to my place again tonight.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. “That sounds like an offer I won’t be able to refuse.”
“Babe, you definitely won’t want to pass on this one.” I bounce both eyebrows up and down. Yeah, I’m being a little silly, but I want to ease some of the tension that’s been building in Red since I gave her the gist of my convo with Zach and Sean.
As we get closer, a few parents are playing with their kids on the slide and swing set. At the front of the playground equipment, a group of hulking guys huddle together around the stools that are secured to the ground with giant springs. It’s Mack and the team members who quit.
I drop Red’s hand because I don’t want to give these troublemakers any more reasons to make waves for her.
Mack glances over a shoulder, does a double take, and says something to the rest. They all look in our direction.
“Hold up,” I say to Red. I don’t want to force a confrontation yet. What I’ve got planned for Mack needs to happen in front of Zach, Sean, and the rest of the team members.
Red narrows her eyes at them.
“No worries. This’ll be over soon, and they won’t be
a problem anymore.”
I help Red stretch while we wait. Ten minutes later, both teams are standing around the playground. Mack and his band of laughable lunkheads stick to themselves. Zach and Sean walk up together and speak to the parents who have kids playing around the equipment. They take their kids by the hands and lead them away.
I clap my hands. “Everybody gather round,” I say, my voice all serious competitiveness.
Every member of both teams moves in closer. Except Mack and his lunkheads. I give Zach a hard-ass stare so he’ll do something.
He puts two fingers in his mouth and lets a whistle rip. “Party’s over here.” He waves over the mutinous bastards.
They skulk toward the crowd. Literally skulk.
I plan to launch into the speech that’s been brewing in my brain all morning: Only small men are afraid to be coached by a woman. Make every one of them feel an inch tall. Make them look even smaller. Then after Red schools all of them on how to conquer playground equipment like a boss, I’ll have every female contestant demonstrate how Red’s training methods are highly effective. Nothing like seeing them in action first hand.
When the lunkheads join the fringe of the group, I say, “It seems some of you have a problem—”
Red squeezes the back of my arm to shut me down. “I’ve got this, Ethan.” She clears her throat. “I understand some of you might have concerns about how we’re training while Ethan’s air conditioning is out. My way may seem peculiar and it was probably an unexpected shift in direction, but I felt yesterday’s training session was successful.”
All of the ladies nod. So do the men on my team who were loyal enough to stick around.
Probably a good thing Red took over. She’s being far more diplomatic than I would be.
“In fact, I believe in it so much, that I’m willing to make you a deal,” she says, and her stare locks onto Mack.
Now this is interesting.
“Mack, since you seem to be the most skeptical, how about a little exhibition. We’ll both run through this makeshift obstacle course.” She waves a hand across the length of the playground equipment. “Because if you really gave it a fair chance yesterday, and still think this is an inadequate method, then you should have no problem maneuvering the course today, right?”
Mack blanches.
I hold back a smirk. Bet he wishes he hadn’t been jacking around when we were here yesterday while everyone else was actually training.
“Sean and Zach, will you time us?” Red asks.
“Of course,” Sean says and pulls out his phone.
“Sure thing.” Zach does the same.
“The person who completes the course in the least amount of time wins,” Red says.
Mack sputters.
And I can’t keep the shit-eating grin off my face because Red is so fucking clever. She obviously doesn’t need me to fight her battles because she’s badass enough on her own. I still wouldn’t mind though. I protect what’s mine.
My chest swells. Red is mine.
“No way.” Mack shakes his head. “This is a trick, isn’t it?”
Poor guy. He must’ve lost his spot in line when they were handing out IQs.
“Nope. No trick,” Zach says. “Seems fair to me.”
Sean sweeps a gaze across Team Lunkhead. “Your complaints were that real athletes don’t train on monkey bars and swing sets. You guys felt Adeline wasn’t working you hard enough. Here’s your chance to prove it.”
“If I lose, I’ll willingly step down as coach.” Red unzips her windbreaker and hands it to one of her teammates. “But if I win, all six of you have to come back and compete your hearts out. If you don’t give it your best during the competition, we both lose. I lose the prize money that’s up for grabs for the coaches, and none of you will land endorsements or spots on the reality TV shows that will be watching from the stands.”
What? No way. I don’t want Mack anywhere near her if he loses this thing.
“What if we say no?” Mack asks, his face pasty white with fear.
“Then you’re all out,” Sean says to the half dozen guys who are spearheading this mutiny. “We’ll redistribute the teams as best we can and move on without you.”
“You’ll lose the city’s support and a lot of your sponsors, too,” Mack huffs.
“Probably, but you won’t be competing at all.” Zach calls Mack’s bluff. “Everything you hoped to gain out of this competition will be out of your reach. You started this bullshit, so let’s finish it here and now.”
All of Team Lunkhead either shifts nervously or looks uncertain because Mack’s power play is failing.
The dimness in his eyes starts to brighten. Just a little, mind you, because I don’t think there’s much wattage going on in his head. “Okay.” He strips off his hoodie and hands his backpack to a fellow lunkhead. “Ladies first.”
“Knock ‘em dead,” I whisper so that only Red can hear.
“Wait a minute,” one of the lunkheads says. His name is Sam, and he gives Mack a nervous look. “Sorry, dude, but I didn’t sign up to hurt her.”
“Shut it, Sam,” Mack hisses.
Hurt her. Those words ring in my ears. Swear to God, my defensive posture inflates so much that I grow four inches, and it’s entirely possible I could turn green and bust out of my clothes.
I take a step toward Mack, but Zach steps in front of me with a hand on my chest to hold me back. “Wait a minute, buddy.”
“Sam, want to tell us what’s going on?” Sean asks. “Or anyone else?” His gaze scans the lunkheads.
“We went along with Mack because he said we didn’t need an outsider coaching us. He said his uncle would make sure he slid into the coach’s position if Adeline washed out.” Sam shifts from one running shoe to the other.
“Sam,” Mack hisses again like the snake that he is.
Wouldn’t surprise me if he has a forked tongue.
“We kind of agree that bringing in an outsider wasn’t best for the team.” Sam gives Red a sheepish look. “It’s not personal, Adeline. It’s just that we’ve been working hard for months, and we figure one of our own deserves a chance.”
Adeline’s expression is unreadable.
Mack starts to back away, but Team Lunkhead turns out to not be so lunkheaded after all. They close the gap around Mack and box him in.
“Mack asked us to get here before the rest of you arrived. He loosened a bolt on one of the stools that Adeline had us use for agility and balance training.” Sam looks at Zach. “When you called and told us to be here, you said Adeline was going to demonstrate her training methods before you made a decision about getting rid of her.” Sam points to the last stool Adeline would’ve hopped on before launching onto the next section of the playground obstacle course. “Mack figured she’d have so much momentum going that she’d jump on it hard like the spring board we use at the gym to mount the obstacle course.” He kicks at an invisible rock on the ground. “The plan was for it to collapse under her weight.”
Red gasps and covers her mouth with a hand. “And end my athletic career…again. At least as far as this event is concerned,” she whispers against her fingers like she’s talking to no one but herself.
Sam stares at the ground. The rest of the quitters wear pained expressions, their shoulders slumping.
“They’re lying,” Mack says.
One of the quitters says, “The tools he used to loosen the bolt are in his backpack.”
Mack glares at the guy who just gave him up.
I’d laugh if I didn’t want to throttle the asswipe.
“He tried getting friendly with her first,” Sam says. “Thought he could manipulate the way she coaches and control her if they were together.”
Adeline lets a tiny sound slip through her lips, and I know what she’s thinking. Know what a nerve this strikes, because it’s exactly what her ex did. He got close to her, manipulated her, gained control of her money, then jerked the carpet from under her feet. She lost ev
erything because of her ex, and Mack was trying to pull the same underhanded bullshit.
Worry slithers up my spine. In a way, I’ve done the same thing. Okay, it’s not really the same thing, but she has trust issues because of dishonest guys. There’s money at stake, just like there was with her ex. And I haven’t been completely forthcoming about the coaches’ challenge.
Shit. Now that I’m thinking about it, comparing it to her situation with her ex, it looks bad. Sure, her studio stands to gain a lot of recognition from the challenge, but I need to rectify this snowballing clusterfuck as soon as we’ve dealt with Mack.
“But she blew Mack off.” Sam keeps spilling his guts like it’s good to get it out in the open.
The rest of the quitters are wearing expressions that convince me Sam’s telling the truth.
“That’s when he came to us with the plan to quit so you’d be forced to get rid of her.” Sam holds up both hands. “I swear we never agreed to anyone getting hurt.”
Mack’s expression turns sullen.
I growl under my breath ready to pounce on him for fucking with my woman.
“Look, we’re sorry,” Sam says. “I know that doesn’t make up for it, but none of us thought he’d go this far.”
The quitters nod and mumble.
Mack’s face turns scarlet.
Adeline is trying to put up a brave front, but I notice the slight quiver of her lip before she pulls it between her teeth.
I ease closer to her, hoping to be of some comfort. I can’t touch her, put my arms around her, or kiss her the way I want to. It would undermine her even more to do that in front of everyone. But I know she’s hurting, and so I plan to do all of those things when we’re alone.
Sean scrubs a hand down his face. “Okay, show’s over, people. Take the rest of the afternoon off. Let’s meet at the gym tomorrow morning, regular time, and I’ll have a decision on how we’re going to handle this.” He turns to Mack. “Except you. No need for you to be there tomorrow. You’re banned from the event.”
“You can’t do that,” Mack insists. “My uncle won’t allow it.”
“I’ve got every word on video.” One of Adeline’s teammates holds up her phone.
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