Max nodded and picked out some food from the cafeteria line. The food looked better and the girls, there wasn’t much else to the college life. Zach already invited him to a party after the game the next day and he was already looking forward to getting to know some of the lovely ladies that he had passed earlier in the day.
“I am ready to play. I was worried that it would be strange, me taking over for someone, but I am glad to see that not everyone is cursing my existence at the moment.”
Zach chuckled. “No, just Liam is pissed, but he will get over it. The man has to know that he had missed half of the throws last year and in training camp he wasn’t doing any better. He has to know that he sucks. He is just here for the scholarship.”
Max followed his new friend to a table and sat down. He felt eyes on him and waved at a couple of chicks that were giving him the eye. He was there for the women and the boos, but he wasn’t going to tell Zach. The blonde man seemed way too into the sport and he tried to match enthusiasm, though it was hard to do. By the end of it, he was exhausted and went back to the dorm room by himself. Laying down, Max thought of the next day and the big game. It was his chance to make himself known to Parbrook and he was hoping that the party would bring more than the start of reputation. He was looking for a girl and there were several that he had seen that would do.
***
“Come on man. You have been sleeping through that alarm for ten minutes.”
Max’s dark eyes adjusted to the light and the man’s face looking at him. It was disconcerting and he was taken back a little. Max needed a minute to remember where he was. There was too much sun in the room and he knew that getting some good black out curtains needed to be on his list.
“Sorry Zach. I just needed the sleep I guess.”
“Well get up. You don’t want to be late for class. I know that you are on probation.”
Max sat up and grimaced. It seemed that everyone knew why he was there and the troubles that brought him there. Max was not used to feeling that way, but he knew that he just had to deal with it a couple of weeks. Once people got to know him, he wouldn’t feel like such an outsider.
“Thanks for getting me up. I have had too much time off in between. Is there a practice or anything tonight before the game?”
Zach shook his head. “No the assistant will be there for warm ups, but coach won’t get there till about twenty minutes before the game.”
Max wasn’t really listening, even though he should have been. All he could think about was the heavy dull sound in his head and the bright light in his eyes. He felt like he had a hangover, but he haven’t even drank the night before. He didn’t hear what was said about the assistant. It was information that would be helpful in the near future, but he wasn’t paying attention to hear it.
He waved bye to the roommate that was already ready to leave for the day. Max was never much of a morning person and he didn’t leave for almost an hour, showing up to class a minute early and in sun glasses. Max didn’t want to be there, but he knew that he had to act right. His future depended on it. If he couldn’t keep it together in college, there was no way that his father was going to let him take over the business.
Chapter 2
Max wasn’t the only one that was late. He saw a tall, brunette walk in a few minutes after him. She spoke to the professor and then smiled at him. Max heard the sound of her laugh from where he was in the back. The woman sat in the first row and he watched her for a time while the professor droned on. Max was fighting sleep and the only thing keeping him awake was watching the young woman. She was just is type and he wondered if she was single.
He tried to catch up with her at the end of the class, but she was gone before he could down from the back of the class. Max checked for her out in the front and she was gone. Almost afraid that he hadn’t seen her at all, Max wanted to ask someone about her, but another brunette and her friend walked up to them and sidetracked him.
“So you are the new guy that is going to be playing football, right?”
He shook his head and introduced himself. His smile came easy and he wasn’t thinking about the girl from class anymore. His mind was effectively pushed onto something else and he walked with the two to lunch. Parbrook was going to be just like every other school and Max was going to rule it before he knew it. That was his hopes anyways. That was what he wanted to happen and with a woman on each side of him, it was starting out perfectly.
Max had Zach in his class after lunch and he was giving him the run down for the game that evening. The professor left them alone, pretty common in a school that put so much emphasis on sports. Zach also introduced him to a few more of the team mates and by the end of it, Max was feeling a little better. The team had some very different plays and when he asked who thought them up. He was told it was all the assistant. Max was starting to think that he really needed to meet the assistant because they seemed to be the one that was coaching, not the actual coach.
It was about six in the evening before he made his way to the playing field. It was a home game, first of the season and the stands were already starting to fill up when he arrived. There was a buzz in the air and it made him smile. There was nothing better than the feeling of the crowd. Max was going to make sure that he made an impression tonight. Before it was all over, everyone would know who he was.
***
“So what do you want me to do with Hunter? He hasn’t even practiced with the team yet and you want to have him start?”
Billy nodded his head and liked to watch the assistant squirm. She was only there because of who her father was. He was famous for coaching ten years for Detroit, but he was retired and Laurel was trying to pick up the torch. She was young and she was a she, those were two strikes against her. There was nothing else that Billy wanted to do with her, but he knew that she was there for a reason, most likely to take over his job. The man was so sure that she would fall on her face that he had given her the first game to show what she was made of.
Laurel saw it as an opportunity to prove him wrong. It wasn’t hard to understand his hesitation. There was not a lot of welcoming souls for a woman in football, but like her father, she was bound and determined and once a Clancy put their mind to something, they didn’t stop until they got what they wanted. Laurel wasn’t sure yet how far she wanted to go, but she knew it was much higher than a college coach. Parbrook was a good school, with a good program, but not what she was looking for. She wanted to coach a professional team one day.
“Well if that is what you want Sir. I am sure you have thought about how the team is going to mesh out there with a new leader.”
Billy took it as a shot at his job, but Laurel didn’t mean it that way. She was gritted her teeth to agree with his silly plan, just so that he would stop being the way he was. Laurel knew that the man didn’t like her and she was aware of the reasoning, but after trying to prove that she wasn’t out to steal his job one too many times, all Laurel tried to do was grin and bear it. He had been acting strangely the last couple of weeks and he was never available to be at the practices anymore. She was starting to wonder what it was that he was actually getting paid for.
“Good, I am glad you agree. Now if there isn’t anything else…”
“Are you going to be there tonight Sir?”
He shook his head. “No I have to take care of some things at home. It will be all on you, so don’t make me look bad.”
She nodded and was going to say more, but realized then that it was useless to try and worry about it. The man didn’t want her around and Laurel likened it to pouting. He was upset that he hadn’t stressed her out and she just smiled back at him before leaving the man’s small office. He was leaving right before the game started and Laurel wasn’t stupid. She knew that he was leaving because he wanted her to fail.
Smiling to herself and shaking off the ill feelings of the meeting, Laurel went back towards the locker room. It was something that Billy usually did, especially since every
time she walked in there, someone wasn’t all the way dressed. She had to give them a pep talk though, introduce the new starting quarterback that she had not even met yet.
Knocking on the door, she stuck her head in and told everyone to make sure they were dressed. After waiting a few minutes, Laurel walked in and said hello to all of the half-dressed men in there. She felt out of place, but was thankful that most men at least covered up their junk for her.
“Damn baby. What are you doing in here?”
She looked over at the new guy and grimaced. He had his hands on his waist and only a towel covering him. “Didn’t I see you in class earlier?”
“I don’t know about that, but I would rather be called Coach Laurel, instead of baby. Got that Hunter?”
“How did you know who I was?”
“Well no one else is stupid enough to call me baby.”
Max felt uncomfortable and when he looked over at Zach he wanted to say something to him. He should have been warned, but Max had left himself wide open. He was starting to realize that she was the assistant that he had heard so much about. Why hadn’t he picked up on the fact that she was a woman? And one that didn’t look any older than he was, nothing like a coach. She was the brunette that he had chased after class, but lost in the surrounding classmates.
“Sorry about that coach. I didn’t know that you were the assistant coach.”
“Now you do and hopefully you will think twice before addressing anyone as you just did me.”
Max was getting hot in the face, but he just nodded. Laurel smiled at him, liking to put a man like that in his place. It hadn’t been the first time she had had to, but it had been only in the beginning. Once they had gotten used to her and started to respect her, things had gone much better. Laurel was used to guys like Max. He was handsome and rich, surely thinking that everything would just come to him. That she would just fall to her knees in love with him. He was cute, but he wasn’t that cute.
“Okay, now that we got that out of the way. For all of you who haven’t met the newest member of our team, this smart-mouthed man is Mr. Hunter and he will be starting for us tonight. Let’s just hope that he plays better than he uses his manners.”
Max wanted to slink down where he now sat, but didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. Who was this woman?
He tried to pay attention as she was running a few plays, asking a few question to make sure that he knew what was going to happen next. There was no way that he was going to mess up. Not with the team watching and not with Coach Laurel looking at him in that way.
***
“Look I am really sorry about that. I had just seen you earlier and tried to talk to you, but you were already gone.”
“What did you want to talk to me about Hunter?”
“It’s Max and I was going to ask you out. Since I was new to town and all, I was wondering if you would want to go out sometime.”
“You have some big gonads Max. I will give you that, but if you haven’t noticed, we have a game and I am your Coach.”
He nodded and for some reason, those very reasons, he wanted her even more. Max leaned in and she stopped him. “I meant it Hunter. Get out there on the field and stop dilly dallying. Let’s see what you got first. I need to know why it is that I just put my guy on the bench for you.”
She was all business and was out of the locker room before he could say anything else.
“I warned you man. She is fine as hell, but don’t even try anything.”
Max looked over at Zach and just shook his head. That must have been what it was that he hadn’t heard from Zach. He had embarrassed himself in front of the whole team and that didn’t bother him as much as her just pushing him to the side did. The woman was going to drive him crazy, he was sure of it. Max had since forgotten about the ladies that he was supposed to be meeting at the party. Laurel in person was enough to make any man forget everything.
Chapter 3
Max played the best he could. He had missed playing, but that was not why he was putting in so much energy. If he was true to himself, it was because of Laurel. He knew that she was watching and that he had something to prove to her. Max thought he had, playing one of the best games that he had in a long time. Everything just seemed to connect and go perfectly. It just felt right and Max was sure then that that was where he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be there, in that moment, for that team, playing for the girl.
When they were coming off the field, he looked for Laurel, but it was the actual coach there. He was there for the meeting in the locker room and Max wanted to know where Laurel was. “The assistant had to leave. I am so happy that she didn’t mess it up. I was worried about it, but you guys did a great job.”
Max was surprised to hear the old man’s words. It was clear that he was taking all of the credit for the night and he hadn’t even been there. It shouldn’t have bothered Max, it was none of his business, but he didn’t like Laurel being pushed aside like that.
The team all went to the party afterwards. Max was getting used to the new people and he liked most of them. When he asked Zach later about Laurel, he just shook his head. “I am telling you Max, she is off limits.”
“I was known to get who I wanted at my last school.” He didn’t see that changing, but Zach wasn’t convinced.
“I don’t care if you are Castanova. I am telling you, Laurel is different. She doesn’t date college guys and I don’t think anyone has actually seen her with someone before.”
Max agreed, but he didn’t care. Sometimes it was all about the journey, not just the end. She was his end and he was sure that he would have her. No one could resist his charm for too long and Max was sure that Laurel would be no different.
“So is she coming here?”
“You don’t get it. Laurel won’t come to one of these things or any of the frat parties. She is too good or something, but you will never see her at one of these things.”
Max was hoping she would come, but it was clear that his roommate thought that it wasn’t going to actually happen. He just didn’t know him that was all it was. Max nudged Zach and smiled back at him. “No way huh?”
He started to move towards the door. He was drawn to the woman and when their eyes met she stopped in her tracks. “Hello coach. It is good to see you here. I was told that you didn’t come to these things.”
“Yes, well, my friend insisted and I felt obligated.”
Max wondered if that was true. He was sure that if it was, there was certainly not going to be a confession. She seemed uptight and even in a party dress and heels she looked to be in charge. He had never been attracted to the type A personality, but he was starting to question that decision.
“I was wondering where you got the ideas for some of those plays. They are very unusual, but I can see they are effective.”
She relaxed, much more comfortable talking about football and strategy, than talking about school and gossip. “My father used to coach for a time and I grew up on the sidelines, watching him. It wasn’t hard to pick it up and I started playing with his strategies some. I must say, I was worried about how you would do, but you picked up quickly.”
He was almost shocked that she had paid him a compliment. “I was just following instructions. What happened to you after the game? The other coach came by and took all of your thunder.”
Laurel just shrugged. “It’s his show. I am just the assistant. He is already sore that I got the job in the first place, so he likes to let me know every chance he gets.”
Max would have been more upset. She didn’t seem too bothered by it and he knew that she was a better person than he was about it. Max would have told the old man off a long time before. “Do you want me to get you a drink?”
“No thanks. I am not staying long.”
“You are always quick to leave.”
“I have lots to do. We all can’t be winning quarterbacks that get the royal treatment.”
“I like the sound of that
. What is the royal treatment?”
Laurel just shook her head. “You are not getting it from me, but Denise and Amber have been eying you all night. Go get them tiger.”
She walked off without waiting for an answer and Max was left with mixed feelings. She was feisty, he would give her that. Looking at over where she had indicated, he saw the girls that he had met from before and smiled at them as they made their way over. It seemed that even the girls knew about Laurel and didn’t mess with her.
“Hello ladies. How are you guys doing tonight?”
He had his eyes on the brunette and he knew that it was because of Laurel. Denise, as he came to find out was her name, was nothing like Laurel though. She was practically begging for it after a wine cooler and Max was unable to say no. The two went up the stairs to find somewhere quiet to be alone.
Neither one was paying attention to Laurel. She had seen it all and even though she had pushed him in the woman’s direction, there was still a pinch of something in her that didn’t want to see him go. She was sure that she was being silly, but there was a moment of loss.
Laurel shook it off. The guy was a trouble maker and though she didn’t know what it was that had him sent here, she knew that it was done as a favor for his father. Billy had brought her up to speed on the new player, but there was not much detail of why he had been expelled in the first place from his last school. She could tell he was bad news and that was all she needed to know.
She didn’t date college guys, learning her lesson freshman year. She had dated one of the guys from the football team and it had turned into a mess. Since he had left and she had been made assistant coach, Laurel swore to herself that she wouldn’t let a little lust get in the way again. Max was the very essence of lust and just for that reason alone, she knew that she had to keep her distance.
It didn’t change that she had felt something when her eyes had met his dark brown ones. There was something inside of them that promised her that it would be worth it, but Laurel had rules and she had to stick to them or it would drive her crazy. Finally deciding it was time to leave, Laurel went back to her apartment and her cat.
ROMANCE: MC BIKER ROMANCE: CARSON (MC Biker Romance)(Bad Boy Motorcycle Club Romance) (Contemporary Military Romantic Suspense Thriller) Page 8
