do it.” Cash looks as shocked that those words came out of his mouth as I am.
“Are you sure?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Sure, why not.”
“Okay. I’ll call Betty.”
James walks past me and pulls on my ponytail. “I’ve got to find somebody to help me with this cabinet. The last guy was a dud.”
I playfully push him away. “Get out of here.”
“Yes, boss lady.” He glances over his shoulder. “See ya, Cash.”
“See ya. Great job, by the way.”
James grins down at me. “See—he’s growing on me.”
I shake my head, and he laughs all the way down the hall.
Cash comes to stand in front of me. “What was that about?”
“Nothing. Just James.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“The best. Speaking of good guys, thank you.”
He lightly punches me in the shoulder. “No problem, pal. What are friends for?”
The blush is instantaneous. I push my tongue into the side of my cheek and nod. “I deserve that.”
Warm breath blows across my ear when he leans in to say, “You deserve a lot more than that, Kitty Cat.” He rubs his face against mine like a big cat. “But I can wait.”
“Oh, yeah? What if I don’t want you to wait?” The words barely have substance. But it doesn’t matter because he’s already gone.
Thirty-Three
Cash
“Pick up your knees, Jared. Good job, Kayla. Way to shuffle your feet.”
Jared stops in the middle of the skills course I’ve set up for them outside the rec center.
“Hey, why are you yelling at me, but telling Kayla good job?”
“Because she’s doing what I ask her to do, and you look like you’re moving through concrete. Now get back to work.”
He mumbles something, but I ignore him because the Wagner twins have wandered off and are looking for something in the grass. “Twinkies!” I cringe as the word comes out of my mouth, but it’s what they told me to call them when they were together. “What are you doing?”
“We’re looking for a four-leaf clover for you, Coach Cash,” Marci—or is it Misty?—says.
The load of stress I’ve been carrying since I got to the rec center and realized I had twelve kids and no idea what to do with them melts away, and I laugh. “Any luck?”
“Not yet,” the other twin answers.
“Well, let me know if you find one.”
“Okay,” they chorus together.
“Why do they get to stop, and we have to keep going?” Jared complains again.
I rub at my forehead where the mother of all headaches is beginning to form. “Because they’re only six, and the rest of you are older and big enough to handle the course.” I walk over to him and squat to get on his level. “If you’d stop complaining, Jared, you might realize that the things I’m asking you to do on this course will help you with your game.”
His arms, bigger than most sixth graders, cross over his chest. “I don’t need no help. I’ve been MVP of my peewee league for the last three years.”
About a foot taller than the other kids his age and twice as broad, it’s no surprise he’s done well in a peewee league. “Listen, kid. One day all these other boys are going to start growing, and you won’t have the size advantage anymore. That’s where these skills will benefit you.”
“That’s BS. I’ll always be bigger than everyone else, my dad told me so.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t really have my big growth spurt until I graduated and went to the University of Texas to play. By then, I was bigger and taller than all the guys I’d played with in middle school and high school.”
“So?” His tone is defiant, but I can tell he’s lost a little of his swagger.
“So, you might grow more, but you might not, so you should learn the fundamentals to help you when you don’t have the size advantage.” I stand to my full height and force him to look up at me. “But what do I know? I’ve only been playing in the NFL for nine years.”
Jared rubs his nose and looks around at the other kids. “Yeah, well, you’re just filling in today. It’s not like you’re going to be around to really teach me anything.” He’s still got his back up, but I hear the question in the statement.
“If I were around, would you show up with the right attitude?”
He kicks the grass with what I can see is a pretty beat-up, off-brand pair of tennis shoes. “I might.”
I cross my arms and check to make sure the Twinkies are