Varsity Tiebreaker - Ginger Scott Page 0,109
. . uhm, okay. Sure . . . ” He heard the same name I did. He also did not say yes, sir, and given the way Coach narrowed his eyes on him, it was not the right move.
Coach holds his clipboard against his chest, folding his arms over it and leaning his head to the side. I think if he could give Zack a detention for that answer, he would.
“Is there a problem with that?” Coach’s brows are lifted in expectation. I tap my foot against Zack again, willing him to respond.
“No, sir. No,” he sputters out.
“Good,” Coach says. “You might learn a thing or two from her.”
From her. Oh . . . fuck.
“You mind working out with a girl, Jennings?” Her voice is as rich with her Staten Island roots as it was when I kissed her two nights ago. Puzzle pieces fly together, her accent . . . Coach’s accent. His eyes and her eyes. New to town—her dad moved for work.
I turn just enough to catch her pulling her catcher’s helmet and mask from her head, her blonde hair tied up in a knot at the base of her neck.
“Gear’s a little tight, but it should do,” she says, handing it to her dad.
Fuck me, that’s her dad.
“Thanks for taking it for a ride,” he says, nodding to his daughter.
Fuck me, that’s his daughter.
“Sure, but next time . . . remember it’s ladies and gentlemen when you’re talking to us, ’kay?” she says, reaching forward and punching his arm playfully. Guess I know where the laugh came from when he started his speech. Pretty sure he’s not going to punish her for it, either, on account of her being right and all. Oh, and being his freaking spawn.
“Hey, Cannon from Indiana,” she says, the same mischievous bend to her lips that made me feel absolutely drunk on her mouth forty-eight hours ago.
I don’t dare respond with the same flirtatious tone I used last time, instead opting to nod as she backs away with a wink. I think I just got played.
“Your partner is leaving without you, son,” Coach says to Zack. My cousin is still a bit stiff from the shock of having to fight for his position . . . against his new coach’s daughter. Talk about delicate.
“Oh, yeah . . . thank you. I’ll catch up,” Zack says, his words all jumbled and hesitant. His confidence literally just crawled away and sank through the cracks of the clubhouse’s concrete floor.
Not wanting the same fate, I grab my bag from under the bench so I can escape without taking more blows to my ego. I’m nearly out, too, when Coach stops me by hollering my name. I turn with my back flat on the door, my mouth suddenly dry with the unknown of what’s next.
“I see you know my daughter.”
There’s a pregnant pause that’s thick enough to choke our football team’s offensive line. I keep expecting him to say more, to ask a question or shoot me some warning to stay away from her, which of course I will absolutely obey. He doesn’t. Just that one statement, along with his laser stare from his weathered death eyes.
“A little. We just met,” I say, finally, my delayed response clearly exposing my nerves.
“Hmm,” he says with a nod.
I pull my lips in tight, mostly to keep from saying anything else.
“Go on,” he says, after another painful pause.
Yes, sir. I only think it this time.
I round the clubhouse and look out on the track, where Hollis is literally about to lap someone. Zack hasn’t even finished tying his laces. My cousin is in trouble, but not as much as I am. If I want to make it to Vandy, or anywhere like Vandy, I need to be at the top of my game. One midnight kiss, though, and my season is cursed. So help me if that vixen ends up calling my pitches.
PREORDER NOW!
Cannon and Hollis’s story continues in Varsity Rulebreaker,
releasing Oct. 8, 2020.
Now available for preorder here:
Acknowledgments
I fell in love with Tory D’Angelo somewhere around the first 30 pages of Varsity Heartbreaker. To keep this smart-ass boy at bay while I finished writing his best friend’s story (well, both best friends, since June is also his best friend) was no easy task. He was persuasive and insistent in my head, talking to me when I was trying to sleep at night with his cute little “oh, and I’m gonna be funny, right? And unpredictably thoughtful? And you’ll write me hot, right? Like, abs and all that shit but also perfect hair, and…I like nice clothes. Give me good style.”
Tory got his way. And I hope you guys did too. I hope you enjoyed his angsty ride through his senior year, his ups and downs, and the way love and life played out. I was just the chick at the keyboard for this one. That story is all him. And of course, Cannon is already talking.
As always, full credit goes to my team that holds me up. This starts with my rock, my sweet Autumn. Bless you for having the same F’d up sleeping schedule I do, my friend. And thank you for every single thing you do for me. It’s far beyond the PA and publicist job title. It’s really more of a confidence whisperer/life coach/guide. My betas, Jen, Shelley, TeriLyn—I love you and am so glad you tolerate the pieced-together way I send you things. One day you’ll get the whole thing at once (probably not, but it felt good to put that in writing). Brenda Letendre and Tina Scott, your edits help me find my best foot and put it forward. Lost without you.
If you enjoyed this book, I would be SO VERY GRATEFUL if you could leave a review. The book market is a lot like swimming through mud sometimes, and getting the word out in this increasingly noisy world is becoming so hard. I am incredibly thankful to my readers and supporters for every boost they give. It’s those viral shares, the recommendations to friends, that help get my stories seen, and I don’t for one minute take any of that for granted. I get to do this because you give me your time and your passion—you tell others to give my books a try. My stories are for you and you alone. Well, maybe a little for me, too, but without you all, there’s really no heart. You are the heart—my heart. Thank you for letting it beat so wildly!
Also By Ginger Scott
The Varsity Series
Varsity Heartbreaker
Varsity Tiebreaker
Varsity Rulebreaker (October 2020)
The Waiting Series
Waiting on the Sidelines
Going Long
The Hail Mary
Like Us Duet
A Boy Like You
A Girl Like Me
The Falling Series
This Is Falling
You And Everything After
The Girl I Was Before
In Your Dreams
The Harper Boys
Wild Reckless
Wicked Restless
Standalone Reads
Cowboy Villain Damsel Duel
Drummer Girl
BRED
Cry Baby
The Hard Count
Memphis
Hold My Breath
Blindness
How We Deal With Gravity
About the Author
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice and Rita Award-nominated author from Peoria, Arizona. She is the author of several young and new adult romances, including bestsellers Cry Baby, The Hard Count, A Boy Like You, This Is Falling and Wild Reckless.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger's other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son swing for the fences or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).
FIND GINGER ONLINE: www.littlemisswrite.com