I bit back a laugh, knowing how Thea would have reacted if she’d been standing next to me. She called it the “Leo fucking Sharpe effect” and argued that it had only gotten worse since I’d graduated and nabbed a job as an assistant coach for Harbor U’s football team. Something about me being even hotter now that I was in a position of authority.
Though I’d garnered some interest from the pros during my senior year, I’d known I didn’t want to spend the next decade or more dragging Thea and my brothers around to whatever city’s team wanted me. Thea had already spent too much of her life in upheaval, and I refused to be responsible for any more of it.
Besides, I’d found that I had a knack for coaching. It was all about leadership and inspiring players to do their best on the field and be their best selves off of it. Thea had done the latter for me, and now I liked the idea that I was paying her kindness forward. Not to mention, I got to spend every day knee-deep in the sport I loved.
I’d found my passion, and, taking my first official step into the youth center, I knew Thea and my brothers had found theirs.
From where I stood near the entrance, I watched my girl as she spoke animatedly to a mother with three children at her side. She was always beautiful, there was no doubt about that. But, today, there was a glow about her I’d only seen on a few occasions. Her glossy brown hair was pulled back in a combination of a braid and ponytail that Violet had probably taught her how to do, giving me an unobstructed view of her face.
Her cheeks were flushed, her lush lips glossy, and her eyes shining. Though she looked professional in a pair of slim black pants and a blazer over a pink top, I wanted nothing more than to drag her into the nearest closet and have my wicked way with her. Or maybe it was because of her professional appearance. She could easily fulfill one of my hot teacher fantasies dressed like that.
I pressed a hand over my heart, where I was hiding a surprise for her in my interior jacket pocket. Waiting to give it to her might kill me, but now wasn’t the time. She needed to focus on her job.
Beyond Thea, I could see Tristin standing in the gymnasium, surrounded by a group of boys. Susan and Gerard sat in the bleachers, watching, and I waved when Susan caught sight of me. Down the hall, Hayle was giving the mayor and his entourage an official tour. Next, my gaze strayed to the wall behind the check-in counter, where Thea had painted a mural based on a sketch she’d done as a kid.
Years ago, she’d re-drawn it, transforming Hayle into the carefree kid she’d wished he could have been. My brothers and I had jokingly referred to it as the “after Thea” drawing. Hayle may never be totally carefree, but he’d been a different person these past four years. Just as Tristin and I had.
But, for the mural, we’d insisted that Thea make another major change. Instead of the three of us brothers sitting by ourselves on the end of the dock, we were now joined by a ten-year-old Thea. She was dressed in a blue and white checked dress and wore her hair in two braids. Most importantly, she was the center of attention as all three of us boys grinned at her rather than just with her.
As far as I was concerned, it was a fucking masterpiece. Of course, I thought that about everything she created. She was more talented than she would ever admit, but she no longer kept that talent to herself, something we could all be grateful for.
Not wanting to interrupt Thea while she talked to the two Harbor U girls who wanted to volunteer, I snapped a few more pictures with my phone before making my way down the yellow brick road that continued throughout the entire building. It branched out, leading to each of the rooms, where it ended in matching spirals.
Pausing in the art room, where I knew Thea would be spending most of her time, I couldn’t help but admire yet another mural that took up two of the walls. She and a few of her friends from the Harbor U art department had painted it to look like a jungle,