Page 129 of Need You To Choose Me

“Sorry.” I shake my head and put away my phone. “How are you doing, Freddy? How’s that granddaughter of yours?”

The guard smiles at me at the mention of his family. “Good. She grew so much in the last few months.”

We chat a little bit more before he lets me through to the back. The practice must have just ended because the locker room is buzzing with activity. The players closest to the door notice me first.

“Look who remembered we existed,” Joshua Mitchell, one of the running backs, jokes as we fist bump.

“What can I say, retirement keeps me busy.”

Big J visibly shudders. “Don’t say the r-word. It’s bad luck. Besides, busy with what? Didn’t you buy that house in a small town? I didn’t take you for a rancher.”

Miguel elbows him in the gut. “People have lives outside of football, asshole.” Miguel tilts his head to the side. “Okay,kind of…Our boy here is coaching peewee football these days.” He wiggles his brows. “Although I think it mostly has to do with the teacher, but…”

Surprise flashes on my ex-teammate’s faces.

“Seriously?”

“Peewee football? Are you shitting me?”

“Forget about the football. I wanna know about the teacher. Is she hot?”

I glare at my best friend, soon to be myex-best friend.

“Now I remember why I didn’t come here sooner; you assholes are worse than a bunch of gossiping old ladies.”

Miguel throws his arms around my shoulder. “And yet, you still love us.”

“As much as I like a pest,” I mutter dryly, shoving him away.

“Walker!” Coach’s head pops into the locker room. “I thought I heard your voice.”

“Hey, Coach.” I extend my hand toward the older man, who squeezes my fingers tightly. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” His bushy gray brows are pulled together, set in a permanent scowl. Considering he has to deal with a group of fifty grown-ass men who have a tendency to act like children, I can’t really say I blame him. “Busy, trying to keep these boys in line,” he grumbles, scanning over the players before his gaze lands on me. “You in town long?”

“Until tomorrow, gotta get home to my boys.”

Coach nods. “How are they doing?”

“Good. The move has been… an adjustment.”

“Understandable. You have a moment to stop by my office tomorrow before you leave? I want to talk to you about something, but I promised my wife I’d be home on time for once, so…”

My brows raise in surprise. “Umm, yeah, sure.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He slaps me on the back before turning his attention to the rest of the locker room. “Don’t go wild tonight because I’ll kick your asses tomorrow at practice.”

“Yes, Coach!” they say in unison, the words echoing in the locker room as the door closes behind the man.

I glance at Miguel. “You know what this is about?”

“No idea.” He grabs his bag. “Wanna go grab dinner?”

Before I get a chance to answer, Big J wraps his arms around our shoulders, his duffel bag slamming into my bag, “Screw dinner. We’re grabbing drinks, and Blakey here will tell us all about his hot teacher.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

SAVANNAH

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