Page 96 of Ancient History

“The panel voted to uphold my decision.”

“Good. They made the right call.”

“They wouldn’t have if you hadn’t gone full Erin Brockovich for me.”

I didn’t understand any of his memes. Hopefully, I would learn.

His forehead crinkled with concern. Damn, this guy didn’t know how cute he was. “Did I ruin your season?”

“Something I learned from playing and coaching for most of my life is that no team should rely on one player. That’s a recipe for disaster.” Having a star player meant creating a guy who came with an attitude. It meant off-kilter group dynamics. It meant all other players kowtowing to one person.

That being said, things were going to be more difficult, hence drowning my stress in greasy pizza. Tommy was one of the best on the team. I broke the news to my team this afternoon that Tommy was benched for the rest of the season. There was concern and shock, but to my surprise, a bunch of my players were relieved. They shared stories of Tommy’s huge ego, how he talked about himself as if he were solely responsible for the team’s victories.

“The South Rock Huskies are going to be just fine.” I gave him a wink. “I’m sorry for defending him at all, for making excuses.”

“I get it. You wanted to believe Tommy.”

“I just thought he wasn’t a great student, but he’s worse than that.” I reached out for his hand. It was warm to the touch, and he didn’t pull away. “I hope you didn’t listen to anything that lawyer said about you. You’re a badass teacher, Amos. You have more integrity than anyone in the Alvarez family. You’re my favorite teacher at South Rock.”

“I am?” The way his face lifted at my praise set my heart ablaze.

“Always. I meant what I said at the hearing. I want to be a teacher like you.” I gripped his hand tighter, interlocking our fingers into an unbreakable fist. “Amos, I love you. I was terrified about coming back to South Rock. I thought I was a failure. But coming back has been the best decision I ever made because it brought me back to you.”

His eyes welled up with tears. He swiped some napkins from the dispenser and pressed at his eyes like he was dabbing oil from a pizza slice.

“I love you, too, Hutch.”

“I never want another pissant teenager or school board hearing to come between us again.”

“Deal.”

I slid my pizza slice over to Amos. He took a bite, and his cheeks bunched up with pizza. I was so overcome that I kissed him right then and there.

“Hutch, I have a mouthful of pizza.”

“Don’t care.” I kissed his lips, tasting the savory pull of pizza and something that was uniquely Amos.

“So, you know what can help take your mind off salvaging your soccer season?”

I took a huge bite of my pizza. “More pizza?”

“Better.” A sexy smile slid onto his lips. He reached under the table and grabbed my crotch.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later,we barged into Amos’s condo like a summer flash thunderstorm, hands and lips all over each other.

“Shit.” Amos winced as he backed into the table for his keys.

The smart thing would’ve been to stop kissing for five seconds so that we could find the bedroom and continue to the good stuff. But horny trumped smart every time.

We shuffled backward through his condo, hitting pretty much every piece of furniture. Dings and bangs hit our backs and hips. We laughed through the pain. Sex was a full contact sport.

I couldn’t pull my lips away from Amos, couldn’t take my hands off his hot skin. I didn’t want to let go of this perfect moment.

I yanked at his tucked-in shirt. The thing wouldn’t budge. “Jesus, it’s like you have on a chastity belt.”

We’d deal with clothes later. I picked him up, and he threw his legs around my waist. I led us to the bedroom.

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