Page 35 of My Return to the Walter Boys
I smiled at her in appreciation and secured the strap of its carrier over my shoulder. “What else can I grab?”
“Just a blanket in case you get cold.” Katherine had barely finishedher sentence before she was running after Zack and Benny, who’d spent the entire drive bickering about who would win a hot dog eating contest—Kirby or Shaggy Rogers. Now they were sprawled across the grass, struggling to pin the other to the ground.
“I can keep you warm.” Cole’s voice was barely a whisper in my ear, but it was enough to make me jump.
Heart racing, I turned to face him with a half-hearted glare. “You should ask Isaac what happens to people who startle me, Cole. Next time, my instincts might kick in, and I won’t be held responsible for any damage done to your pretty face.”
He smirked at this. “You think I’m pretty?”
I rolled my eyes. “You think you’re pretty.”
“I think you’re pretty.”
A flush crept down my neck at his words. “You should probably get back to coaching,” I said, steering the conversation away from anything that would make me turn even more red.
Cole glanced back toward the field, but I could tell he was unconcerned with his coaching responsibilities. “How could I stay away when my name’s on your back?” he asked, reaching over and tugging at the collar of the crewneck he’d lent to me.
I stumbled closer, which seemed to be his goal.
Leaning in, he said, “The real truth is that I’m here to congratulate you.”
“For what?”
“The successful campaign you ran.” He was too close in proximityfor me to register anything other than the heat of his body mere inches from mine. Even with my eyes trained on his mouth, his words were a mystery to me. “Erin was lucky to have you on her side,” he continued. “I bet no one stood a chance.”
He released my collar just as I finally comprehended what he was saying, then sauntered off toward the field. I forced myself to breathe in slowly. Logic and reasoning had a bad habit of failing me when it came to Cole. And when he complimented me? It was like my brain turned into mush.
Huffing in annoyance at myself, both for reacting the way I did and allowing him to get that close, I turned around and rejoined the chaos of the Walter family. George and Katherine were trying to tame the youngest boys, though it was hard to keep the terror twins under control. As we got closer to the field, Benny let out a high-pitched scream loud enough to make me wince.
“Boys,” Katherine scolded, struggling to pry Benny and Zack away from each other.
“I can’t deal with them right now,” Nathan muttered and took off farther down the field.
I made eye contact with Lee, who then glanced at Isaac. It seemed we were all in agreement with Nathan—the boys were way too obnoxious to be around, and there was plenty of chair space in the other direction. I waved goodbye to Katherine, who gave me an understanding nod, and we followed after Nathan.
The four of us claimed a sideline spot and began setting up ourchairs. Lee was to the left of me, Nathan to the right, and Isaac on the other side of his brother.
“You could always join the coaches, Jackie. I’m sure Cole could make some room for you on his lap,” Isaac said with an evil smirk. “Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a long sigh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Lee snorted in laughter. “Oh, come on. You two were practically sharing breath a minute ago.”
I bit down on my lip to stop myself from snapping and turned to Nathan, hoping for some sort of support. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the open field before us.
“Can you tell them they’re being assholes? They never listen to me.”
Nathan’s face pinched in what looked like irritation, and the expression he sent my way was unexpected. “Tell them yourself,” he snapped.
Nathan proceeded to turn away and pull out his phone. From the hard look on his face, our conversation was over. His attitude caught me off guard. Normally, Nathan was the best person to turn to for support, but over the course of the past week, he’d grown more and more tetchy. Up until this point, his ill temper had never been aimed at me. I wanted to help fix whatever was bothering him, but whenever I tried to speak to him about it, he shut me down or changed the subject.
With one Walter ignoring me and the others determined to tease me, I fixed my focus on the game. The girls were lined up for the kickoff, each team spread across the side of the field they’d bedefending. Parker and Cole had told me all about rugby, and though some of it was comprehensible, the rules seemed incredibly confusing. The game began when the whistle blew. Soon after, a ball was kicked toward Parker’s team, and the two sides were clashing together.
Every so often, my eyes would settle on Cole as he rushed up and down the sidelines, shouting commands at the players and cheering when they did well. It didn’t help that he was glancing back at me just as much as I was watching him. I wanted to smack the satisfied look he wore off his face every time he turned around and noticed me staring.
To my right, Lee and Isaac were making commentary on the game. Both of them together created a never-ending stream of noise I’d learned to block out, at least for the most part.
Isaac let out a low whistle, finally drawing my attention away from Cole. “Dude, did you see Parker take out number seven? I think I’m a little scared of her,” he admitted.
