Page 13 of Fight for Me
“Oh, Coach Jake is fabulous! Jordan loves him,” Tabby said.
Lexie reached for her bag and retrieved a pad of paper and her voice recorder.
“Can I ask you a few questions for my story?” she asked, leaning toward Tabby as she flipped to a blank page. A grin from the other woman was all the answer she needed.
“Be my guest!” Tabby said, laughing, and Lexie instantly liked her.
Forty-five minutes later, they were still talking, though Lexie had long since put her equipment away.
“So, is there any reason you chose to observe this particular practice? Because, you know, Samantha over on field eight is a student coach, too,” Tabby said, pointing toward another field.
Without thinking, Lexie glanced to where Jake was showing his players how to pass their soccer balls to each other. When she looked back at Tabby, there was a mischievous twinkle in the older woman’s eye.
“But don’t get me wrong,” her new friend added, waggling her eyebrows, “the view is definitely better over here.”
Lexie’s mouth dropped open. “It’s not like that!” she protested, but Tabby rolled her eyes with a grin.
“Honey, please. You’ve been watching him like you think he’ll run away while you’re not looking,” she said. “Not that I blame you. I’m happily married with three children, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes.”
Lexie felt her cheeks heat, and Tabby settled back into her chair, satisfied.
“Uh-huh. Say what you want, but you’ve got reasons,” she said.
Lexie shook her head silently and looked back at Jake, who waved when he saw her watching.
“Jake and I are coworkers and friends. Besides, I’m already seeing someone,” she said, giving Tabby the most serious expression she could muster. Tabby reached across the gap between them and patted Lexie’s arm, giving her such a motherly look that Lexie’s chest tightened.
“Lexie, take this from a woman who’s been around the block a time or two: life is too short to spend it with a man who doesn’t know your worth. So, unless this boyfriend looks at you like you hung the moon and stars, leave him behind. Because from what I can tell, that boy right there”—she nodded toward Jake, who looked away suddenly as if he’d been caught—“he does.”
“Alright, Blackhawks! Greatjob today,” Jake shouted, releasing the players to their parents. “Same time, same place next Tuesday, alright?”
An affirmative sound rippled through the crowd as mothers and fathers gathered their gear, collected their children and started the trek toward the parking lot.
“I hope to see you again, Lexie,” Tabby said. She snagged her son’s arm as he tried to slip past her. “It was great talking to you, and good luck,” she added with a wink, slinging her camp chair over one shoulder and turning to take in Jordan’s excited post-practice chatter.
Lexie waved and remained in her seat, fiddling with her bag on the ground while the crowd thinned. A few parents hadlingered to talk to Jake, who still needed to pack up the gear he’d brought with him. Lexie stood and wandered over to a cluster of small soccer balls, kicking each one hard in his direction. They rolled to a stop several feet from his bag, but at least they were in the right vicinity. She jogged out to the far boundary line and tapped the last ball with her foot, sending it a few feet across the grass. Following lazily, she used first one foot, then the other, dribbling the ball between them as she’d seen the children do during their drills.
Back and forth, back and forth, she slowly made her way toward midfield, keeping her eyes on her ballet flats. Suddenly, a white tennis shoe darted into her line of vision and swept the ball out from under her. Looking up, Lexie watched Jake dribble it effortlessly toward the small net and then launch it into the goal with a swift kick. The ball hit its mark with an audible swish.
“Goal!” he shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
“No fair!” Lexie called, her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t ready.”
“Oh, really? Is that why it was so easy?” he taunted. “Fine, I’ll let you try again.” He snatched the ball from the net before trotting back to her and dropping it at her feet. “If you can get it past me, we’ll consider that a win.”
“Just past you? That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Lexie narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap, but she took the bait anyway. Sweeping the ball to the left, she tried to arc around Jake, but he easily stole from her again and headed downfield in the opposite direction. Lexie huffed and shook her head.
“Okay, I should have expected that. Let’s go again,” she said. “But you have to give me more room.”
He smirked and kicked the ball back. Standing several yards away, he spread his arms wide and gestured to the empty field.
“What are you waiting for, Preston? Nobody’s stopping you!”
Lexie set her face in determination, ignoring his taunt, and struck out to one side. She could see him standing at the edge of her vision, waiting, and she suddenly felt like a mouse being stalked by a cat. All at once, he was inches away, knocking the ball out of her path and taking off toward the goal behind her. He did a few spins on the way, obviously proud of himself.
