Getting the Matthews Football School off the ground was supposed to take my mind off Farrah, not bring me closer to her.

…Not that I’m complaining.

I meet Farrah and Victor at the future site of the school a few days after our first meeting. I bought this land last fall, but the weather turned and we weren’t able to start construction.

I’m waiting in my contractor’s pickup truck in front of the empty lot when they pull up. We get out of the truck as they get out of their vehicle.

“Jesse!” Victor booms, shaking my hand vigorously. “And this must be Neil. How are you?”

“Nice to meet you,” Neil, my contractor, says. They exchange pleasantries, but I don’t hear any of them. I’m too busy looking at Farrah. Her eyes immediately meet mine as she gets out of the car. She’s wrapped up in a big jacket and scarf, and the cold is making her cheeks rosy—or maybe that’s a blush.

She walks over to us and nods her head. “Hi,” she says before turning to Neil. “Nice to meet you.”

My hands are itching to wrap around her. I want to intertwine my fingers in hers and show her my vision for the school, but instead I just clear my throat and motion towards the lot.

“Shall we?”

Our little group sets off towards the patch of grass. There’s a dilapidated building at the far side of the field, and Neil launches into our plans. He points out the field, and starts his pitch. The field will accommodate a full-sized football field, and Neil outlines the costs of goal posts, turf, fences, and everything else we’re planning on installing.

Farrah nods, stealing a glance or two my way.

“What about lighting?” She asks. “Gets dark pretty early in the fall and spring. How old will the kids be?”

“We’re still pricing the lighting, but we’re hoping to have floodlights installed on the field as well,” I say. “The kids will be school-aged, so we definitely want this to be a safe place.

She nods, jotting down some notes in her file. When we get to the building on the other end of the field, I open the door for her and she smiles at me.

I don’t know what it is about her smile, but it never fails to send a jolt of energy through my chest. As soon as the warmth passes, it’s replaced with pure frustration.

Fucking Elijah.

If only I’d met her before he did! I wouldn’t be stuck in this purgatory. She’d be mine. The thought of my fucking scumbag brother with his hands on her body is enough to make me pop a vein in my neck. I shake my head to dispel the thought.

Neil points out the work that needs to be done to the building, showing Victor and Farrah the layout of the locker room and offices.

“What about girls’ locker rooms?” Farrah asks.

“I… uh…” Neil glances at me.

She arches an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that this is going to be a boys-only football school?”

“I honestly hadn’t even thought about it. It sounds stupid to say so now.” I shake my head. “I’m embarrassed.”

“What about this area here? What is it, an old kitchen?” She pokes her head through a door. “What about adding a second locker room for girls? Sports should be accessible to everyone.”

“We can consider it. I can add it into the quote.”

“Farrah, you’re supposed to save me money, not make me spend more of it,” Victor laughs. “Maybe I shouldn’t have hired you after all.”

Farrah puts her hand on her hip. She tilts her head to the side. “So tell me Victor, how smart a business decision is it to exclude half the population from something? And if this were successful, and we wanted to expand into other sports, would you exclude girls from playing those, too? Soccer? Field hockey? Track and field? Are those male-only sports, too?”

“Fair point,” he grins. He nods to Neil. “Price it up. She’s right.”

Farrah nods, glancing at me. A smile twitches at her lips and I can’t help but smile back. God, she’s beautiful.

We continue the tour, with Neil and Victor discussing particulars. Farrah stays back to look through one of the old offices. She glances at me as I lean in the doorway.

“This is impressive, Jesse.”

“It’s not much now, but I think we could make a real difference in the community. We’re planning on opening a hundred spots for the first year, but building the facilities for at least double that many kids.”

“And have you thought about scholarship opportunities?”

“I have, actually. That’s why I wanted to start this.”

She takes a few steps towards me and smiles. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I grin. “I realize that not everyone grows up with cabin-mansions.”

“Really? You had me fooled.”

I laugh. “The plan is to open up at least 10% of the spots to scholarship kids. The fees for the other kids will cover them, and we can give them top-of-the-line training.”

“What about equipment?”

“All covered.”

She nods. “Sounds great. You’re going to make a lot of kids very happy.”

We walk back towards Victor and Neil, who are waiting for us outside. I take a deep breath.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about my career these days. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old.”

“You’re not that old, you’re what, 35?”

“Almost 36.”

“Wow, I take that back. You’re ancient,” she grins.

“You know what I mean. In football years I’m basically geriatric.”

“Are you thinking of retiring soon?”

I glance down at my Super Bowl ring and sigh. “I told myself if we won this year, I’d retire. But now, I’m not so sure. I think I have another season in me.”

She smiles. “I think you do, too. Plus, it’ll give Neil time to get this built.”

“Exactly,” I grin. “I figure once I retire, I can put everything I know to good use. Pay it forward, you know?”

“Very noble.”

When we get back to the two men, they nod to us and we head back across the frozen field towards the cars. Farrah shakes my hand, and I see something flash in her eyes. Then, she looks away and gets back in Victor’s car.

By the time I’m home that night, I feel exhausted. I’ve gone over every second of my interaction with her over and over, and I don’t know what to think.

I know that I want her.

I also know that I shouldn’t want her.

Pursuing her will only cause trouble with my family and maybe even with my new business venture. But I can’t stop circling back to the way it feels to have her in my arms. I can’t stop thinking about the way her skin smells, and how good it feels to be next to her. How good it feels to be inside her

I can see her smile in my mind’s eye, and all I want to do is make her laugh again. It felt so good to see her at the site of the football school today. It made me feel like I was doing something right, and these days, that feeling tends to be rare.

Slumping down on my couch, I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. Fucking Elijah. He wouldn’t know a good woman if she hit him in the face.

She probably should hit him in the face for how he’s treated her. And now I just have to watch from a distance as the woman of my dreams slips through my fingers.