Chapter 12
Carly pulled her shoulders together as she squeezed herself between Rachel and Sophie on the outdated blue sofa in their living room while balancing a large bowl of popcorn and a bottle of water in her hands. She was ready to enjoy the premiere episode of Gage’s documentary. He’d invited her over to his house to watch, but she’d declined, telling him it was a school night, and she didn’t want to be out so late. But in truth, she needed a little time to think. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t being overwhelmed by his good looks and sports celebrity status. Carly couldn’t help but compare what was happening with Gage to what had happened when she met her ex. Daniel was also a very handsome man and had charmed her into thinking he was in love with her. In hindsight, she could see she’d chosen to ignore the subtle signs that he’d been lying. She couldn’t let the same thing happen with Gage. Although he seemed sincere, she couldn’t get the images of all the women he’d been with during his professional football career out of her head. She was determined to take things slow. Of course, all this was easy to say while she wasn’t close to him with her body craving his touch.
“Ooh, it’s starting,” Sophie cried as she reached for the remote and turned up the volume. “I wonder if we’ll be in any scenes,” she added, looking over to Rachel.
“Probably not, but it would be exciting if we were,” Rachel replied, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl on Carly’s lap. As she raised her hand to her mouth, she looked at Carly. “Did Gage know if you were in any scenes?”
“No, but he said when he reviewed it last night he would tell them to edit me out if I was,” Carly replied, knowing she didn’t have to worry about her two friends being seen on the show as Daniel had never met either one of them. The three of them had lost touch after graduating from college and taking jobs in different towns.
“Shh,” Sophie admonished as the opening credits ended and Gage appeared on the large flat screen television mounted on the living room wall across from the sofa. As they watched in silence, Carly reminisced about all the times she’d watched Gage play over the years. She hadn’t been much of a football fan until she’d seen Gage’s profile when she was watching a Rattlers’ game at a long-forgotten boyfriend’s apartment during college. She’d immediately developed a huge crush on him and had been hooked on football ever since.
By the end of the show, Carly was tingling from head to toe and immensely relieved to have not seen herself in the program. She never dreamed she would ever meet Gage Wilson in person, much less be contemplating a relationship with him. As she slipped into bed a little while later, she vowed not to let her desire for the tall, muscular man influence her need to take things slow.
***
Carly’s heart was soaring after she and Gage had agreed to see where things might go, even though it would be away from any prying eyes. She hadn’t seen him much the past week except for a few brief encounters when they’d passed in one of the hallways. She couldn’t wait to watch him prowl up and down the sidelines.
“So, what does Gage have planned for tomorrow night?” Sophie asked from the back seat while Carly drove to the stadium for another evening of monitoring students at the Friday night game.
“I’m sure nothing fancy since I’m just going to his house.” Carly answered with warmth spreading through her chest at the thought of spending some time with Gage as she turned into the parking lot.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Rachel asked from her spot in the passenger seat as Carly pulled into an open parking spot reserved for employees working during the game.
“What do you mean?” Carly asked, wondering if Rachel knew something she didn’t.
“Well, you did say you wanted to take your time and get to know him first. I’m afraid if you two are alone at Gage’s place things are going to progress faster than you expect,” Rachel replied, flipping closed the visor where she’d been using the mirror to check the red and white ribbon she’d attached to her hair.
“Oh, there’s no need to worry. Gage said Jonathan would be there, so this will only be dinner. He’s going to talk to Jonathan about what’s going on and make sure he’s on board with us seeing each other.” Carly relaxed, confident in her plans to get to know Gage and his son better as she looked across at Rachel then back to Sophie.
“Okay, that makes me feel better then. I didn’t want to see you rush into anything and end up hurt again,” Rachel said as she opened her door and hopped out with the sounds of the quickly filling stadium invading the interior of the Acadia.
With the steady thumps of the drums from the bands matching the rhythm of her heart, Carly walked in through the huge concrete entrance of the stadium. The greasy smell of the hotdogs and nachos reminded her of the carefree days of high school and college before she’d met her ex-husband and made a mess of her life. As she walked down the long concourse to Mr. Andrews in his suit jacket with the bright red and white OHS shirt on underneath standing near the ramp, she prayed he’d assigned her to the student section where she’d be able to watch Gage.
“Nice to see you in such great spirits, Ms. Owens.” Mr. Andrews commented after informing her she was in the same spot as last week, and she’d done a little happy dance. “Now get up there and cheer our boys on to victory.”
“Oh, I will,” she replied smiling to herself, knowing he probably had no idea she’d be cheering for Coach Wilson as well.
Positioning herself next to the top of the ramp to check ID’s, Carly quickly noticed the assistant principal was stationed about halfway up the stands. For a second, she scowled, causing Carly to wonder what she’d done to deserve her ire. She and Gage had made it a point not to touch at all if they ran into each other at school. As the game started and coming up with nothing, she finally decided she was imagining things and put Dr. Crawford out of her mind.
Having sorted things with Gage, and with Jonathan eligible to play again, Carly made her way over to the first row. Sinking down into the stadium seat, she relaxed, confident in the knowledge the producers had agreed to keep her face from being shown in the documentary ready to enjoy the game. Her heart soared every time one of the boys made a great play and Gage high-fived them on the side-line and occasionally turned around to sneak a grin her way. She had to remind herself several times not to wave and draw attention to their interaction.
She loved how happy Gage looked down on the field coaching his son and the other high school boys. She shifted on the hard-plastic seat when a slow throb began to build in her between her legs. She watched his heavily muscled arms and legs flex and bunch underneath the tight red polo and form-fitting gray slacks he wore as he stalked purposefully up and down the sidelines. With Gage’s shorter hair accentuating the strong lines of his face and the confident way he carried himself as he coached, Carly had a hard time keeping her eyes off him long enough to check on the students she was supposed to be watching.
All too soon, the end of the first half was close, and Mr. Andrews came to relieve her.
“Looks like you’re enjoying the game tonight,” he commented as he sat down next to her.
“Yes, sir. It’s a great game so far,” Carly replied, watching as the opposing team ran another unsuccessful play.
“What do you think of our new coach?” Mr. Andrews queried with a teasing grin on his face, then looked down at the sidelines where Gage was patting one of the boys on the back as he came off the field.
Carly’s heart skipped a beat, and she hesitated for a second. “He seems to know what he’s doing and looks like he enjoys coaching the boys.”
“Yes, he does. All right, you better get on down and take a break,” Mr. Andrews chuckled, motioning for her to leave.
As Carly made her way down the ramp, she wondered if Mr. Andrews suspected something was going on between her and Gage. If he’d picked up on it, how long would it be before others did, too? Her heart thumped heavily in her chest, thinking maybe they weren't as subtle as they thought.
After visiting the restroom, then buying a bottle of water and some popcorn at the concession stand, Carly headed back up the ramp. Right before she reached the top, Dr. Crawford with her mousy brown hair pulled up in a ridiculous ponytail highlighting her pointed nose and chin came around the corner her face scrunched up in a scowl.
“Ms. Owens. A word, please,” she demanded when she stopped in front of Carly and blocked her way. Carly immediately tensed, still at a loss as to what had the woman riled.
Knowing she needed to stay on the assistant principal’s good side if possible, Carly forced her shoulders to relax and answered politely, “Sure, Dr. Crawford. What can I help you with?”
“I want to refresh your memory about the conversation I had with you and Coach Wilson. You need to make sure there is no inappropriate behavior between the two of you in front of the students,” Dr. Crawford replied, crossing her arms over her non-existent chest and pinching her lips together.
Barely able to keep her composure, Carly responded as professionally as she could. “Of course. As Gage told you, we will keep everything away from school. Is there anything else?”
“That’s all. Make sure you get back to your post immediately.” Dr. Crawford sneered as she continued down the ramp.
Carly went back to her seat, still wondering what had crawled up Dr. Crawford’s butt and reminded herself to check on Mrs. Taylor next week. She’d seen Dr. Crawford come out of her room twice more the past week and wanted to make sure she wasn’t harassing the sweet, older lady.
During half-time, Carly sat eating her popcorn and watching the high school bands perform their routines and stewed. It was very apparent to Carly that Dr. Crawford’s earlier scowl had not been her imagination. She had a beef about something. Carly couldn’t fathom what it was, but she vowed to find out.
With her spirits dampened, Carly had a hard time enjoying the second half of the game. When one of the boys scored again, she gave Gage a half-hearted smile knowing Dr. Crawford was watching from her spot further up. When he frowned and raised an eyebrow, she subtly shook her head and forced a happy look she didn’t feel on her face through rest of the game.
Later, back at home and ready for bed, Carly’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. Her heart did a happy flip and a tingly warmth spread in her chest at the sight of Gage’s name at the top of the screen.
Gage: Is something wrong?
Carly debated on telling him about the incident with Dr. Crawford at the game, but then decided it’d be best to discuss it in person.
Carly: Let’s talk about it tomorrow.
Gage: Did I do something?
Carly: No, of course not! It’s just something to do with Dr. Crawford. I promise we’ll talk about it tomorrow.
Gage: Okay, beautiful. I can’t wait for tomorrow night.
Carly: Me, either. See you tomorrow.
Later, she tossed and turned in bed. With Mr. Andrews seemingly picking up on their attraction, how many others would soon follow? How long would they be able to keep things to themselves? Was it worth Daniel finding out where she was? Reaching up she touched the small scar on her temple. She wasn’t sure what else he might be capable of, but she certainly didn’t want to put Gage or Jonathan in danger.