Playing at Love (6 page)

Jack heard Tess heave a sigh, clearly frustrated.

“It
is
fair, you know,” he said.

She huffed again but didn’t reply.

Jack stared at her back, watching her breathe. “There’s no reason to be angry about it,” he said after a moment.

She turned around. “I’m not
angry
, Jack.” She ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “This is complicated.”

Jack couldn’t help smiling, noticing how she was trying to control her frustration. It was maddening how it made her look so attractive. “You’re just annoyed that I got here before you,” he said, feeling the need to tease her about it. “And people say
men
are competitive.”

“I’m not—” She cut herself off, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. Jack tried not to look at her chest as it rose and fell. “I have to get back to school,” Tess said. “Unlike
some
members of the faculty,
I
have a class to teach.”

Jack knew she was taking a jab at him, but he wasn’t about to let her get to him. Not any more than she already had. “Don’t let me keep you,” he said, stepping out of her way.

“If Mac doesn’t show her face in one minute, I’m leaving and she can hitchhike back to campus. Ha! Given that challenge, she’d probably beat me there.”

The tiny smile playing on her lips made Jack very curious. “Mac?” he asked, trying for conversation. “That’s her nickname?”

Tess drew in a slow breath and clutched her purse. “Yeah. She teaches public speaking.” She laughed under her breath. “Not that you would know by the extremely uncharacteristic silent-act routine she just put on for us. I hope you were thoroughly entertained.”

Jack couldn’t help laughing. He’d forgotten how funny Tess was, how quick and clever. That was one of the things he’d liked best about her all those years ago. And it seemed she hadn’t lost one bit of that wit. Sharp and beautiful. A lethal combination. He’d better keep on his toes with this one.

“You’re friends?” he asked.

“That’s Mac,” Tess said, as if pointing out something obvious. “I’ve known her my whole life.” She lifted her chin and faced him. “You don’t remember? I talked about her with you when we…”

They stepped away from each other when a man rushed past talking loudly on a cell phone. Jack’s eyes followed the guy down the hall. When he turned back to Tess, she was looking at him, that open, vulnerable expression on her face again. Feeling encouraged, Jack stepped toward her.

“Tess…”

As he gazed down, her lips peeled apart, just an inch. But a second later, she blinked and moved away, looking flustered, which only added to her current appeal.

When he stepped forward again, his one objective was to see those blue eyes up close. “Tess,” he repeated, wanting to soothe her. “It’s okay.” He felt his hand twitch, like it was about to reach out and touch her.

“What’s okay?” Tess said, looking first at his hand then up into his face. “
This
? You think any of
this
is okay?”

“Well…,” Jack began. But since he didn’t have an answer, he just shrugged and smiled. He was finding that he liked smiling at the grown-up Tess; he liked what it did to the color of her cheeks. It made her look like the girl he remembered.

“Well, it’s not okay. And neither is
that
.” Tess pointed at him. Then she sort of waved her hand around in front of his face. “So stop being all charming and handsome and everything. You can’t just look at me like that and expect me to swoon. That’s not playing fair.”

“Charming?” Jack asked, at a genuine loss that time. “Swoon? I don’t know what—”

Tess lifted a hand to stop him. “Ya know what? Just— Never mind. I can’t believe I said anything. I forgot that communication is
not
your strong suit.” She clutched her purse and set her gaze dead ahead. “If you see Mac, tell her I’m waiting in the car with the motor running.”

Right before she turned to go, Jack couldn’t help smiling again. Tess blinked at him and kind of wobbled on one heel. After an inhale, she stormed off, her shoes clicking as she went.

Chapter Six

“How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Penny was bobbing up and down on her toes like someone psyching herself up to cliff dive. “Ready,” she said. “Excited. Hyper. Close to freaking out?”

Tess laughed. “Good. That’s good. Harness that energy like we talked about.” Tess grinned at her protégé, hoping she didn’t sound too much like Rocky Balboa’s coach. Down on the field, the football game was under way, which meant it was another thirty minutes or so until halftime—and Penny’s debut. Tess looked through the glass window from the press box at the top of the stadium, assessing the large red digital numbers ticking back the time. Tess wondered if maybe the stadium itself, which the school had remodeled a few years ago, had anything to do with the budget issue.

“Do you want to find a quiet corner for another warm-up?” she asked Penny.

Penny nodded.

After one last “ma-may-mi-mo-mu,” Tess left Penny with a bottle of water in one of the empty press offices, said she would be back for her in ten minutes, and then returned to the front of the press box. Looking down onto the field always gave her a thrill. Not because of the game, per se, but the experience: Friday nights meant the lights were aglow against the black sky, the band was playing some upbeat march, and the stands were lined with fans—students, parents, and community members alike.

It wasn’t until then that Tess had a moment to wonder about the actual football game. Up until now, her mind had been totally focused on her goal at hand. She had a lot riding on tonight. She wanted Penny to soar; she wanted this to be a memorable event that Rick Duffy—whom she spotted at the other end of the press box scribbling in a notebook—could rave about in his article the next day.

When there was a sudden whistle, the play-by-play announcer said something about offsides. When the crowd started booing at the call, Tess spotted Jack down on the sidelines. He was wearing a blue team shirt and a blue ball cap, and he was talking animatedly to a ref. At one point, he threw his arms in the air and backed up. Tess couldn’t tell if the gesture was in anger or frustration or what. After that, a few of his players gathered around him, she guessed to get new instructions.

When play resumed, Tess watched Jack instead of the game. His hands were on his hips and Tess could see the broadness of his shoulders and how his torso kind of narrowed in, leading down to his waist. He looked
very
good from behind.

But that was a stupid, unproductive thought. For the past three days, ever since that encounter at the newspaper office, she couldn’t seem to get Jack out of her mind—or more specifically, wondering what he might look like with his shirt off… Again: stupid and unproductive. She huffed and smoothed down her hair—swearing she wouldn’t think about him in
that
way again.

When she finally glanced at the scoreboard, she was shocked to see that the Franklin Grizzlies were actually ahead by six points. One touchdown. When she felt an unexpected sense of relief, Tess stifled it; the football team didn’t need her support, no matter how good-looking the coach might be, or how wavy his hair, or how sexy his smile.

“Penny! Time to go!” Tess called, maybe a bit maniacally, trying to erase the perfect image of Jack’s dazzling smile she’d just conjured.

“I’m ready,” Penny called back. She was dressed in head-to-toe blue sequins, her blond hair pulled up into a high ponytail, and she was grinning with excitement.

They exited the press box through a side door and walked down the back stairs of the stadium, then onto the track surrounding the grass. Joining the rest of the choir, they waited off to the side, away from the actual field. Penny was bobbing again and shaking out her hands. Not wanting to put too much pressure on the girl, Tess turned to her and said, “I’m so proud of you, Penny.” She put a hand on her shoulder. “Whatever happens. Okay?”

Penny looked at her with a strange expression. “What do you mean, ‘whatever happens’?”

“I mean, you know, don’t worry about it.” Tess smiled with what she hoped was a supportive expression. “Just go out there and have fun.”

Penny turned to Tess and looked her dead in the eyes. “Jo.” Her voice was blue steel. “I’m gonna kill it.”

She’s got the eye of the tiger
, Tess thought as Penny turned from her to face the crowd. And after that, Tess stopped worrying.

At the sound of the buzzer, the players from both teams jogged off the field. Tess touched Penny’s shoulder again as the announcer asked everyone to give a warm Franklin High welcome to their halftime entertainment. Tess was about to offer one more word of encouragement when Penny stepped forward.

The choir members were already in their places on the field when Tess’s breath was nearly taken away. She watched Penny leave her side, grab the mike, and fearlessly march to the fifty-yard line. Tess got chills as the music began. She had decided to make this first performance a solo, backed by the choir doing minimal choreography and maximum background vocals. The song was pretty unconventional; not a traditional show choir piece by any stretch of the imagination. It was grunge rock from the nineties, something she’d never heard performed live at an event like this. And never by a female vocalist.

Which was
exactly
what she wanted. Tess was going for the wow factor. She wanted this performance to be talked about for days…if not weeks.

While praying in her head and trying not to mouth along with Penny, Tess stood on the sideline and listened. About twenty seconds into the song, after Penny’s first big note, she felt tears pooling in her eyes. Penny was doing what she said she would.

She was killing it.

Then it was over, with Penny’s last note drifting into the night air.

At first the crowd was quiet. But then it exploded.

“Penny Armstrong and the Franklin High show choir, ladies and gentlemen!” the announcer boomed. “How about that? On! Your! Feet!” Tess felt real tears on her cheeks now. She couldn’t have been prouder of her group.

After a few extra bows and waves to the applauding crowd, Penny trotted back to the sideline. “That was so awesome,” she said with a giggle, her cheeks glowing. “I wish I could do it again. Right now! Can’t I go back out there?”

“How about in one week?” Tess suggested with a laugh after giving Penny a huge hug. “Same time, same place. You’ll kill it again.”

“Deal!” Penny said with a grin, high-fiving members of the choir, then turning to wave to a group in the stands who was chanting her name.

Tess was convinced she had a star.

…

Jack wasn’t sure how they were still hanging on to the lead, but with only minutes left on the clock, he wasn’t going to question his luck. The Arlington team was good; their defensive line was strong and intimidating, even to him.
He
wouldn’t want to be facing them.

But his boys had heart and they were playing
smart
. And sometimes
that
was the most important thing when it came to winning.

“Williams!” Jack called to his quarterback. Then he signaled for the draw play, weak side cut back.

The QB nodded at his coach’s instructions and jogged toward the huddle. Jack folded his arms and tapped his chin. This was a simple play and one that should advance the ball enough to get a first down.

“Ready, two…thirty-six…set…hut-hut.”

“Good job, blue.” Jack clapped when the play was over. “Good job.”

Before the game resumed, Jack turned around to grab a quick cup of water. As he drank, his eyes automatically moved to the last place he’d seen Tess, standing next to the goalpost right before halftime, surrounded by students dressed in blue sequins. She’d been wearing jeans and a white sweater, and her hair was hanging loose. He couldn’t tell from that distance, but it seemed that she had been looking his way, too.

“Coach?”

Jack shook himself awake, tossed his cup in the trash, and signaled the next play to his waiting quarterback.

Williams gave Jack the thumbs-up. “Bristow!” Jack beckoned his wide receiver to the sideline. “When Stockly screens the safety, you be ready. Got it?”

“Got it, Coach,” he said, then sprinted to the line, his cleats kicking up clods of dirt behind him.

Jack adjusted his ball cap and watched his offense line up, feeling confident but still a little anxious. After the snap, Williams dropped back, waiting for his intended receiver to break free. He did the fake pass just as they’d practiced. At the end of the successful play, Jack gave a congratulatory slap to the back of Williams’s helmet. “Good job,” he said with a nod. “You’re looking great out there.”

“Thanks, Coach,” the kid said, sliding off his helmet.

Jack observed him, remembering how great it felt to complete an important pass like that. He knew the kid would be flying high at some after-game party tonight. For a split second, Jack knew how he’d like to celebrate after tonight’s victory. Or more specifically, with whom he’d like to celebrate.

He hadn’t seen Tess face-to-face since that day at the paper. He wasn’t sure if he was avoiding her or if she was avoiding him. Probably a little of both. But could you really be avoiding someone you thought about constantly? Jack didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter, anyway. He clenched his jaw and gazed toward the field, hating how he’d let his mind wander like that again.

As the two sides lined up, Jack glanced toward the end zone, where he caught a quick glimpse of blue sequins. He hadn’t seen the halftime show while he and the players were in the field house, but he couldn’t help hearing it, especially the cheering that followed. The performance must have been a success. For a moment, Jack couldn’t help wishing that he’d seen it, had experienced Tess’s pride and joy. Right as he felt himself almost smile, he stopped and ground his teeth together, realizing that the crowd had cheered just as loudly for the choir as they had for the two touchdowns his team had scored.

Seriously, what kind of backward town was he in where the music program really was as important as athletics? Jack dropped his chin and chewed hard on the gum in his mouth. “Come on, blue! Let’s go!” he called, trying to shake the thought of potentially losing tomorrow’s headline to some singer—even if
his
guys won the game.

The two teams lined up again and Jack took his place at the white chalk line. For an unsettling moment, Jack envisioned his team not winning. Starting off the season in a deficit was not what he could afford. He needed to keep morale high. Jack hated that he suddenly had a knot of doubt in his stomach. Where had it come from? Why was he thinking about music when he should be focused one hundred and ten percent on this game? He had faith in his boys and he needed to be a strong leader. He blew a bubble, sucked it in quickly, then set his gaze on the field.

“Hut-hut!”

Just like in a perfect dream, Jack’s eyes followed the ball as it went soaring into the sky, right down the center of the goalposts. Three points. The crowd cheered and stomped for their home team. Less than a minute later, it was in the books: the Franklin High Grizzlies’ first
W
of the season. The players’ bench immediately cleared and cheerleaders rushed the field.

“Congrats, Coach,” one of the parents said and shook Jack’s hand. “Great game,” someone else offered. And the congratulatory offerings continued. One of the linemen dumped the cooler of Gatorade over Williams’s head and everyone cheered. Jack laughed and made it a point to praise every single one of his players—even Andy, who had suited up and was given a number but was never issued a helmet. Jack hadn’t decided yet where the kid would fit on the team, but he was sure he wanted him around. Jack noticed how Andy was right in there with the guys, celebrating along with the entire team. Because of that, he knew he’d made the right decision not to cut him.

After meeting the visiting team’s coach and accepting his congratulations, Jack picked up his clipboard and game book and headed toward the locker room—making a point of not looking toward the group of blue sequins off on the sidelines.