Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I felt it happening. The tightening of my chest. The rage building from the rude question that was being asked. My vision began to blur as every negative thought that lived within me started to come back to the surface. Every suppressed feeling of doubt was awakened at that moment.
“Oh shit,” Nathan said, looking out into the distance. “Did you see that?”
The interviewer turned around to see what it was that Nathan was speaking of. “What’s what?”
“Oh, nothing.” Nathan shook his head. “I just thought I saw an array of butterflies.”
“Butterflies?” the interviewer questioned.
“Yeah.” He turned toward me and nodded with a tiny smile. “Butterflies.”
A laugh of comfort escaped me.
Butterflies.
Nathan gave me a comforting wink. “Go ahead and continue, Coach,” he said. “Sorry for the interruption.”
I cleared my throat and turned back toward the interviewer. “I, like most, have read the comments about my position as head coach at Honey Creek. I’d be lying if I said the words didn’t hurt me; I’m human, words can hurt. And the truth of the matter is that Nathan has been such a blessing to our team. There’s no way we would’ve made it this far without him.”
“Or without Coach Kingsley. We’re a team,” Nathan added. “That’s what we are, Avery and me—we’re a team. One isn’t more important than the other. We were both focused on the season’s success this year, and we ebbed and flowed like magic with one another. Avery Kingsley is one of the best coaches to ever coach the game, and it has been nothing less than an honor to coach beside her. The whole game of baseball is better with her in this industry. Frankly, I think we could use more women coaches on the field. I think it’s beyond time that we expand our realm.”
Oh, Nathan…
How badly I want to love you.
After the interview finished, we were un-mic’d, and free to go. As we were walking out of the building, I paused beside Nathan. “Hey, Nathan?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for having my back in there. I know things between us have been…strange. But that meant a lot to me.”
He nodded once. “I’ll always cover your base, Coach.”
We won.
We won state.
We freaking won state!
The second it happened, I felt as if my heart was going to explode in my chest. I shot out to the field from the dugout and began to celebrate with all the guys on the field, who were losing their minds over the fact that we were the state champions. I couldn’t control my excitement as I jumped up and down, hugging the players.
Before I knew it, my arms found their way around Nathan, and we embraced.
“We did it!” I shouted, my heart pounding rapidly against my chest. “We did it!”
“You did it, Coach!” he said, swinging me around from pure excitement. “I’m so fucking proud of you!” he told me. He placed me back down on solid ground, yet the world kept spinning faster and faster around us.
I stared into his brown eyes, shaking my head in amazement. Then my excited heart shifted to feeling as if it wanted to cry. Because all it wanted at that very moment was to kiss him. To fall into his arms again and never let go. To celebrate with him on the field and off. But I couldn’t.
We couldn’t.
“Nathan…” I whispered.
He gave me a sad smile as if he could read my thoughts. “I know,” he said softly. “Me too, Coach. Me too.” He then moved in and gave me another hug, holding me close to his chest. He kissed my forehead and whispered, “I miss you so much it’s hard to breathe.”
Then he let me go.
He let me go and celebrated with the rest of the team as if his heart wasn’t breaking, too. I didn’t know what to expect because I told him to do that. I told him to stay away, and he did what I’d asked.
But my breathing was suffering, too. I knew exactly what he meant when he said those words to me. Because, without him, it was so hard to breathe.
After the game, the team headed off to celebrate with a late night of pizza at the hotel where we were staying. I told them I’d join later on, but first, I needed to take in the moment on the field now that it was cleared out. I needed to come down from the busyness of the day and take it all in by myself.
Though it turned out I wasn’t alone.
“Way to go, Coach K,” a voice said from the stands.
I turned to see my father sitting there. The crowd was gone, and the only things remaining were the floodlights on the field and my father in the stands.
“Not too bad, huh?” I said with a smirk.
“I like Nathan,” he stated, throwing me completely off-kilter.