Page 4 of Hometown Halftime

I rub my temples. “Okay, look, I didn’t say no. I just said I needed time.”

“Which you’ve had,” Knox says. “Plenty of it.”

“Fourteen days is not plenty.”

“Fourteen days to decide to do something you would be great at?” Brynn asks. “It’s practically a decade.”

Knox softens his expression. “Kinsey, when I first brought this up, it was a seed. But it’s growing fast and the girls are excited. They deserve someone who understands the sport and can build it into something great.”

He’s pulling at my heartstrings with this speech, but I’ll never let him know it.

“That someone,” he continues, “is you.”

I roll my eyes to tamp down the warmth creeping up. “You’re laying it on thick.”

“I didn’t even get to the part where you change lives,” he says.

Cam elbows him. “Dial it back.”

Brynn rests a gentle hand on mine. “It doesn’t have to be forever. Just commit to this season. Meet the girls and see how it feels.”

I let out a slow breath. “I’m not sure I’m coach material. What if I say a swear word?”

“I think you’d be damn good at it. Just try not to say too many swear words,” Knox says simply.

The bar is alive around me, filled with the sound of glasses clinking and Gordy shouting orders from the kitchen. While I love rugby and played the game for over a decade, it’s the sport I thought I left behind.

“What’s the commitment?” I ask.

Knox’s grin breaks wide. “Three practices a week. Games on Saturday mornings. Athletic Director’s flexible with scheduling. Paperwork handled by me and conditioning by Cam. You get to focus on actually coaching.”

“And the assistant?” I ask. “Who’s this person you keep dangling in front of me?”

“Local kid,” Knox says. “Well, not a kid—he’s twenty-two. He played football, so the transition shouldn’t be too rough. He’s smart and professional. He recently came back to town for a few months and needs a job. The Athletic Director is meeting with him tomorrow after school.”

“Twenty-two,” I repeat. “Great, I’ll be babysitting.”

“Not babysitting,” Cam says. “He’s a strong candidate.”

I groan. “Fine. I’ll meet him. And I’ll talk to the Athletic Director. But that’s all I’m agreeing to right now.”

Knox slaps the bar in victory. “I’ll take it.”

Brynn winks at me. “You won’t regret it.”

I refill their sodas, and there’s a spark under my ribs that I haven’t felt in a long time. Something beyond this bar to focus on. It’s the first time Cedar Falls High has a girls’ rugby team. And I could be their coach.

“God help me.” I shake my head.

Brynn smiles, putting her phone back in her purse. “You’re gonna crush it, Kinsey.”

“You know, Kinsey, I think we could have a lot of fun together.”

Robert sets his fourth beer of the night on the bar with a hopeful, yet unsettling, smile. His cologne is a little strong, and his shirt is a little too tight around his midsection.

I stare at the shirt for a beat, then at his face, and then at the beer, like maybe if I focus hard enough, I can will him out of existence.

No such luck.