“That’s game!” Once again, Soma is keeping time for us. She jogs over to the sideline and turns off the speaker blasting tunes as the Phe-Moms wrap up another session of pickup soccer. I take a minute to catch my breath before stripping off my neon pinny and looking for Wyatt.
I grin when I see him under the bleachers by the turf, trading cards with Tawnya’s boys. I’m still proud that I agreed to let him sleep over at a friend’s house. And…I had a moment with Hawk. I almost got carried away with him, lost in the sensation and the newness of kissing him, flirting with him on the field. It felt so god-damned good to let go of my inhibitions, to have fun. Like I could be carefree for a minute.
Of course, I feel carefree each time I come to play with the Phe-Moms, too. I’m sleeping better since I started soccer, and I’m in a better mood at work. Each time I kick the ball or sprint as hard as I can, I imagine my body cleansing itself of one more terrifying memory. But those memories are exactly why I had to put a stop to things with Hawk before they got too far. I’m still too messed up to fully let my guard down with a man. No matter how tingly I feel when I touch him.
Soma smiles over at the kids and says, “It’s good for the little ones to see their moms claiming this time, moving our bodies, pushing ourselves. Don’t you think?”
And I nod, because I do think that.
“You staying for a drink?” Tawnya tilts a can of beer in my direction and wags her eyebrows. I bite my lip, considering. It’s after nine, but it’s not like Wyatt is going to fall asleep the second we get home anyway. “Come on,” she says, handing me the drink. “The boys are deep in a Pokemon discussion.”
I doubt my four year old knows the real rules of Pokemon or how to play the actual game, but he seems pretty content looking at the pictures on the cards with his friends. I shrug and crack open the beer, sinking to the turf with my team.
“How was the game last weekend?” Patty clinks cans with me and sits beside me to stretch.
At this question, Tawnya’s eyes light up and she claps her hands. “Yes, Lucy, why don’t you tell us how the game was?”
I glare at Tawnya and whip my head back to Patty. “Honestly, it was amazing. VIP seats. Other kids for my kid to hang out with. Terrific atmosphere.”
The night was perfection even without the hot kiss. It’s been years since I went to a sporting event. I miss that. When I was pregnant with Wyatt, Nick convinced me to leave my dream job training the men and women’s soccer teams at Pittsburgh University. I groan just thinking about it now…how much I let him manipulate and isolate me. He made my life a living hell for so long…I resent the lingering effects he’s had on my self esteem, too.
But that all feels too heavy to share with my new-found soccer friends. And I’m not ready to talk about the kiss. Although that was really the icing on a magical evening. I sip my beer, hoping the team will change the subject. They do.
Soma frowns into her beer and says, “I wish the media would give the Forge a break. Honestly, I’m kind of tired of reading about the drama stuff.” There’s a general murmuring of agreement from the other Phe-Moms. Soma shrugs. “It is shitty timing, though. That the fitness coach guy was caught trying to sneak steroids into the players so soon after they got promoted in the league.”
One of the Heathers tilts her head to the side in confusion. “How do you sneak drugs into someone anyway?”
I perk up at this question. “Oh, there’s lots of ways people cheat. Some professional athletes get infusions of oxygenated blood before performance. So it’s not necessarily even a drug, but it’s doping.”
They look at me in horror and shudder. “That’s fucked up,” Soma says. The conversation pivots quickly, and eventually people start wandering off for the night.
Tawnya and I head over to the bleachers to extract our kids. Wyatt starts to cry, and I can tell he’s really tired. “Come on, bud. You’ll see your friends soon.”
“I want to sleep at their house! I hate our house.”
Tawnya grins. “We’ll have you over for another sleepover soon. I promise!” She winks at me and I blush. After I left the stadium, the experience of a night alone in my bed without worrying about my son was overwhelming. I slept so hard I didn’t even dream.
But all the nights since? Oh, yeah. I dreamed about Hawk. Holy shit, have I been dreaming about Hawk. I forgot how good it feels to feel good. Even just fooling around with him and a soccer ball felt good and that was before he put his mouth on mine.
I shake my head. “I hate imposing on you like that, T. I wish I could have all three of the guys over to my place. I just don’t have anywhere to put them all…”
I drift off as she waves a hand at me before picking up a kid in each strong arm. “Please. When are you going to believe me that more kids is like fewer kids? They keep each other busy and Kioko and I can relax! Having Wyatt over would be doing us a favor.”
“I just don’t see it,” I say, as Wyatt pulls on my hair and tries to drink from my water bottle peeking out from the top of my bag.
She laughs. “That’s because you only have one.” We walk down the hill from the turf to find our cars. Tawnya gets both her boys buckled into their car seats before I finish wrestling Wyatt into his. I keep trying not to compare myself to the other moms, who all seem so much more capable. Tawnya keeps reminding me she gets a lot more down time to restore her energy than I do, and she has an entire other adult at her house to help answer the endless kid questions.
“Oh, hey,” she pauses and turns back to me. “Kioko asked me to follow up with you. He was curious since you mentioned the drive pass and the nutrition thing at the game, and then apparently your name came up when he was hanging out with the head soccer coach from Pittsburgh University.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Doug mentioned my name?”
Tawnya waves a hand. “We were all having dinner and I was talking about Phe-Moms and how you get us warmed up before practice so we don’t tear our groins. Doug spoke very highly of you! You never talk much about yourself…I had no idea you used to work with him.”
I curl my lips in. I don’t like to brag about myself. It feels conceited or something. Didn’t I give Hawk shit for being cocky? Nope, can’t think about Hawk. “Well, it was a long time ago.”
She squints at me. “Kioko is desperate for a new coach. You heard him say that. He asked me if it’s okay for him to call you.”
I blush and hand Wyatt a packet of crackers. He looks up at me from his car seat. I give Tawnya the quick run-down of my degree in kinesiology and my stint as the strength and conditioning coach with the university. Tawnya squeezes my arm. “I’m going to stop you right there. You need to tell all this to Kioko. I’m calling him.”
I shake my head. “No, seriously, Tawnya, I just work in the gym in Bakery Square now. I didn’t mean to butt in with Kioko about the guys getting a beer after the match.”
Tawnya slices a hand through the air. “Not at all. Kioko is trying to get things right. He’s under intense media scrutiny since the whole doping thing.” I nod, remembering the news clips on the TVs in the gym today. The reporter was talking about the team interviewing Kioko…then I had to force myself to look away and concentrate on my client when they showed clips of Hawk giving a media interview before practice.
“I really don’t think Kioko wants someone like me on his staff…”
She shakes her head as she rummages in her pocket for her phone. “You have training in this field? Certifications and stuff?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
She cocks a dark brow at me. “But…you think a penis is required to coach a men’s team?”
I shake my head feebly but she’s already dialing her phone. “Keeks. You’re going to be so excited to bang me later. I’m about to solve all your problems.” I hear a loud laugh come through her phone. She continues, “Yeah. Lucy is a strength and conditioning professional. Certifications, experience, the works… Mmm hmm…I know! … She says it’s okay to call her.” I glower and Tawnya sticks her tongue out at me. She smiles into the phone. “Yep, see you in an hour.”
She points the phone at me. “You’ve got a job interview. He’s gonna text you.” Before I can argue with her, tell her she’s done too much for me already, she’s skipped off to her car and squealed away. She opens her window and sticks an arm out to wave as she tears off down the road like she didn’t just offer to change my life.
I check to make sure Wyatt is still buckled and when I close his car door, I rest my head on the roof of the car for a minute, catching my breath. Tawnya’s news has thrown me through a real loop. Kioko was talking about me with Doug, my former boss…in a positive light. I had long since given up hope of returning to the collegiate level of coaching, and now I have a job interview with a professional team?
I climb in the car, trying to decide what to do. I think about the lawyer’s fees, and what a difference it’s already made having someone competent in my court. I’m competent when it comes to strength training and team fitness…plus the money’s sure to be good. I peek at my son in the rear view mirror as he tugs on the velcro straps on his shoes. “You ready to head home?” He nods and I start driving, imagining how I’ll respond when Kioko calls. Wyatt falls asleep within a few blocks of the field, and my phone dings with the incoming text message Tawnya told me to expect.