Page 11 of Nailing Heat

She nods. “I think I might.” I smile again and watch as she takes a bite of her first taco. “These are amazing.”

My own grin widens. “I’m so glad to hear that you like them. Mexican food is one of the few things I can cook,” I tell her.

She grins, starting her second taco. We eat in silence for a bit. I listen to her moan and hum from her side of the table as she eats. Finally, she stops with one taco left and leans back in her chair to look at me.

“We have a game tomorrow.”

“I know. I’m going to be there. I talked to August earlier tonight and he was telling me about it. So, I’ll be on the field with Lucas tomorrow for the game.” I feel like I’m rambling, it all came out in a rush.

“It’ll be nice to have someone on the sidelines permanently,” she admits.

“Yeah, I heard that hasn’t been so consistent lately.”

“Try ever,” she says, picking up the bottle of water and drinking some of it. “I’m not sure about the deal that August and his brother worked out, but Lucas is only part-time for some reason and Cary barely ever showed up for us.”

I make a mental note to ask why Lucas is only part-time. “That sucks. I’m sure it was hard to put all the pieces of a team together so quickly, though.”

She nods. “You’re August’s boy, huh? Like, you two went to college together or something?”

It’s my turn to nod. “We did.”

Her eyes light up. “So, were you at school when he was with Hendrix? Or did you go to Brown with him?”

I smile. “I graduated from Brown with him. We met when he transferred in his sophomore year.” I see the hope die in her eyes. “I only ever heard about Hendrix when he was drunk and rambling. I’ve never seen them together.”

Her brown eyes widen. “He drunk-rambled about her?”

“He did,” I confirm.

“What did he say?” She leans in eagerly.

Oh, how I want to give her this. But I can’t. “Sorry, he’s my boy. I can’t spill that part.”

Her shoulders slump in defeat. “Well, you’ll get to see them interact now. She’s our keeper.”

I grin. “I know. I studied the roster when I got the job. I’m looking forward to seeing what that’s like.”

“Oh, it’s epic. Hendrix still has some pretty good anger pent up because of him. And for the most part, August allows her to take shots at him. Only stopping her every once in a while. I think I can count on one hand how many times she’s dissed him publicly and he didn’t let it slide.”

“Well, I gotta say, I’m not surprised. Sounds like August,” I admit. Clearly, she doesn’t know the man I do.

“Then why hire her?” she asks me.

“That was probably Maxwell,” I remind her of his father. “He probably doesn’t even remember Hendrix and even if he did, he would assume that August is long past it. To him, she was the most talented keeper and it’s a nonissue. Even if it does eat at August.”

She gets excited when I let that piece of information slide. “Shut up! You think it eats at him!”

“Why else would he let her get her digs in?” I lean back in my chair while drinking a large swallow of water.

“Huh, must be.” A satisfying smile crosses her face.

I feel like I gained some goodwill by spilling about August. But it’s not like I betrayed the man; just stated the obvious for her. Amelia digs back into her tacos.

We now eat in a comfortable silence before I say, “I’m trying to get the coaches to agree to doing assessments on all you players, not just the injured ones. Did Lucas or Cary ever do that for you?”

She watches me for a beat, considering the question, “I think so. But it would have been when we first got here, I think.” She shrugs it off, but I shake my head. “Why? Is that big deal?”

I sigh, “Well, yeah. How the fuck else would you know where a player is regarding pain, and flexibility.” I shake my head, and I notice she has the taco paused mid-bite. There’s an expression on her face that I can’t quite read but it looks like it could be worry. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you. I can’t believe no one would do that, especially with this being a new group of athletes. Pro athletes at that.”