Page 50 of Playing for Keeps

“You’re smart enough, Ethan.” I hated that he doubted himself for even a second.

He scuffed his foot across the ground. “Thanks.”

“You should try to go back and teach at Ashburton High. Imagine Ms. Bowman’s face when you step into the staffroom,” I said.

He chuckled. “That might be the day she announces her retirement.”

We made it to the driving range.

“So, what made you want to be a teacher?” I asked as I lined up my first shot.

“I don’t know, after having Theo, I started thinking about careers that would work around him better. That’s the crap thing about rugby, the fact you’re away so much during the season. And I thought I’d like to teach high school, cos those are the years that really matter, you know? They can define the direction of your life. And science was my favorite subject at school.” He shrugged, then threw me a look. “You ever thought about life after rugby?”

I hit my first drive. It came off the club cleanly, flying over three hundred meters. Ethan gave a low, impressed whistle.

I answered his question. “Nah, not really. I’ve got some investments so I guess I could look at buying a business. Or maybe go the coaching route or do some kind of admin role in rugby.”

“You’ve got time to decide,” Ethan said, bending down to put his ball on the tee.

“I do still have lots I want to achieve in rugby,” I admitted.

Ethan grinned. “I’m pretty sure the rugby world is quaking at the thought of everything you want to achieve.”

He struck his drive, which flew just beyond mine. Turning to me, he cocked his eyebrow and gave a smirk.

I gave him my best “bring it” look. It was kind of inevitable that this would turn into a competition over who could hit the longest drive.

As we hit ball after ball, I noticed the guy in the next bay sending me glances. Eventually he shuffled over to the edge of the divide between the bays.

“Luke Hunter, right?” he said.

“Yeah.”

“Great play this season.”

I never knew what to say to compliments from random strangers. “Thanks.”

He cleared his throat before he spoke again. “My son plays rugby. He’s eighteen and he’s gay, and he had a hard time of it when he was younger, so I just wanted to say how much it means for him to have so many role models on the Marauders now.”

This time I met his gaze straight on.

“What’s your son’s name?” I asked.

“Brandon.”

“Do you think Brandon would like to come watch the guys at practice sometime?”

The guy broke into a smile. “Oh hell yeah, he’d love that.”

I got my phone out of my pocket. “If you input your details I’ll pass it on to management and we’ll arrange a time for him to come meet the team.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you so much.”

“No worries.”

Ethan stared after the guy’s retreating back before turning to me. “That was cool.”

“Yeah.”