Page 20 of Racing Heat (The Forbidden Heat #2)

Chapter Twenty

~JASE~

Idon’t get a lot of sleep after coming home from the club.

We only stayed for about an hour or so after Cassie and I rejoined our friends, which wasn’t too surprising.

Danny and Mac were looking for some alone time, and August ended up bailing early on us to go hook up with the girl he met.

The rest of us were just tired. It had a been a long day that began early, and after the adrenaline of the game, we all needed sleep.

I couldn’t sleep, however. When I got back into my car, I could still smell her.

I sat there for a few moments before starting it, inhaling her scent and remembering what it felt like to have her hovering over me.

It was heaven. When I finally managed to leave the parking space, I repeated the same process in my garage.

I knew I should get out and go get some sleep.

It’s after one in the morning and I’m tired.

Well, my body is tired, but my mind is going a million miles a minute.

I keep replaying the night’s events in my head over and over.

She wanted it as much as I did. She was as hungry for me as I was for her.

I half expected one of us to come to our senses and stop it.

Part of me wants to feel guilty for how we came together.

It should have been in a bed for the first time, and I should have taken my time with her, but I’m not sorry that it happened.

Not one bit. No matter how she reacts today when I see her, I’ll never be sorry.

It was after three in the morning when I dragged my ass into my house, made something to eat, showered, and lay in my bed.

One thing was for sure: I had it bad. And this situation was going to be difficult because I was jeopardizing both of our jobs.

She would be left worse off than me. Men aren’t punished as harshly as women.

I would just be publicized as the playboy who was seduced by a player, and if anyone ever saw her, no one would blame me.

Cassie, on the other hand, would take the brunt of the blame.

She seduced me and she was the problem, not the coach.

Cassie would be the one who wouldn’t be able to find another team.

I could. It might take a while, but another general manager would see things the way the media would spin it and would hire me.

It didn’t make it right or fair, but that’s the way the cookie would crumble.

Those thoughts kept me awake longer than they should have, but eventually, sleep did find me. Fitful as it was, I slept, my head full of dreams of what it was like to be inside her. The sounds and moans that she made. All of it. I relived every second of it.

The next morning, I had to stop myself from calling her and settled for a text message. At least the text would let her know that I was thinking of her.

Jase: Good morning, love. I hope you slept well last night. You were in my dreams quite a bit.

Before I could think better of sending the message, I did it.

I watched my phone for a bit to see if I could see when she read the message and started typing, but nothing came in the five minutes I spent staring at my phone.

Well, I tried. It was time to ready myself for the stadium and the practice that I insisted on having with Hendrix.

I was starting to second-guess my logic on that, only because I ended up fucking one of the players that I had invited to help us out with some cross shots.

My phone chimes, signaling that I have a text message. I swear I dive on it like it’s a live grenade. And in some ways, it is. It’s my only link to her this morning.

Cassie: Good morning. I’m doing just fine. I thought about you a lot last night too.

I read and reread that message over and over again. She thought about me last night too. That’s a good sign. Hell, I’ll take any message from her as a win, because she could have hidden from me. Or she could have said it was mistake. I leave for the stadium feeling hopeful about seeing her.

I’m the first one to arrive. I busy myself with pulling out some cones and soccer balls so that we can practice getting shots in on Hendrix.

I place the cones where I’m hoping the players could stand to fire.

I make sure to include some far out by the eighteen because that’s where Cassie’s two goals of the season have come from.

The sound of talking causes me to turn around, and here come Mac, Hendrix, Amelia, and Cassie.

They’re all wearing their blue training shorts and white training tops except for Cassie, who’s got on yellow training shorts, making her stand out from the rest. I know she’s not doing it for that reason; she prefers the brighter colors when she runs and trains.

“Good morning, ladies. How are we all feeling this morning?” I greet them once they’re close enough to hear me.

There’s a chorus of “hi’s” and “fine’s”, but I don’t really focus on anyone else’s response. I’m only interested in Cassie’s.

“Hi. Feeling just fine.” She shoots me a wink.

Fuck, this might be a long training. I need to get a grip and treat her like anyone else. This is good practice for not letting anyone suspect anything.

“Girls, if you could please warm up so that everyone is loose and ready to start firing some shots on Hendrix,” I begin, slipping into business mode. “Hendrix, warm up with the girls until they switch to passing and then come over to me and I’ll finish your warmup with you.”

“Sounds good, Coach. Thanks,” Hendrix replies. She looks bit uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot. Her eyes don’t meet mine, and her smile is a bit off.

“Hendrix, come here a second, please.”

Slowly, she walks over. “Yes, Coach?”

“I don’t want you to think of this practice as a punishment.

This is just extra work. You had a lot of great saves.

The missed save that caused the goal shouldn’t define your game.

I just feel like it’s better to have the practice and work on these types of things now while the memory is fresh.

So, chin up and have fun with the girls.

Unless you’re too hungover from last night to practice.

” I try to end my talk on a teasing tone. Thankfully it works.

She smiles big and bright at me. The first one I’ve seen all morning. “I’m definitely no worse for wear after last night.”

I chuckle. “Well, good. Let’s get to it.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” she says, saluting me.

“Get the fuck out of here with that shit,” I tease.

Hendrix chuckles and heads over to the waiting girls.

They begin their light jog around the field, and I watch as they go.

Cassie leads the pack with graceful long strides, while Mac is next, followed by Amelia and Hendrix.

Amelia seems to be slowing her pace a bit so that she can run with Hendrix.

That makes me happy. They’ve really all formed a tight bond.

It’s only four of them, but you have to start somewhere.

This team is brand new, with most of the women having never played together, with the exception of Mac and Cassie.

Their chemistry is noticeable. The rest is coming together smoothly.

Cassie comes in first from the run and heads over to her water bottle, which is where I strategically placed myself.

“Do you ever take anything easy?” I tease.

“What do you mean?” Her smile is a mile wide, and I take it as a good sign that she’s not feeling any remorse from last night.

“That run you were just on. Why not take it nice and easy? Finish with Mac or the other two.”

“Well, then you wouldn’t have the pleasure of this conversation.”

“In that case, I’m glad you did.”

She steps closer to me. “I thought you might be. What are your plans after this?”

I like the boldness of her question. I smirk. “I have a pickup game after this. Would you like to come? We could get some food afterward.”

“That sounds doable. I’ll see how things break apart here. But I’ll do my best to be with you.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

She winks at me. She must have heard the others approaching, because she turns to the girls who are jogging over for their water bottles too.

“It’s about time you slow pokes got back here,” she teases.

“Some of us are taking our rest day seriously and not trying to overdo it,” Mac replies, sticking her tongue out at her.

Cassie chuckles. “Taking things slow has never been my style.”

I repeat the words over and over in my head as they run through some stretches. I’m wondering if that was for my benefit or just an answer to Mac’s question. I decide on the latter and file that information away for safe keeping.

The extra practice is going really well. The girls are doing a great job of firing some hard shots at Hendrix, but they’re also joking around and making this fun for her.

“Come on, Hendrix, let’s see you do some real dives,” Cassie calls as she fires a slow, low one at her.

“You might want to try putting some spin on that one,” Hendrix calls back. “I could have practically stopped that one with my foot.”

“I’ve got your spin,” Mac calls out, slamming one in Hendrix’s direction. She does a nice job of placing it right where Hendrix could make a diving save. But she’s not ready for it and doesn’t save it. It flows into the net. “Got you there, Hen.”

Hendrix holds up her gloved hand. “You’re just lucky that you can’t see what finger I’m holding up underneath here.”

Mac shakes her head, laughing along with her.

“From farther out now,” I command. “Let’s get her in that game situation from yesterday.”

Mac and Cassie move to their cones. Cassie is hanging out by the eighteen, and Mac’s just inside the box in the middle. Amelia is the defender.

“Stay out of place, Amelia. I want this to be a one-on-one with the goalie.”

“Sure, take out your most powerful weapon,” she says, ribbing me.

“You had some chances earlier and did well. Let’s give you a break. You know your role well.”

She nods and grins at me, taking the compliment and time to get some water.

Cassie fires a shot in, but Hendrix is at the wrong angle, and it goes in.

“Adjust, Hendrix,” I shout. “You’ve gotta adjust. Coming out isn’t enough. You have to read it. Again!”

Cassie nods and dribbles her ball up to the spot. She watches Hendrix waiting on her nod, and once she gets it, she fires the ball. Hendrix grabs this one and gets an easy save.

“Let’s try not telling her when we’re shooting, maybe? Kind of defeats the purpose of the drill.”

Groans are heard all around, but they do as I ask.

“Now I want you to work on hard passing, one touch receiving, and firing it into the goal.” My ask is rewarded with more groans, but they get down to it.

That’s what I love about working with these four.

You can give them simple instructions and they just know.

With some players I’ve worked with, I had to give them each and every detail.

“You working them hard this morning?” Andie comes jogging over to me on the field.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t realize you were going to be here today.”

“I had some paperwork I wanted to work on in my office, so I came in for the quiet.”

“Ugh, the paperwork is the worst part of this job. Who knew we’d have to fill out stat sheets, trade sheets, and recruiting sheets along with all the other work.”

She nods in agreement. “Yep, and on our days off too. Or don’t your players get a day off?”

“They do. Just wanted to work on some specific things before they were forgotten.” The girls are sweating pretty good in the morning heat. It might be time to break it up. “But yeah, we can stop now, I think.”

“Probably a good idea.” Andie bumps my shoulder and walks away, but not before calling, “I’m heading back into my air-conditioning.”

“See ya,” I call to her retreating form. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. You girls can call it a day. Good work out there. Thank you all for coming in and helping. Hendrix, nice job! I liked what I saw. Now go and get some rest.”

After everyone leaves, I clean up the equipment and head out to my car. Looking down at my phone, I see I have a text from Cassie.

Cassie: I’ll hang back and follow you out of the lot. We’re all doing our own thing. Mac is headed to Danny. Amelia and Hendrix are getting ice baths. So we’re safe.

Jase: That worked out perfectly. I’ll make sure I wait for you before pulling out.

My response to that one is an emoji with a wink.

Cassie: Yes, always warn me before you pull out. It helps there to not be such a mess.

I laugh out loud at her response, then stop abruptly, looking around and making sure no one is in earshot. Thankfully they aren’t.

Jase: Dirty girl.

Cassie: Oh, you have no idea.

The afternoon should be fun. About an hour or more of a game and then lunch with Cassie.

I wonder if it should be at my place but then decide better of it.

I should buy her a meal and plan something nicer for her.

I don’t want her to think I only want for her for the shagging, though I can’t say I’m not looking forward to finding out just how dirty she can be.