Page 30 of Racing Heat (The Forbidden Heat #2)

Chapter Thirty

~CASSIE~

The cloud Jase had me walking on when I left his office has dissipated.

We’re losing. The Courage are beating us three-nothing.

The offense can’t get a good shot off, and the only one that Kelsey was able to send through was blocked.

We’re about to be shut out. I look up at the clock and see we only have ten more minutes of this left.

It looks like Coach is going to bring in some of the subs so that others can play. Or maybe he’s hoping that a change of players will come with a change of pace. Either way, I’m thinking one of those six subs that’s standing on the line is for me. I get my wish, thankfully.

I slap hands with Jess as she comes in for me. “Go get ’em.” I say it with more enthusiasm than I feel, but she doesn’t even seem to notice.

Coach has taken out Mac, Kelsey, and Maria.

The whole front line has changed—two midfielders and one back.

I look over my shoulder to see that Amelia is still holding down the center-back position.

Good for her. She’s been making some big plays for us today, but it hasn’t been enough.

It takes more than one person to win a game, and right now, we can’t put together pieces for a goal.

I make my way to the bench and sit down. The coaches will talk to us after the game. For now, Andie, Coach Watts, and Jase are focused on the players they subbed in, looking to see how they’re going to handle the tough competition.

“Miranda, let’s go,” Jase calls over to her. “You’re going in.”

Miranda rises and grabs her gloves. “You’re taking Hendrix out?”

“Yeah, let’s give her a break. Unless you don’t want your shot?”

“No, I want it,” she says quickly, hurrying over to the line. She’s got less than seven minutes to make her mark.

I look to Hendrix. Her head is down, and her shoulders are sagging. Usually, I’d have that same feeling of being taken out, but tonight it feels welcomed. We couldn’t find our rhythm, and my shots were all blocked from the eighteen. No amount of me rushing back to help the defense mattered.

Once Hendrix is subbed out, she comes over and sits on the bench beside me.

Neither of us says a word. There’s nothing to say, and this isn’t a strong showing.

I look up at the crowd that’s grown since the beginning of the season; it’s dwindling fast tonight.

The fans are filing out, realizing their team isn’t going to win.

Once the final buzzer sounds and we shake hands with the other team, I sit back on the bench. I slowly remove my cleats as my teammates head into the locker room. Coach Watts said he’d talk to us in a bit, but I’m lagging here on the bench. I hear Jase’s English accent as he talks to the goalies.

“Chin up, yeah?” he says. It makes me smile.

I keep my head down, hoping he walks right past me, but I’m not that lucky. He lowers himself onto the bench beside me.

“You coming?” Andie asks him.

“In a minute,” he calls after her. “I think someone is beating herself up. Just wanna have a chat and then we’ll be in.”

“Need me to stay and help?” Andie pauses and waits for his response.

“If you want to, you can, but I’ve got it.”

Silence follows and it’s still just Jase and me sitting on the bench.

“I’m not even going to ask, because I know you’re not okay,” he begins. “But it’s okay not to be. It was a rough game. Not much went our way today.”

“No, it did not. And if this is your idea of a pep talk, well, you suck at it.”

He chuckles. “I didn’t say I was giving you a pep talk. I told Andie I wanted to have a chat with you. So that’s what I’m doing—having a chat with you.”

“Chat away.” I pick up my head and wave my hand, telling him to proceed. Jase just laughs again, but he doesn’t continue. “Are you just going to sit here with me?”

“I can do that. But you’ve got to head in at some point. Nate is going to chat with the team. You shouldn’t miss that.”

I nod. “I know. But Mac is still over there crying to Danny, so I’ve got time.”

“Do you want to cry to me?”

I shake my head. “I’m not a crier usually.”

“With losses or in general?” he asks.

“Yes,” I reply. That earns me another laugh.

“It sucks to lose. Believe me, I know. But it’s just a part of the game—”

“You don’t think I know that? I know that is exactly what Coach Watts is going to say in there. Losses are a part of the game, and this is how we learn. Take what you’ve learned today and use it. Make sure you don’t let yourself feel like this again. Sounds like a load of crap to me.”

Jase laughs. “Yeah, I’m sure it does. I know it does, in fact. My coaches used to say the same thing to me when we lost. I feel like it’s in their handbook or something.”

“Would you have that same one?”

“Nope, goalie coaches have ripped up the manual. We play by our own rules.”

“Sure, you do.”

Jase puts his arm around my waist, and I look over at him.

“Just shut up. No one is going to see me do this.” He gives my hip a squeeze.

“It sucks to be shut out and to have so few of your shots make it into the box. But you just gotta pick your head up and learn from it. Don’t let the losses define you.

And remember this…” He pauses and doesn’t start talking again until I look up at him.

“I’m going to get you naked later, and you’ll forget about all of this. ”

I laugh and lean into him. “Thank you for making me feel better. Sure, you said some of the same old crap that I’m about to hear in there, but I like it coming from you.”

“I’m glad.”

“Hey, come on,” Mac says, hurrying over to me. “We’ve gotta get in there and talk to Coach Watts.” She stops and stares at us. “What’s going on here? Cas, you okay?”

I nod quickly. “Yeah, I’m just bummed about the game.

Jase was giving me a pep talk.” I hope she lets it go or isn’t in the process of connecting any dots.

Jase still has ahold of me. I want him to drop his arm and stop comforting me.

If we weren’t here, I would melt into his arms and let his comforting smell wash over me.

“We’ll get them next time, guys,” August calls out. “Go see the coach.”

I rise and look over at Jase. “Thanks for the pep talk. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” he replies before turning to Mac. “You had some nice runs out there. We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

“Thanks, Coach. We’ll get there,” Mac says with a smile.

I love her optimism. It’s why she makes a good captain. She’s always ready to celebrate the wins and pick everyone up when they’re down. The losses don’t seem to weigh on her the way they do me. I’ve seen her smile through it all enough to know it’s genuine. I wish I had that superpower.

We make our way into the locker rooms. My head is still hanging. Mac puts her arm around my shoulder and gives me a squeeze. “It was just one game, kid. We’re going to do better. We have to.”

“Why are you always so annoyingly cheery?” I ask her, rolling my eyes.

Mac stops and turns to me. “Look, it sucks that we lost. I know that. But I have to be positive. No one wants to see me hanging my head and crying about it, right?” I nod in agreement. “There’ll be time for tears and reflection later. Now, Cassie, follow your captain’s lead and get your head up.”

“Okay,” I tell her. I don’t believe it, though. I know there’s a time and a place, but right now, I want to let the emotions roll over me so that I can shake it off in time for the next one.

“That was nice of Jase to stop and comfort you.” She bumps her shoulder with mine.

“I guess so, yeah.” I try to keep my response light and vague.

This is one of the things that’s been nagging on me the past three days. I always tell Mac everything. Keeping this secret from her is harder than I thought it’d be. He put me on such a high with that kiss before the game that I wanted to run right to her and say, “Guess what?” But I can’t.

I’d get fired.

He’d get fired.

He’d go back to Manchester.

It’s enough to make me spiral and add to my mood.

“Hey, earth to Cas.” Mac stops me by putting her hand on my arm. “Did you hear me?”

“Oh, what? Sorry, I didn’t. I was off in another world, I guess.”

“You sure were. Where did you go?” Her brow furrows as she studies me like she’s trying to read my facial expression for the answer.

I shrug it off. “Sorry, I guess I’m still in my head. What were you saying?” It eats away another piece of me. Something I have to keep from her.

“I was just saying that Danny was thinking of having everyone over tonight, but with the loss, I don’t know.”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” I reply. I would rather head to Jase’s and just spend time with him. Especially since I pretty much ghosted him for a few days.

In the locker room, Coach Andie is speaking, going over the same things Jase has had already said to me. I look around and see everyone is hanging their head. The loss is weighing heavily on everyone. Maybe this will be a good thing. This is how we learn.

“Alright, Coach Ford will now speak,” Andie says.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. He’s behind me, I know it. His voice coming from behind me confirms it.

“The loss sucks and we all know that. I’m not telling anyone anything that you don’t already know.

I can see it on your downtrodden faces. But we cannot let this loss define us.

You have to remember that we’re playoff bound.

We’re going to see those playoffs, and we’re going to win some games and even lose some. ”

I turn around to face him. Most coaches don’t talk about the losses in their pep talks. It’s intrigues me.

He looks at me for a beat before continuing.

“But that’s okay. Because we’re a new team.

We’re the team no one wanted to believe in or even back.

Hell, we even had some pretty questionable press.

” That remark is met with laughs, and I squeeze Mac’s hand.

We all know he means Danny. “But here we are, defying the odds. We’re going to have our missteps and that’s okay.

I believe in this team. I believe in all of you.

Now, let’s pick our heads up and say on to the next. ”

He looks around the room several times before yelling, “Say it with me: on to the next.”

The whole room erupts with a chorus of “On to the next.”

“I think Coach Jase has said it all,” Coach Watts addresses the group. “We’ll take Saturday off, but I want to see everyone in the gym on Sunday for our group lift. If you need anything like ice baths or stretches, please see the trainer.”

“Trainer isn’t here, Coach,” one of the girls calls. I’m not sure from where, but I can tell it was from behind Coach.

“Great. Well, hopefully the new one Mr. Cromwell promised me starts soon.”

“Where is Lucas?” I ask Mac.

“Sick, I think,” she says with a shrug. “Cary’s already quit. I only saw him a handful of times, so I have no idea what he even looks like for sure.”

I shake my head. “Would be nice if someone were here on game day.”

“Lucas would be but…”

“Yeah, I know. So, what are you up to tonight? Time with Danny or just hanging out at home?”

She grins at me. “I think I’m going to hang out with Danny. What about you? What will you do?”

“Probably just turn on a movie or something at home and relax. I could use a night in,” I tell her.

“Okay, well, want to have brunch or something after we lift?”

“Sounds like a plan.”