Page 70 of Silver Spoon Falls, Vol. I

FORTY-EIGHT

GARRETT

My heart pounds a steady rhythm as I circle the track, sweat sliding down my abdomen. The sun is setting on the horizon, nearly blinding me on the last curve. I squint against it, keeping my gaze focused straight ahead.

Breathe in. Out. In. Out.

Her image filters through my mind, her copper curls glinting as she tosses her head back, her angelic laugh pealing out across the football field. Her forest green eyes dance with humor as they meet mine.

"What do you think, Coach?" Her perfect lips shape the words, and my dick reacts… just like it always does when she speaks to me. Ciara Sharp occupies every damn thought in my mind far more often than she should. Unfortunately for me, she's off-limits.

I'm the high school football coach. She's the older sister of one of my players. The older sister with full custody. She's at every game, damn near every practice. She's everywhere , haunting me everywhere I go.

I passed obsession six stops back, and I can't do a single fucking thing about it.

It's driving me out of my mind. She's the sweetest little cherry I've ever met.

She works her ass off to provide for her brother and never utters a single complaint.

Hell, she works harder than most parents, shows up more than most parents, and makes it look easy.

God knows it hasn't been easy for her. Their parents died when she was nineteen, just a baby herself.

But she dropped out of college, came home, and took charge.

She holds it together for her brother, Todd.

I want to hold it together for her. I ache to wrap her curvy body up in my arms and be the man she leans on.

It pisses me off that I can't be that man without letting down an entire team of kids depending on me.

The school frowns upon dating parents or guardians of students.

With Edna Hubbard on the school board acting like the morality police, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. At least this way, I'm the only one hurting.

"Fuck," I growl, jerking my mind away from thoughts of Ciara as my watch vibrates with an incoming call. I glance down, prepared to swipe the call away while I finish my run, but when I see Dillon Armstrong's name on the display, my brows fly upward. Why in the hell is the sheriff calling me now?

As the coach, it's not the first time. I doubt it'll be the last. A few of my boys think the rules don't apply to them because their parents are rich. It doesn't work that way on my team. No one gets a free pass because of their last names or because they play ball.

If it's not one of my players in trouble, it's one of my sisters.

God only knows which of them is in trouble this time or what they've gotten into.

They're hellbent on making me gray before I'm forty.

First, Adalynn nearly got herself kidnapped.

Then, Charlie got herself kicked out of college.

And then, just a few weeks ago, Leia damn near got herself killed by a bookie while doing a story on his illegal gambling business.

I slow to a stop and swipe to answer Dillon's call.

"Sheriff," I pant, snagging the towel from around my shoulders to wipe my face. "What's going on?"

"Why the fuck do you sound like you're out of breath?" he asks, sounding suspicious. "I know you aren't holding practice right now."

Practice ended an hour ago. I’m running for my job at the moment.

Tonight is the monthly school board meeting.

They stress me the fuck out, so I run before I show up.

Otherwise, God only knows what I’m liable to say when Edna Hubbard climbs up on her high horse like she does every month. The woman is a menace.

"Running," I growl, shaking my head. "What do you want?"

"Just making sure I'm not interrupting something else," he mutters and then sighs. "I need you out at the SSMC clubhouse."

"Why? Which sister is it now?"

"None of them, thank God. I'm still pissed that no one warned me the last time one of your sisters moved to town. I should be first on the memo list," he complains. "You've got three players out here in a busted-up car, and there isn't a license among them."

"Fuck my life." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Haul their asses in."

"Figured you'd say that," he says. "But figured you might want to know who they are first."

"I don't give a shit who their daddies are, Dillon. If they broke the damn law, take them to jail and call their parents. They know the rules."

"One of them is Todd Sharp. It's his sister's car, and he was the one driving. If anyone goes to jail, it'll be him."

I drop my hand back to my side, cursing. Todd hasn't been in trouble a day in his life. He's a good kid, straight As, easygoing, has a bright future ahead of him. What the hell is he doing borrowing Ciara's car without a license? And wrecking it? She can't afford this kind of shit.

"Does she know he has the car?"

"Apparently not. Her coworker picked her up today. From what I gather, he and his buddies saw the keys and decided to go for a little joyride. Except the idiots can't drive worth a damn. They hit a sign and went off the road. They hit Cash Montoya's SUV."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Nah, everyone is fine. The boys are shitting bricks that they're all about to go to jail." Dillon chuckles. "I've got them in the back of my cruiser right now, letting them sweat it out."

"Good," I growl, jogging toward the gates and my truck on the far side. "Let them stew until I get there."

Fifteen minutes later, I pull up outside the Silver Spoon Falls MC clubhouse, cursing up a blue streak. Ciara's Nissan Sentra slid off the road, hit a sign, went through the fence, and then hit Cash's SUV. The Sentra needs some serious bodywork to get it back in order.

Fortunately, Cash's SUV is barely even dented. He and Jude Despora meet me outside. Dillon jogs over to meet us.

"Garrett," Jude says. "Good to see you."

"Garrett." Cash lifts his chin in a nod. "I take it these three are yours?"

"Unfortunately," I mutter, glancing toward Dillon's patrol car where the boys are still hanging out in the back seat.

Todd has his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped.

Grady Bausch is staring into the middle distance as if he's bored out of his mind.

Lincoln Pickett scowls like he thinks he's being inconvenienced.

That boy never fucking learns. He's a helluva player, but he's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.

I'm not the least bit surprised to see him or Grady here.

They've been in trouble before. They undoubtedly will be again.

But Todd is another story. And he doesn't have a rich daddy to bail him out like Grady does, nor a famous family like Lincoln.

All he has is an older sister who already works too goddamn hard to take care of him.

I may not be able to claim her the way I ache to do, but I can do this much for her.

Just like I make sure no one fucks with her at the bar where she works.

Just like I make sure she makes it home safely.

Just like I do one hundred little things to make sure she's taken care of when I can.

I can't have her, but I can't stay away either.

She's my obsession, the one thing in this world I'd kill to have. And the one thing I can't touch.

"Grady and Lincoln are my troublemakers," I tell the three of them, being truthful. "But Todd, the boy who was driving, has never been in trouble. He's a good kid. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but this isn't like him."

"Like I told Dillon, we can avoid all of that and put him to work to pay off the cost of the fence and the repairs to my SUV," Cash says, leaning up against the side of his SUV.

"I've got all kinds of shit he can help with around here.

Guarantee by the time he's done here, he'll think twice about doing some dumb shit like this again. "

"He'll have to pay to replace the sign he took out," Dillon says. "But I'm good with that if you are."

"Shit." I scrub a hand through my hair, trying to work it out in my mind.

If he works off the repairs to the fence and Cash's truck and pays for the sign, I can pay for the repairs to Ciara's car.

The shop in town will discount the work for me.

It'll be one less thing for her to deal with.

Maybe I'm a hypocrite for changing the rules, but I'm not doing it entirely for Todd.

I'm doing it for her. She shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes. "Yeah, let's do it."

"I'll run the other two home," Dillon says. "I'm guessing you want to have a conversation with your girl yourself?"

"My girl?"

He hits me with a look that screams don't bullshit me . "Motherfucker, I know everything in this town. Including how much time you spend following that girl around. She's your girl or would be if you'd get your head out of your ass. Lie to yourself about it if you want, but you can't lie to me."

"It's not that simple," I mutter, uncomfortable as fuck that he's calling me out in front of Cash and Jude, both of whom are grinning like this is hilarious to them.

"I'm the football coach. She has custody of her brother, who is one of my players.

We can't fraternize unless I quit. If I quit, I disappoint a whole fucking team of kids who are counting on me. "

"Damn." Jude shakes his head. "Talk about a rock and a hard place."

"Yeah."

"So marry her." Cash shrugs when I look at him. "If you skip the dating part, they can't say shit."

Dillon snorts laughter. "I don't know how the fuck you ended up married, giving advice like that."

"Fuck off," Cash growls, his dark eyes narrowed on the sheriff. "I'm just saying that if he wants the girl and the job, he needs to work smarter to get the one and keep the other."

"Jesus Christ. Can we stop discussing my love life now and deal with the boys?"

"Fine. I'm taking Grady and Lincoln home." Dillon smirks at me. "Good luck with the sister who isn't your girl."

I discreetly flip him off before heading for his SUV to collect Todd. We need to have a discussion… and then we need to go have one with Ciara. Fuck. She's going to be mad as hell when she finds out what he did.