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I get to my feet and adjust my hat on my head.

Lucky shirt be damned. “I’ll pay for the rooms. For everyone.

I’ll get them all booked this weekend. West, can we get a waiver to the parents for permission for them to stay?

” I look at Leah. “Don’t tell me I can’t do this, Leah.

This is what’s right. I’m paying for the rooms.”

She smiles, a little sad, a little proud. “Okay. You can pay for the rooms. I’ll get Denae to draw up a release and liability form and a permission slip.” She clicks around on her computer. “It’s going to be at least three thousand dollars, Dean, even with a room rate. Are you?—”

What else do I have to spend my money on? “I want to keep my students safe, Leah, and if the school board doesn’t care, then I’ll do it out of my own pocket.”

I look between them, making a split decision. “Don’t tell anyone I’m footing the bill. Let people think the district came through.”

“You’re really gonna let those assholes get the credit?

” Leah asks, folding her arms over her buttery blouse.

She shakes her head. “I can call my guy at the Leader. We can run a whole story about it. How the district denied the school safety, then the varsity football coach came through, a beacon in the storm, a voice of reason in the insanity, a wallet in the cheapness– ”

I stop her there, smirking as I place my palm out. “No, no.”

She laughs and West smirks. “I’m joking but I’m also serious.” She sits up, letting her chair snap against her spine. “Good press for you, Dean. Are you sure?”

I don’t need people to know I paid. I don’t want credit for anything. I just want the kids to be safe and taken care of when they’re out there for us, for Bluebell High. It’s what’s right. “I’m sure.” I tip my hat to both of them, eager to get out of this office and walk off the frustration.

I don’t care about paying. Like I said, what else do I have to spend my money on?

I’m just disappointed that pool tiles and chlorine systems are more important than kids.

No hate on swimming, either. If the swimmers were making this trek, and the board decided on pads and helmets instead of safe housing for one night to eliminate risk, I’d be on their side, too.

After greeting my first class, hearing about how Damon Winchester’s dad fell off a ladder and broke his arm this weekend while cleaning the gutter, learning how Sara Larson got stung by a bee when she stepped on it near her pool, and how Max Pierson is currently grounded for what his mom found in his search history on the family computer, my spirits are lifted.

I love spending the first few minutes of class letting the kids tell me and each other things that are clearly important to them after the weekend.

My mood shifts, and I put my irritation with the school board out of my mind, and enjoy the day with students.

Practices without Tanner just aren’t the same.

I have my second string quarterback running things, but it’s different.

Sure, he’s a good player and a talented quarterback, but with Tanner, everything between him and the other players is just so natural.

So effortless. It’s the sign of a born athletic leader, the way he has field presence and an air of command.

While the boys are running 10-yard sprint drills, my phone rings, and the sun is so glaring, I can’t make out the caller ID on screen. “Hello?”

I immediately recognize the voice as one of the scouts that’s been heavily interested and invested in Tanner.

The guy who left me a ten minute voicemail the night of Tanner’s accident, but never left his name or the name of the school or organization he’s with.

He says things like heavily interested and his success post-injury is in your hands and don’t ruin him before he can shine and then oddly requests a meeting.

I beg off, saying I’ll return the call later, because this guy gives me the goddamn creeps, and there are plenty of scouts in the sea.

After a rougher practice, I lead a few boys to the training room to see West, and decide to pay Tanner a visit and let him know just how much his team misses him.

When I pull up, Clara June’s car is in the driveway and my stomach kicks with excitement at the thought of seeing her. I hadn’t intended on seeing her today, in fact, I’d kind of assumed she was working .

Archie answers the door immediately after I knock, letting me inside with a “howdy, coach,” and a chocolatey grin.

I step inside, surprised at the condition of the place. It’s picked up and not at all the storm it was when I was here before.

“Who was–” Clara June’s voice is soft and delicate, and my heart flips and flutters when she steps out from around the corner, a kitchen apron tied to her small frame, her chestnut hair down around her shoulders, the waves long and enticing, perfect to wrap my fingers around.

“Oh,” she says, but I don’t miss the flare of color in the apples of her cheeks, and the way pink pops up in splotches on her neck and along her collarbone. “Hi Coach.”

Fuck if I don’t like the way Coach sounds coming from her. Dirty thoughts flood my mind, and I tip my head before taking my hat off and holding it to my belt, hiding the effect she has on me. “Hi there, Miss Clara June. I thought I’d come by and check on Tanner. See how he’s doing.”

I glance at the couch, but Tanner isn’t there. “The place sure looks nice,” I tell her, looking around the freshly vacuumed and lemony smelling home.

She brings the back of her wrist to her head, swiping against the sweat that I hadn’t noticed a moment ago. “Thanks. It’s only going to last another,” she pauses, glancing at her watch, “two or so hours, but thank you.”

“What happens in two hours?” I ask, suddenly nervous that I’m crashing something important.

She shrugs with a simple smile that makes my insides catch fire. “The other two boys will be home.” Archie runs past, the vacuum hose in one hand, the lifeless vacuum rolling along behind him as he heads for the back door, through the kitchen .

“Freeze,” she says as he steps one little boot onto the porch. “Drop the vacuum.”

“Aw, man,” he huffs, but the hose clatters to the floor a moment before the screen door clicks, and he’s gone. She cups her hands to her mouth, calling after him, “No peaches, Archie!”

When she faces me, heat spiderwebs through my chest, so I shove my hands through my sticky, sweat-damp hair and smile. “Off today,” I say stupidly because obviously she’s off.

Clara June nods. “Yeah, finally, huh?” She waves an arm around the small living space, decorated with an old painting of a rodeo on the wall, framed in oak, a lamp in the corner, some pillows and blankets in a woven basket near the hearth, magazines spread along the coffee table next to a box of coasters and a line of remotes.

It’s cozy, and just a minute in this place and I can feel the warmth radiating from every piece of furniture.

Everything in this house has a story, a depth, and being here feels like being part of something bigger.

Maybe that’s how family feels, and I’m just not used to it. I don’t know, but what I feel standing in front of Clara June has me asking, “Mind if I sit?”

She nods. “Can I get you something to drink?”

I shake my head. I’d die of thirst before I’d make this woman wait on me. No fucking way. It ought to be the other way around. “Where’s Tanner at, anyhow?”

She sits in the armchair adjacent from the couch, but not before she unties the apron and wads it up.

In tiny black work out pants and an off-the-shoulder faded gray t-shirt, her feet bare and her hair down, my vision flickers for a moment.

My breathing stutters, my heart leaps, and my chest, for just a second, aches with painful wanting.

“Are you okay?” she asks, her head tipping to the side, ends of her dark hair dragging along her forearm. I could watch Clara June complete a crossword and have a hard-on, I swear.

“Yeah, I’m okay. And hey, I’m sorry for popping by unexpectedly. I just got done with practice, the boys are all ready for Tanner to come back, so I thought I’d come check on him and tell him that. To boost his spirits.”

She pulls her feet into the chair, wrapping her arms around them, hugging herself into a ball. I’ve never been with a woman of her stature, petite but curvy, and the idea of it kind of melts my brain a little.

“Oh, he’ll love to see you. He always does.

” She smiles and I smile back, and a thick current of electricity and desire runs between us, undeniably overwhelming.

My chest nearly goes concave from being the recipient of that goddamn smile.

“To answer your question, he and Rawley went to the library to grab some books. Rawley has a paper due next week and Tanner is going to help him.” She taps her chin, and I can’t help but see my thumb on her chin, tugging her lips apart, making room for my cock, which she eagerly and wantonly begs for.

I clear my throat. “That’s nice of him. They’re close, your boys, aren’t they?”

She nods proudly, and I like that about her, too.

How proud she is of her beautiful family, and all the hard work she’s put into making kind, smart, hard working sons.

“They are. We all are. We’ve always been close.

” Her head tips to the side, and she nibbles on the inside of her cheek, like there’s something she wants to ask, but isn’t sure if she can.

“What is it?” I ask, setting my hat down on the table now that my crotch has finally calmed down. Though in her presence, I’m starting to think I need a damn cup.