The Billionaire's Secret Love Child(79)

I found myself watching him as he waved his clipboard through the air, and blew his whistle. My heart skipped a beat; the only other time it had done that was when I met my old high school boyfriend.

“Alright guys, get in here,” he shouted.

The crew of players did as told, huddling around the coach. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they listened intently to his words. Then they all broke off and headed towards the showers. Mr. Reynolds grabbed his bag and shoved the clipboard inside.

“Okay, Sandy. I’m going to go wait for Brad outside the locker room door, coming?”

“I think I’m going to stay here a while, you go on ahead,” I said.

She nodded and happily skipped off.

I tucked my schoolbooks away and trotted down the stairs. I barely made it halfway down when I saw the girls cheer team cease their practicing for the day.

They looked like models, every one of them. Their long legs barely covered by a tiny skirt, and blonde hair tied back to a ponytail. I was envious of her good looks and chipper attitude. I could just barely make out their conversation.

“Hey, Mr. Reynolds, what are you doing this weekend,” asked the prettiest of the bunch, “the girls and I were planning on having a little cheer camp and would love to have you there to coach us.”

“Doesn’t the cheer team already have a coach?” he asked.

They all giggled.

“Well, we do, but we could always use a little more coaching,” she said through a bright smile.

The squad captain did a flirty bounce where she stood. It was easy to see that she had taken a liking to Mr. Reynolds; I felt a little envious.

“I think I’ll leave your training to your coach; I’m much better at teaching players.”

The girls let out a collective ‘aww’ as he spurred their advances. He turned to grab his things as the girls wandered off to the field. I slowly continued to descend the stairs, and he flashed me a smile as I did.

“Good practice?” I asked, making polite small talk.

“Are you really here to talk about practice,” he asked, “where did Jennie go?”

I pointed toward the locker room, and he nodded in understanding.

“The players kept talking about a party tonight; they even invited me for some odd reason,” he said.

“Jennie asked me to go; she wants me to hook up with one of the players. Mike, I think.”

“Mike is a good kid, but a little daft in the head. You really have to grind things into that skull.”

I sighed, realizing how long tonight was probably going to be.

“If you go, I’ll buy you a drink,” I quipped, expecting to be brushed off.

“I might have to hold you to that,” he replied.

I coughed, nervously.

“Why do you let Jennie boss you around,” he asked. He looked at me quizzically, and I realized I had no real response.

I had never really thought about why I let her do it; she just did it, and I went along. It’s just the way our friendship has been since forever.

“Because she’s my friend,” I replied.

He set his things down and sat on a bleacher, patting the seat to beckon me to join him.

I did as I was asked; taking a seat right next to him. I was closer now than I was last night, but I trusted him a little better today.

“You should be friends with someone because they want to spend time with you; not just because they want you around, so they’re not alone,” he said.

I nodded.

“You’re a smart girl; you probably get good grades, and study in your spare time. But, you have to spend time with people that are good for you.”

“Jennie is good to me,” I started, “she’s been my friend since grade school and is part of the reason I’m going to this college.”

“But, did you want to go to this college?”

I hadn’t thought of that. I was really hoping to get into something more upscale. For a long time, I had hopes of getting into an ivy-league school, and I had the grades to make it happen. Jennie didn’t, but she probably wouldn’t have gone to college if I weren’t here to support her the entire way.

“I suppose I didn’t,” I replied honestly, “I just wanted to be there for my friend.”

He nodded.

“I bet you haven’t had very many boyfriends,” he said.

I leaned back in shock that he would ask something like that. Though, he wasn’t wrong about that either. I shook my head no.

“It’s confidence that you’re lacking. You accept what other people want you to accept.”

I nodded.

“See, you’re doing it right now.”

I laughed when he pointed it out but really didn’t know what to say.

“I’m only playing. I grew up in much the same way. I got good grades; I spent a lot of time to myself, and I went along to football tryouts even though I really didn’t have much interest.

“I was a little stick figure of a kid, and I got teased a lot for it. Still, when I ran on the field, there wasn’t one person who could catch me.

“Playing in this sport did something to me, I gained a measure of confidence I hadn’t had before. Then, I started working out, eating right and now I turn down people that wouldn’t have given me a second glance when I was in school.”