“She’s twelve, and her father asked me to give her some private lessons. It seems Laney—cute name, isn’t it? Well, she wants to tear some walls down and be the first female player on her middle school’s football team.”
Jeff closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “You asshole. You made my damn heart drop when you said she was twelve. Fucker!”
I let out a laugh.
“So you’re coaching a little girl to play football. I like it. Good for her. I hope she kicks some serious boy’s ass.”
“Want to come? You can help.”
“Would her dad mind?”
“No, I’m sure he wouldn’t care. I’ll call him and make sure it’s okay.”
A smile moved over his face. “Cool. This could be a lot of fun. I’m totally going to teach her how to tackle the little bastards.”
“Well, the goal for her father is to make sure this is something she really wants to do, not something she thinks her dad wants her to do.”
Jeff nodded. “Ah, so the dad doesn’t want her playing?”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all, but he’s not about forcing his hand with it. He’s hoping I can change her mind.”
“I have an idea.”
“I’m all ears,” I replied.
“We need to call Josh. We’re going to show her what playing football is really like.”
A grin moved across my lips. “Tell him to bring his football gear.”
Chapter Nineteen – Gunner
I’d already cleared it with Lane’s father; Jeff and Josh were more than welcome to help out.
Laney stood in front of me, her eyes round with horror as she took in the plays I had been making Jeff and Josh run.
“Run that play again, y’all!” I shouted to Jeff and Josh.
I couldn’t see their faces, but I was positive Jeff had a wide grin. He’d tackled Josh three times already . . . hard. The last time I thought Josh might have actually broken a rib with the sound that came out of his mouth.
“You’re gonna make them do that again?” Laney asked.
Taking a peek over to her father, I shot him a quick smile. He gave me a thumbs-up since his daughter couldn’t see him. I guess he could hear the fear in her voice.
“Yes. You have to see the type of hits you’ll be taking, Laney.”
“Will they . . . be that . . . hard?” She flinched when Jeff tackled Josh. It hadn’t been lost on me that Josh had actually looked to be running away from Jeff.
“Yep. I mean, the boys won’t be this big of course, but you can expect the same thing. But girls do it all the time. They usually play quarterback, but then you also run the risk of being sacked.”
She nodded.
“Josh, Jeff. Let’s show Laney what a sack looks like.”
Josh stood there staring at me. I knew he was giving me death rays through his helmet. He pointed to me, and that was his silent way of saying I was going to be getting a payback. Laney’s father chuckled from behind us before quickly clearing his throat.
“This is not fun anymore!” Josh shouted.
“What do you mean? You love football!” Jeff shouted.