I reached over as Jess came to the door, and yanked her in. She tried to be sneaky as she checked me out and I let out a disgruntled sigh.
“I’m fine,” I reported, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror. “Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated as you can clearly see.”
She snorted and snipped, “How disappointing.”
My lips twitched at her quick retort, but I just said, “We have a scrimmage this afternoon.”
“Good for you?” She replied questioningly.
“It’s at the school, but we’ll be late getting out. You and Anna can take the Jeep home. Caleb and I will walk.” Jess glanced at Anna, who widened her eyes as she grinned excitedly.
“You trusts us to drive?” Jess said disbelievingly.
“I trust Anna to drive. You, not so much.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Do you even have an Idaho license?” I questioned, eyeing her.
“The better question would be, ‘Do I have I a license?’” She informed me airily.
“In that case, I absolutely do not trust you to drive my Jeep,” I answered promptly.
“Fine,” she grunted, not seeming to care other than to give me a hard time.
“Straight home though.” I was dead serious as I met their eyes in the rearview mirror. “No stops, detours, or helping turtles cross the road.”
“Turtles?” She snorted and I glared.
“Yes, turtles.”
“Anna’s been known to stop for just about anything, but there’s been more than one turtle,” Caleb explained as Anna sank down in the seat.
“No stops,” I reiterated and they nodded.
Jess bumped Anna’s shoulder, whispering, “I’d stop for a turtle too.”
Anna grinned as I muttered, “Not today, you won’t.”
***
“Anna’s sick,” Caleb reported and I paused over the notes I’d been scribbling. It wasn’t often we got sick. “Girl sick,” he added and understanding dawned.
“I’m fine,” Anna whimpered, almost curling into a ball. “I have to take Jess home.”
“No, you have to take yourself home,” I ordered, curling an arm around her and lifting her up. She was deceptively heavy for her size and a human would have a hard time picking her up. “Can you drive?”
“Yeah,” she moaned. “Or you could just kill me now?”
I chuckled briefly, long strides taking us to the Jeep. “I’m afraid that would violate my job description,” I told her as Caleb jogged next to us, sympathy on his face. Anna had a raw deal when it came to going in heat. It was unpredictable and extremely painful, but usually only happened once or twice a year. Unlike Jess, who ovulated monthly like a normal human, which was a special torture for me.
“But Jess,” she whispered as I plopped her into the seat and handed her the keys.
“Will walk home with us,” I stated. “Check with my Dad, see if he has some of that cream, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded, her eyes bright pools of pain and I kissed her forehead, shocking us both.
“Take care of yourself, Anna.”
***
When Jess didn’t show up at the cafeteria, I followed her scent to the library. She was at a table as I came in and our eyes met for a second before I went to greet the librarian.
“Coach Navarre, what a pleasant surprise,” the librarian simpered and I caught Jess rolling her eyes.
“Ms. Steele, I clearly don’t visit often enough if my presence is a surprise,” I replied charmingly and Jess’s mouth dropped open.
“Then I should expect to see you more often,” Ms. Steele flirted, old enough to be my grandmother, but still not immune to my lure. Jess was behind Ms. Steele, giving me a clear view of her and she mimed gagging and I had to work to keep a frown off my face.
“Of course, Ms. Steele,” I replied, tossing her a wink that made her eyelashes flutter. “Right now, I need to grab a book for Coach Thomas.”
“If you need any help, you just ask,” Ms. Steele offered, giving me a lingering pat on the arm. I smiled, trying not to bare my teeth at her implication and went around her. I tilted my head, indicating Jess should follow me, and she nodded shallowly.
I went a couple of rows in, tapping my fingers impatiently as I waited for Jess to join me. The entire situation was ridiculous, reminding me why I should have sent Caleb, but I’d resisted the idea, wanting to see her.
Finally, I could smell her heading toward me. “Took you long enough,” I grumbled as she came around the corner of the stack.
“Your admirer was checking out your ass,” she replied tartly, smiling in satisfaction when I winced. “I had to wait until she went in her office to follow. Wouldn’t want to be suspicious after all.”
“It’s really inconvenient having to hunt you down,” I replied, ignoring her comment since I didn’t want to admit what we were doing wasn’t exactly appropriate.
“Not sure why you felt the need to hunt me down. You could have texted me,” she retorted, gesturing to the phone tucked in her pocket.