Read Hooked: A Stepbrother Romance for Free Online Page B

 
    “How about we hit the field and practice for a couple of hours, and after that, we can see about contacting him through my agent?” I suggested, rattling the heavy bag of rugby equipment I’d brought with me on my search.
    Perhaps, between JBJB and some creative drills, we could make rugby palatable.
    Maybe even fun.
    “You’ve got to be shitting me,” Shauna muttered as the younger girls were jumping around the room enthusiastically.
    Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the best move I could’ve made.
    Maybe it was the banana bread muffin of motivational techniques.
    But right now, it was the only strategy I had, and it seemed to be working.
    Maybe this was going to go well after all, who knew?
    After all, stranger things have happened.

    Coaching at the summer camp has gone really well. I’m actually really proud of those kids, they’re doing great.
    I’ve learned a lot, too.
    Next year is going to be brilliant.

The boys and I had been on the field for a little under an hour, slowly easing into practice and trying to make sense of rugby. I was having a good, and decidedly Simon-free, time when I saw him emerge on the slope in front of Johnnie’s, a cluster of girls following behind.
    Shauna and Jessa carried heavy sports bags, while Ellen and Domenica toted plastic goals. The rest of his cohort bounced around with more enthusiasm than I’d ever seen, and even in the distance I could make out their smiles.
    I struggled to stay focused on my side of the field, but after a few minutes, I couldn’t help but stare. The group had set out for a slow jog around the park, following closely behind Simon.
    All the girls were running.
    My girls.
    The ones who hated running.  
    Who always had a reason to balk or renege. Headaches, heartaches, broken sports shoes, forgotten sports shoes, pedicures, tummy aches, Aunt Flo, or sometimes just refusing outright.
    And now, after half an hour with Simon.
    They.
    Were.
    All.
    Running.
    With smiles on their faces, to boot.  
    I wanted to turn my head and ignore Simon, but as the girls jogged up closer, that became hard. They looked so excited, so proud of themselves, and they were enthusiastically waving in our direction. How could I look away from that? They were finally doing what I’d spent years encouraging them to do.
    So I bit my tongue, swallowed my pride, and plastered a grin on my face while waving back with every bit of enthusiasm I could muster. It wasn’t hard; I really was genuinely proud of them. This was real progress, and I was happy.
    Of course, I still did my best to ignore him .
    When he ran past me, his whole body tense from the jog, he winked triumphantly in my direction. I could’ve sworn I felt my brain melting a little, there and then, as I stared at the way his tight shorts rode up his muscular thighs and hugged his tight ass.
    Yeah, I hated him .
    I would always hate him.
    Still, I had to admit, he was doing a damn good job.
    And even worse, he was damn freaking sexy while doing it.

    Back to the States.
    Back with my so-called father.
    Is it really ‘back’ with him?
    I don’t even remember the fucker.
    Robert is as much my family as his new wife, or my so-called sister.
    I’d rather just spend the summer six feet under.

Twenty teen girls. No violence, but plenty of catty comments. No brutality, but an endless gulf of defiance. No repressed anger, just an unshakable assumption that they couldn’t handle sports and there was no point in even trying.
    How could I manage that?
    Pretty fucking well, as it turned out.
    I’d loved the new challenge, and I’d grown to love working with them. Not that it had been easy. They’d been reluctant to even try. They’d rebelled at the mere mention of sports bras , let alone cleats and shin protectors.
    But slowly, over the last three weeks, we’d made it work.
    Three weeks of building stamina and appreciation for sports, three weeks of me learning that sometimes intricate updos counted more than a nice