Coach's Daughter

23.

Chapter 23.

All things considered, the day had gone pretty well. All of my homework was done and ready for my classes, I actually kind of understood science, Madison and I were finally getting along, and cheer practice was super light and easy. It was a good day.

At least, it was until Kelsey stormed up to me after practice, looking like she was going to kill me. "What the hell, Lilly?" she snapped.

I took a deep breath and replied calmly. "Oh, are you talking to me again?"

"You and Madison?" she spat. "Seriously? We're not talking, so you have to go get all chummy with my sworn enemy?"

I laughed. "Kelsey, I haven't ever seen her do anything to you that qualifies her as a sworn enemy. You're just as rude to her as she is to you. And I wouldn't say Madison and I are besties or anything, but we've kind of made peace and moved on." I smirked. "Maybe you should try it. You know, since you seem to hate everyone right now for no reason."

"Whatever," Kelsey muttered, rolling her eyes and walking away.

The exchange should have bothered me, but somehow, it didn't. Kelsey was jealous that I was spending time with Madison, which meant that she did still care about me, at least a little. At least, she cared that I was spending time with Madison. That shouldn't have bothered her if there was no hope of salvaging our friendship.

I swung my bag over my shoulder before heading out of the locker room towards the football field.

Practice had just let out, so I decided to go watch the football team while I waited for my dad to finish. Although, a small part of me was hoping he'd just ask Luke to give me a ride home so that I could talk to him.

"Hey Dad," I said, walking up to his side. He was standing off to the side chatting with one of the assistant coaches while his team was running drills.

"Do you think you'll be done soon?"

Dad turned to face me, a small, slightly irritated smile across his face. "It'll probably be another 40 minutes or so."

I sighed, looking out at all the players. Great. I had to wait 40 minutes before I could go home.

"Okay," I mumbled, turning on my heel and walking over to the bleachers, taking a seat in the front row.

I leaned backwards onto the seats behind me, awkwardly laying on the hard bleachers. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of the players running their drills.

"Long practice?"

I jolted up, opening my eyes to see Luke a few feet from me. The sound of his cleats walking across the track to the stands made my heart race with anticipation.

"Not as long as yours," I commented, gesturing to everyone on the field. Mentally, I took a deep breath, calming my nerves.

Luke chuckled. "And yet, you're the tired one," he teased, a sly smirk pulling at his lips.

Oh dear God.

Why did he still have that effect on me? Why was it that I could never stay mad at him, could never control my feelings when I was around him?

"Shut up," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

This was the first time in almost a month that Luke and I had been alone together, and he wasn't acting like anything was wrong. Maybe I was wrong to think Dylan kissing me had cost him the game. Maybe something else had distracted him.

"I think your dad is just being harder on us because we have playoffs this week, and he doesn't want us to lose again. With our track record with Clinton, we need to play flawlessly to make it to the championship game." Luke ran a hand through his sweaty hair, adding, "We have to do well. This is my last season on this team, and I want to go out on top."