Win Me Over (31 page)

Bennett's eyes went wide. A rush of anger surged through him. “You have no idea—”

“No, don't even start. We all deal with shit, Bennett. You're not special. You have a shitty leg. So what. You can't play football. You can't save all your players from injury. Poor you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“The question is are you fucking kidding
me
? I spend all this time helping you get ready for tonight. Busting my ass, and then practically begging you to let me be there for you this week. I wanted to take care of you, Bennett. Be there for you to lean on, make sure you ate, take care of your dog. I wanted to
love
you.”

Her voice broke on the last words. It was the second time she'd said the words and they gutted him just like they'd done the first time. She wasn't finished.

“But no, you're too wounded. Too stubborn, too fucking selfish to accept what I want to give you.”

He had no words in response. Selfish? How could he be selfish? Everything he did was for everyone else. “I don't know what you want me to say. I could not handle dancing in front of those people. I figured you'd know that. How could I go out and act like nothing was wrong while one of my players lies in a hospital bed?”

Callie rolled her eyes. “Everyone there was thinking about him. The event had even become about him. But you didn't even know that because you made this all about
you
. So you can save it; it's too late now; I don't even know why I came here.”

She turned and walked away, back to her car. He should stop her, say something. He didn't. Just watched as she pulled down the driveway and into the night.

Bennett shut the front door and then sat down on the couch, hating himself. Hating the situation. Had the event truly become about Tate? She was right; Bennett knew nothing, had completely shut down the past week. He hadn't taken calls, watched television. He'd barely checked his e-mail. Thankfully, Jensen had told him not to worry about this week; he owed the guy for that. But Bennett realized that he'd completely lost it and seeing the pain in Callie's eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He'd done that to her, and if he'd ever known a person who deserved to be happy, it was Callie Daniels. The woman who'd been there for him no matter what. Loved him.

Bennett squeezed his head with both hands. He had officially fucked up everything in his life.

*   *   *

Not quite two hours later he heard rocks popping on the driveway out front. He jerked out of his seat and ran to the front door to see her. He pulled it open in time to instead see Reggie getting out of his SUV. Disappointment pooled in Bennett's chest. He wanted her to come back.

“Man, what the hell is wrong with you?” Reg said by way of greeting. He stalked toward Bennett and pushed past him into the house.

Bennett sighed. “Sure, you can come in,” Bennett said. He walked back inside and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He heard Reggie pacing in the living room.

Bennett went back out and sat down on the couch, sure that he was about to get his second lecture of the night. He deserved it.

“Have you lost your damn mind?” Reggie said. He didn't bother sitting; his hands were on his hips. He was wearing … suspenders? Obviously part of his costume.

“I wasn't fit for dancing,” Bennett said.

“Did your partner know that?” Reggie bit off.

“Don't even start; she just left here a couple hours ago.”

Reggie dropped his hands and sat down in a chair. “Man, what the hell? What is going on with you? I know what happened, but why? Why have you let it take you back? I wanna be there for you, Bennett, but you're making it really hard.”

Bennett didn't answer, just dropped his head into his hands.

“It killed me seeing her, all dressed up, ready,” Reggie said. “She never acted mad through dinner. When people asked why you weren't there she covered for you, man. Said that it was more important for you to be with the Graysons right now. But nah, your sorry ass was here sleeping on the couch and smelling like you haven't showered in days.”

Bennett's head jerked up. “What do you want me to say?” he yelled.

Reggie shrugged. “I don't want you to say shit. I want you to
do
something. This girl has spent the entire week working her ass off for your player. You fell apart and she rose to the occasion. As far as I'm concerned, you don't deserve her.”

“I already knew that, and if I didn't she just stood outside my front door and told me I fucking didn't.”

Reggie shook his head and then stood. “Well, good. As long as she knows her value. A woman like that shouldn't have to put up with this shit.” He headed for the door. “You better be at school tomorrow. I'm tired of doing this alone. Your team needs you. You're not the only one suffering, Bennett. How do you think Jason is doing lately? Have you even stopped to consider that? You need to get over yourself.”

The front door slammed. Bennett fell back onto the couch, shoving his palms into his eyes. He wanted to yell, hit something, rage. He used his right foot to kick the coffee table as hard as he could across the room. “Fuuuuccccck.”

He stood up, pain burning through his thigh. He was an asshole, a completely selfish dick, putting his pain above everyone else's because he had just stopped caring. It was exactly the same thing he'd done after his accident. Shut out the world, blamed everyone else, hated himself. It was easier than trying to deal with reality, pain, and devastation. He'd seen Jason at the hospital several times and hadn't taken the time to ask him if he was okay. That wasn't even like Bennett.

He sat back down again and picked up his phone. He opened the Facebook app and found the school's page. He was out of touch with what was going on, spending so much time at the hospital or sleeping. He'd never taken a sick day in all his years at Preston, but he'd been gone the past four days. What a fucking coward he must look like.

Every recent post was about Tate. His health status, messages from friends, and several links to ways to help raise money. There was a news video from yesterday. The frozen image looked familiar. Bennett watched it in pure disbelief.

Callie's bakery, his students—the dance team. He could barely breathe. And then there she was, so pretty, her hair such a damn wreck he almost laughed. She looked so tired but so beautiful it hurt to look at her. He turned up the volume on his phone so he could hear her speak.

“Right now Mr. Grayson needs to give Tate all of his attention, so we're doing what we can to help make this easier for him by doing our best to help cover his medical costs.”

Bennett felt sick. The level of his selfishness hitting him hard. Misha jumped up on the couch beside him and rested her head on his thigh. He laid his hand on her soft back and stroked her fur.

With a deep sigh he opened his phone contacts and scrolled through the names to find one that he hadn't used in years.

He pushed the call button and put the device to his ear. It rang a few times and he considered hanging up.

“Bennett? What a surprise.” Ashley's kind voice was so foreign and yet so familiar. When he didn't reply she spoke again. “Bennett. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Ashley. Hi.” He cleared his throat and leaned back, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hi.” There were voices behind her. She must be out.

“I won't keep you,” he said. “I just … I just had a question.”

“Okay.”

“How bad was I? How awful, after the accident?”

She was quiet for a moment, and he could tell she was moving to a quiet location. “What do you mean, Bennett? Are you drunk? You don't sound good.”

He huffed out a laugh. He hadn't had a drink since that night, when they'd been nearly killed by a drunk driver. “I'm okay. Ashley, I've … met someone.”

“Oh? Well, good. That's good, Bennett.” She sounded genuinely happy. He knew she was engaged. His mother updated him occasionally on Ashley's goings-on.

“I'm fucking this up, Ashley. I can't do that. I fucked us up, didn't I?”

She sighed. “Bennett, why are you asking me this?”

“Because I don't want to do it again.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Is this about your player's accident? I'm so sorry about that.”

“Did it go national?” he asked. Ashley was a sports newscaster in Texas. High school football injuries sometimes went national if they were bad enough.

“Yeah, it did. I've been trying to keep tabs on your local news. I almost called you myself. But wasn't sure…”

“Answer me, Ash. Why'd you leave?” He was long past missing Ashley, but he knew there was more to their story than the lies he told himself. He liked to blame her—she'd abandoned him, only wanted him because he was an athlete—but deep down, he knew that wasn't it. It was just easier to swallow.

“Bennett, you pushed me away. I couldn't do anything to make you happy again. I had to go for myself, because after a while I didn't even know who you were anymore.”

Bennett's heart began to pound in his chest. He'd known. All along, deep down, he'd known. Ashley was a sweet girl. They'd loved each other; they'd planned to get married. But that accident had destroyed him. Stripped him of everything he believed made him who he was.

“We were given a second chance at life, Bennett,” Ashley spoke quietly. “Whoever this woman is, you need to let her in. You deserve this.”

The tightness in his Bennett's chest was crushing. It occurred to him that as much as he needed to hear what Ashley had to say, he wanted nothing more than to talk to one woman only. Callie. This past week he'd been in hell. How could he not have realized that his happiness was now wrapped up in her?

Yeah, he had been given a second chance at life, and he'd been alive for the past eight years. But he hadn't been
living
. Callie had brought him back fully, finally made him see what truly being happy looked and felt like. He couldn't lose her, no matter what it took he would have to make her forgive him. Before he let Ashley go he had one more question.

“Why did you abandon Misha?” Bennett looked down at the little dog who had perked up when he said her name, ears twitching. She was never far from him when he was home.

Ashley laughed quietly and then her voice softened. “Bennett, I didn't abandon Misha. I loved her, but I knew you needed her more than I did. You needed somebody; I didn't want you to suffer alone.”

 

Nineteen

Friday morning Bennett was at school at 7:00. It felt good to dress normally, shower, get in the car with a mission. He had a lot to accomplish in a very short amount of time. The minute he'd gotten off the phone with Ashley the night before he'd called Reggie on his cell phone—the amazing friend that he was, he'd driven right back to Bennett's house and helped him make a plan.

With the help of Corinne, things were already falling into place. There was a game tonight, a Pep Assembly this afternoon, and the tone of the school was sad but focused. The students had come together through this tragedy and Bennett was heartbroken that he'd missed it all week. He should have been there, been the rock his students and his players needed. Instead he'd let the guilt and depression consume him, just like he'd done after his accident.

A knock sounded on his classroom door and Jason Starkey asked, “Coach Clark?”

“Jason, come in.”

The kid tossed a wad of blue material at Bennett; he caught it with a flick of his wrist. “What's this?” He opened it up. It was a T-shirt, with “#tatenation” across the chest. A 12 on the back. Tate's number. “Oh man, this is amazing.”

Jason shrugged. “Everyone was wearing them this week. Thought you should wear it today.”

Bennett nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

“How's he doing today? I haven't been up since Wednesday,” Jason said.

“I called this morning. Found out that last night the swelling began to go down. Slowly, but it's something.”

Jason nodded, swiping his fist under his nose. The sight of his player hurting made Bennett ache inside. This was what he should have been doing. After all the time he'd spent reminding his boys that life wasn't about football, that the team was the most important thing, he'd all but deserted them.

“Jason, I'm so sorry I bailed on you this week. I just … damn, I had trouble dealing with one of my guys being injured like this. I should have been checking up on you.”

“You don't have to apologize, Coach. We all know how much you care about us. Everybody knew you were taking it real hard.”

Bennett felt ashamed but also proud. He didn't deserve these guys; shit, he didn't deserve most of the things in his life right now. “You guys been practicing all week, right?” Bennett asked.

Jason nodded. “Yeah. The guys have been in the zone. Coach Wilson has been working with me, too. I think everybody wants to win it for Tate tonight.”

“Good. I want that, too.”

“Hey, Coach. Just a heads-up. According to Jessica, a lot of the girls are real annoyed with you today. About that dance thing.”

Bennett nodded. “Yeah, I'm annoyed with myself. You have no idea how much. But I've got a plan, and since you're here, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Get all the guys together and the dance team, and be in this classroom during third hour. I'll make sure everyone's excused from their normal class.”

Jason's eyes widened and he grinned. “Awesome. What are we gonna do?”

“Y'all are going to help me fix what I messed up.”

*   *   *

Callie ran through the parking lot toward the school building. She was late. She'd never been late to a Pep Assembly. She could hear the band already playing as she yanked open the door and headed for the gymnasium.