Soccer Practice

Annie
I smiled up at Logan as he helped me out of the car, wincing at the soreness between my legs. I probably should have been a little smarter, especially considering that I knew that Logan was going to take me to play soccer with a bunch of children, but I hadn’t been able to stop him long enough to think about the practice. His touch had kept me distracted, and now I was going to have to just suffer through practice. Logan draped his arm over my shoulders, grinning down at me.
“Are you sure those shoes fit well enough?” He asked.
I looked down at the tennis shoes with cleats on them before raising my eyes to his. “Yes. Why? Do they look bad?” I answered.
“No, baby. But I want to make sure you can last for a while when I come to hunt you later,” he said huskily.
My heart started pounding. “W-what?”
He lifted my hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Do you remember when I cavemaned you?”
“Yes,” I whispered breathlessly.
“Well, I think I want to push it further, if you’re okay with it.”
“Push it further how?” I whispered, flushing when one of the women turned to look at us.
Logan stopped walking to put his forehead against mine as he opened our link. ‘I want you to learn how to hide in plain sight. I want you to practice running and protecting yourself. And I want to be the one that comes after you. I love how you fucking move.’ He paused to let out an aroused growl as the scent of his arousal started to surround us. ‘I want to chase you and if I find you, I want to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to our bed, where I will make wild love to you until you’re puddy under my hands.’
I swallowed hard at the desire in his eyes. ‘And what if you don’t find me?’
‘Then you get to be in charge and I will be a good, little, obedient alpha at your mercy for the night,’ he murmured.
I bit my lip and his eyes dropped to my mouth as he groaned. “Annie…”
“Can we start tonight?” I asked.
“Oh, hell yes! Right after practice!”
I gripped his face in my hands before pressing my lips against his. “It’s a shame that we have to work tonight. Our little game will have to wait until tomorrow.”
I let him go to jog over to the kids who were watching us. Niles immediately ran up to me to hug my waist. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him for a moment before letting him go. I smiled around at all of the kids before glancing at the parents who hovered on the sidelines, watching me.
“Have you guys found a coach?” I asked the kids.
“No, Alpha Sow Annaria. My mom has been trying but she doesn’t know much about soccer. Are you going to be our coach?” Niles inquired excitedly.
“Only if it’s okay with you guys,” I answered.
The kids all nodded and began to chatter happily. I let it go on for a moment before clapping my hands together. The kids all fell silent, watching me intently.
“This is what we’re going to do. We are going to introduce ourselves and then I am going to put you through a few exercises to get a better understanding of where you guys are at. How does that sound?” They all nodded and I smiled at them. “Alright. I’ll start. My name is Annie. You guys may call me Coach Annie.” I winked at them. “While we’re at practice, I am just your coach. I know you guys are probably worried about my ability to teach you about soccer, but please let me tell you that I played soccer in high school. Not only that but I coached the middle schoolers in my home sleuth. You guys are going to be unstoppable. I’ll make sure of it.” I turned toward a little girl with pigtail braids at one end of the line. “It’s your turn.”
She gave me a shy smile. “My name is Tanya. I’m 10.”
I beamed at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Tanya.”
The boy next to her stepped forward. “I’m Brandon and this is my brother, Graham. We are both 11.”
I turned to look at Graham who was watching his brother speak before smiling at me. I tilted my head as I studied his face for a moment before nodding.
“It’s nice to meet you Brandon and Graham,” I said, signing as I spoke.
Graham’s eyes widened before he began to sign excitedly. I laughed as I held my hand up.
“Slow down,” I giggled, signing. “I’m not the best but I will try for you.”
His hand movements slowed down and I focused on his hands before offering him another smile as I nodded.
“My mother is a doctor. Some of her patients are deaf. While I was studying with her, I learned a lot of sign language. Now I am happy that I did,” I told him, hesitating on a few of the signs.
When he beamed at me, I relaxed, happy to be able to communicate with him. I turned my attention to the next girl.
“My name is Rebecca. I’m 10,” she told me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Rebecca.”
Within the next five minutes, I knew and had memorized all 12 of their names. I quickly paired them, handed out balls, and instructed them to kick the ball back and forth between them. Once they had started, I made my way over to their parents to introduce myself while I kept an eye on the kids. I knew that they were curious about me, and I wanted them to be comfortable with me working with their children. I shook each of their hands, introducing myself with difficulty. Logan sat behind them on the bleachers, watching me interact with the sleuth members. After I spoke with the last father, my link with Logan opened and love filled me.
‘I love you, Annie,” he murmured.
I glanced at him as a blush stained my cheeks. ‘I love you too, Logan. Now shoo, I have work to do.’
He chuckled before closing the link as I focused on the children for a moment. After assessing their passing, I walked back toward them, clapping my hands and calling for them to huddle up. I quickly got their positions before splitting them into two teams. I collected all of the balls except for one, which I carried to the middle of the field. I backed away before telling them the rules and what I was looking for. Once I was sure they understood what I was saying, I backed away to watch them take turns running up to kick the ball back and forth between each other before rotating. An hour later, they were all exhausted and I had a list of things to work on with them, including but limited to proper kicking techniques, aiming, and power. I called them back for one last huddle to end the practice. After giving them a small pep talk, I put my hand in the middle of the circle, beaming when they all excitedly put their hands out over mine. I slowly let my eyes move over each of their faces.
“GO TEAM HAVANA!” I yelled, waiting for them to chorus it before we all threw our hands up. “Good practice. I’ll see you all tomorrow and we will get down to business.”
“See you tomorrow, Coach Annie.”
I watched as they all dashed off toward their parents while Logan sauntered down toward me. “My, my, my! Look at you, the beautiful Coach Annie. The woman that told me she was doing this!”
I flushed as I looked up at him. “I didn’t tell you. I asked. I–”
He kissed me, effectively cutting me off. “Nope. We’re going to say you told me, because this is your sleuth too. With that being said, I think I want to skip work tonight.”
“Why? Is something wrong?” I asked.
“No. I have something more important to do than review the sleuth's bank statements,” he murmured huskily.
I tipped my head back to look into his eyes. “What is more important than that?”
“You, Annie. I want to get to know you.”
“I’m sore. I–”
He pecked my lips again, silencing me again. “I already know your body, baby. I want to know you. I know what your favorite color is. I want to know what you hate and what you love. Seeing you with the kids today was so amazing. I can tell that you are going to be an amazing mother and I want to see what else I can find out about you.”
I smiled up at him. “As long as I can learn about you too.”
He scooped me up to carry me back to the car. “I’m an open book, Annie. Just ask and you shall know.”
I turned in my seat to study his face. “Is Niles your son?”