Between Her Legs

Chapter 1: The Coach’s Woman“Did you hear that a new coach was coming to visit?” I looked up as Ken sat down on the corner of my desk. “A new coach? Who’s transferring now?” He shrugged. “No one as far as I know. Apparently, they are coming down to scout and give us some pointers on how to get better and win.” I snorted. “We already know how to do that. Look at all the trophies in the case.” “Be that as it may, Coach Hannalay was pretty pissed when we didn’t make nationals last season. I guess he figures that having some new blood might motivate the team and get us to nationals this year.” I went back to writing in my notebook. “So why didn’t he tell us himself? Why the hush-hush?” Ken picked up the magazine on my desk and thumbed through it. “I reckon he was going to at the next meeting. I only know because Margo let it slip when she was taking the message from the person.” He held up the magazine. “You still doing capoeira?” I nodded. “Of course. I told you that you should try it. It’s just like dancing except you’re sneakily kicking someone’s ass.” I grinned at my own joke. Ken grunted. He dropped the mag where he’d found it and stood. “All I know is that this person better not come in here acting like he or she knows everything and try to tell us what we are doing wrong. Or I might have to hire you to ‘dance’ on their face.” “Get out of here,” I said, laughing. But after he’d gone, I sat there thinking. Who was this person and why were they coming now? It kind of got under my skin that Coach was bringing in someone to ‘help’ us. Ok, so we missed finals by a few points. But that wasn’t because we hadn’t done our jobs. A couple of the guys and girls that had been on the team last year decided that it would be a good idea to go clubbing the night before the meet. The scene played back in my mind just like it was yesterday. Julia stepped out onto the mat for the floor exercise. Her legs seemed shaky as she got into position for her first move. I stood at the edge of the mat watching her. She glanced at me and gave me a small smile. It was meant to be reassuring. I wasn’t reassured. I thought seriously about pulling her off the floor. She didn’t look good at all. But when I’d mentioned it to Coach Hannalay, all he said was that it was nerves. I argued that Julia was probably the coolest competitor I’d ever seen except for me. She never missed a beat. And yet, here she was, shaking and trembling. The music started and she took a couple of running steps and executed a double somersault. And promptly fell on her face. It seemed like the crowd was holding its breath and waiting for her to get up just like we were. But she didn’t get up. In fact, she wasn’t moving at all. I raced to the mat and knelt next to her. “Julia?” I said softly, shaking her shoulder. “Julia?” I said louder when she didn’t respond. I looked up and yelled, “Medic!” Seconds later, two EMT’s came running onto the mat with a stretcher. They checked her over before lifting her onto the bed and wheeling her out. I asked the remaining team members if they knew if she hadn’t been feeling well or did something happen. It was then that Heather tearfully told me that she, Julia, and a couple of the male gymnasts had gone to the club the night before and had been drinking instead of being in their rooms and getting some sleep like they were supposed to. Such irresponsibility pissed me off so much at that moment that I excused the remaining offenders to the locker room. Unfortunately, that left us short three people and we fell behind in points. Coach Hannalay had been irate with me and the team because we lost. But he did agree that this behavior wouldn’t be tolerated. And yet he was still upset that we didn’t get our nationals bid. “Julia, Heather, Mack and Shauna were the best ones in their divisions. I was counting on them to bring us the win and the bid for a seat at nationals. I was hoping to retire with a win and a title. But I guess you ruined that.” I stared at him incredulously. “Are you kidding me?” I asked him. “We couldn’t have them on the floor messing up. Especially since Heather was so hungover that she couldn’t even lift herself onto the balance beam, much less do her routine. And Julia had to have her stomach pumped.” Coach glared at me. “That could have waited until after the meet. Now the press is going to leak that we had drunk members participating in the meet.” “But if we’d allowed them to compete, Coach and we won or someone got hurt, it would leak to the press as well,” Ken interjected. “Then we’d be under investigation for allowing inebriated members compete. We could be suspended from all competitions. So which would you rather deal with? Not going to nationals one year or being suspended for up to five?” For a moment, the older man glared at Ken and I then turned away. He was still angry. Very angry. I wondered briefly if I shouldn’t go ahead and clean out my desk. The look on his face said murder. Oh well. Coach paused before he walked away. “There’s going to be some changes around here,” he said quietly. “Big changes. I’m tired of almost getting there. Something is going to change and if I have to clean house to do it, then so be it.” And then he left us. Ken and I looked at each other. What did that mean? ______ The gym was buzzing with activity when I got in there. The students were milling around, talking, and trying to figure out what was up. There were a few that were dressed and warming up. I saw Coach Hannalay standing with a blond woman and Mr. Solomon the athletic director for the university. “Who’s the babe?” I turned to look at Ken who’d come up beside me. “I don’t know. Probably the new person Hannalay brought in to criticize us.” Ken grinned crookedly. “Our replacement, huh?” I shrugged. “Probably.” He patted me on the back. “I figure like this. He hasn’t asked for our resignation yet, has he?” When I shook my head, he continued. “So I think we are safe for a while longer.” I gestured with my chin towards the group. “But Mr. Solomon is with them. So you know that can’t be good.” Ken started to say something else but was cut off by Coach Hannalay calling the students to huddle. Ken and I took our places to the side of where he stood in front of the group. Coach began to pace back and forth in front of the gathered students. “Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we missed our nationals bid by several points last year and the year before that.” Several heads nodded in the crowd and he continued. “This year is going to be different. We are not only going to train harder, but train smarter as well. Our university is known for winning almost every game or competition that we’ve participated in over the years and we don’t want to ruin that image.” I rolled my eyes at Ken. Hannalay said the same thing every season. Nothing ever changed and nothing ever would. Mr. Solomon stepped forward giving Hannalay a look. “What Coach Hannalay is trying to say is that we need to train hard and be responsible. And we are lucky to have with us this year a former member of the national team, Nicole Bragg. She is a multi-time champion and she knows what the judges are looking for in a winning team. So listen to her and follow her advice and instructions and I know we will not only make it to nationals, but win them as well. Without further ado, Nicole Bragg.” We clapped and the woman smiled at Mr. Solomon and shook hands with him and Coach Hannalay. I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for her to start spewing her stories about the glory of winning the gold and about how you’ve gotta have heart and determination and the desire to win. The same things we have told them over and over. What made Coach think that they would listen to her? “Damn she’s hot,” Ken murmured from beside me as he stared at Nicole. “I guess you would think so,” I answered back as I glanced down at my watch. “You got somewhere to be?” Ken teased me. “We really need to be practicing instead of listening to some retired gold medalist.” Beside me, Ken snickered. “Oooo, somebody’s got her panties in a bunch.” I shook my head. “No I don’t. Just shut up and listen.” He chuckled but didn’t say anything else as Nicole began speaking. She told the team a little about herself, about growing up in a rural town. How she didn’t let that stop her and that her parents had been super supportive, driving two hours each way, three times a week so she could practice. Whoop-di-doo. A lot of us were that way. Blah, blah, blah. I must admit though that she was a captivating speaker. I looked around at some of the team members. The males were hanging on every word that fell from her full, pouty lips. The girls were enthralled with the fact that she was slim, with perfect teeth and natural blond hair. She was everything that they wanted to be. Maybe she could get through to them, I thought grudgingly. We damn sure couldn’t. After Nicole was done with her spiel, Coach Hannalay broke the team up into groups. I went with the group doing floor exercises as this was more my specialty. Ken gave me a wink as he headed with his group to the parallel bars and vault. “Alright, people,” I said, addressing my group. “We really need to nail these routines. How does everyone feel with the routines you’ve been working on?” There were a few murmurs of okay, alright, and ugh. Great, I thought. Just great. If this was a sample of their attitudes now, then we may as well just wave bye-bye to regionals, state and nationals. “Come on, guys,” Amanda said brightly. “We need to go out on a good note. We’re seniors.” She turned to me. “I have my routine down, Coach. Wanna see it?” I nodded. “Yes.” I stepped back off the mat as she skipped to the edge. One thing about Amanda, she worked hard and was always upbeat. She was a ‘we’ll-get-‘em-next-time’ type of girl and I really admired that. Amanda lifted her hands, arching her back just before she took several running step and executed two somersaults and a full twisting layout before landing on her feet. I was impressed by the intricacies of her routine. She wasn’t just showing that she could flip around, but that she had some dancing skills as well. When she finished, she turned to face me again. “What do you think, Coach?” I nodded in approval. “I like what you’re doing. And how you are adding some yoga into the routine. Just be careful not to concentrate so much on the dancing part that you neglect your flips and tumbles. You’re very good at both. Let’s show them off.” Amanda smiled her thanks. She started to say something else but Coach Hannalay joined us with Nicole at his side. “Looking good, Amanda,” he said. “Did you have anything to add, Nicole?” I looked at her expecting her to rip into Amanda. Her type usually do. They are so super damn critical. So I was surprised when she smiled at the girl. “That is an excellent routine for you. You have nice long legs and amazing flexibility that you should definitely show off. Just make sure that you give yourself enough space to land. Your feet are too narrow when you land and that’s why you stumbled slightly a couple of times. It was almost imperceptible to the audience but a good judge will see it and ding you. And as good as you are, you don’t want to lose points on your landing.” “Nicole is right,” Coach Hannalay chimed in. “A fraction of a point can cost you the medal.” Amanda smiled. “Thank you, Nicole. I’ll work on it.” Her cheeks turned a becoming shade of pink. “I know it’s stupid, but you’ve always been a hero of mine. I started training because of you. So I really appreciate any and all the advice you can give me.” Nicole smiled. “Thanks. That really means a lot. I love what I do. And I can’t imagine doing anything else.” I took a moment to look her over. She was pretty with her bouncy blond hair. She wasn’t a natural blond though and I wondered what her original hair color was. I found myself staring at her eyes though. Two shimmering pools of green blue. A girl could drown in them. I let my gaze travel down her body. She had to be around my age but you would think that she was about eighteen the way her body looked. She was slim, skinny even, but muscled from years of vault and balance beam. Her waist was tiny and her legs long. Unbidden came the thought of those long slim legs around my neck as I kissed her. “Coach? What did you think?” I nodded, mentally shaking myself. I was supposed to be watching my girls practice and not forming naughty fantasies about some gold medalist who was probably up for my job. “Great Amanda. Keep working girls. I’ll be right back. I’m going to check on the balance beam.” I could care less about the balance beam. I just wanted to get away from Nicole’s pretty gaze. She frowned but didn’t say anything. She must have thought that I was pissed at her for some reason. I wasn’t. I just needed to get away from her before I made a complete ass of myself. I stepped into the hallway to clear my head. I heard the gym door swing open and I knew it’d be Ken. I busied myself getting a drink from the fountain even though I wasn’t thirsty. “Shelly? You good?” I nodded, swallowing the water and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He looked at me closely. “Are you sure?” “Yes. Why?” “Nothing. I just came to check on you is all.” He held the door open for me and we went back inside the gym. I was glad that he didn’t press the subject. I wasn’t sure if he suspected that I liked girls but it wasn’t something that I liked to spread around. Especially given my job as coach of a gymnastics team. And I damn sure couldn’t tell him about what I’d been thinking about Nicole Bragg. I couldn’t be falling for my replacement.