Annie's front door swings open and Kieran smiles at her. She's wearing nice jeans and a cute sweater. Kieran steps inside and gives her a quick hug.
"Hey, how's it going?" Kieran asks.
"Pretty good! I was just finishing up some math homework so any excuse to leave is an excuse I'll take. Where are we going?"
"Oh, I thought we'd go to MacLaren's? Google says it opened recently, pretty good reviews. Ice cream."
"Sure! Let me grab my phone and I'll meet you outside." Annie turns into the house and runs upstairs to grab her phone.
When she gets back outside Kieran open the car door for her and lets her in, then goes around and climb into the driver's seat. The ride to the ice cream place isn't too far and he lets her turn on some music during the drive. They talk and find out they're both pretty funny. Kieran's definitely a better listen than talker, but Annie fills in the gaps. The orange Californian sun is setting across the horizon and crickets are beginning to chirp as they sit outside at a metal picnic table, ice cream cones in hand. Kieran feels just about the happiest he has felt since moving here.
They sit for a moment in comfortable silence, the sun dropping lower behind the strip mall roofs.
"This place is pretty good," Annie says, holding her cone up like she's judging it. "Eight out of ten. Loses points because the worker guy looked like he hated his life."
Kieran laughs. "He did look miserable. I kinda wanted to tip him twenty bucks just so he'd smile once."
"And he still wouldn't," she says. "He'd just stare into the void like, 'Thanks, please leave.'"
Kieran snorts, almost choking on his ice cream. "Okay, yeah, that's exactly what he'd do."
Annie looks at him, tilting her head. "You know… you're different outside of school."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. Quieter. Nicer. You're… relaxed out here." She nudges his arm with her elbow. "It's cute."
Kieran raises an eyebrow. "Cute?"
She shrugs, smiling into her ice cream. "Don't get cocky. I'm just saying the sunset might be doing you favors."
He laughs, shaking his head. "Sure. Blame the sun."
They sit for a minute, eating their ice cream and watching the sky darken. Annie rests her elbows on the table and lets out a breath.
"Cheer's been a lot lately," she says, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Everyone's acting like this first game is the Super Bowl or something. Coach says we have to 'match the energy of the student section' which is just code for 'don't screw up.'"
Kieran nods. "Doesn't sound fun."
"It is sometimes. Just… not when the whole squad is sizing each other up." She laughs softly. "Half of them only care about who they get to stand near on the sidelines."
"Like which players?" Kieran asks, half teasing, half curious.
"Exactly." She smiles down at her ice cream. "There's someone on the team they keep asking me about. Someone I supposedly talk about too much."
"Oh yeah?" Kieran leans back a little. "Who?"
She shrugs, eyes still lowered, a tiny smile forming. "Just… someone who works hard. Someone I actually like supporting. That's all."
Kieran raises an eyebrow. "You sound pretty into him."
Annie finally looks up at him, her expression playful but a little shy. "Maybe I am."
He feels something flip in his chest, and she looks away again quickly, tapping her spoon against her cone.
"But I'm not telling you who," she adds.
The ride back is warm and quiet. Annie scrolls through the music on his screen and picks a song she says "always makes car rides feel like movie scenes," and Kieran just laughs and turns it up. The lights from the storefronts flicker across her face as they drive, and he tries not to think too hard about the way she looked at him earlier.
When he pulls up in front of her house, Annie unbuckles and grabs her bag.
"Thanks for taking me out," she says with a small smile. "Definitely better than math homework."
"Anytime," Kieran says.
She opens the door, steps out, then leans down a little to look at him through the open window. "And… thanks for listening. I don't really get to talk like that with most people."
Kieran nods. "Yeah. Same here."
Annie smiles a little wider, closes the car door gently, and jogs up the walkway. She turns once at the top of the steps and gives him a small wave before slipping inside.
Kieran waits a moment, the warm feeling still sitting in his chest, then shifts the car into drive and heads home. The night feels quieter than usual, like something new has started, even if he isn't sure exactly what it is yet.
-----
11:38 PM His phone lights up in the dark.
Coach Maya: "Thursday at 7 still works for you? I can stay after practice so we have the weight room to ourselves."
Kieran replies:
Kieran: "Yeah, that works. I'll be there."
Three dots appear. Stop. Reappear.
Coach Maya: "Good. I want to run a few drills that need privacy. Hard to focus when the whole team is watching you."
Kieran stares at that for a second—"privacy" landing heavier than it should.
Another message:
Coach Maya: "You've been… different this week. Sharper. More intense. I notice that stuff."
Then:
Coach Maya: "I probably notice more than I should."
Kieran's chest tightens. The room suddenly feels warmer.
A few seconds pass. Then she sends the line you wanted to keep:
Coach Maya: "It's strange. I keep catching myself noticing things about you that aren't… strictly football-related. Ignore me. Long day."
Before he can even react, another message drops—almost like she's trying to bury the last one:
Coach Maya: "Anyway. Thursday. Come ready to work harder than you have all season."
Kieran:
"Yeah, I'll be there. I think about a lot of stuff that isn't football when I look at you, too."
Kieran puts his phone down.
He lies back against his pillows, the room dim except for the streak of streetlight slipping through his blinds. His mind should be shutting down, but instead it's wide awake and tangled.
Annie flashes first. Her laugh across the picnic table. The way she pushes her hair back when she's thinking. The way she looked a little shy when she talked about the guy on the football team she "maybe" liked. She makes him feel… warm. Light. Like he's actually settling into this new town instead of just passing through it. It's the first time he's felt a true connection since moving here. Even throughout the nudist project, with all the intimate moments, all the girls he's had sex with, none of it has felt as romantic as the short time he's spent with Annie.
But then Coach Maya's texts drift right back into his head and land hard.
His mind keeps drifting to her, wondering if their relationship could be more than what it is right now. Just like how him and Ms. Smith are more than student and teacher, could he and Maya possibly be more, too? The way her clothes hug her curves makes him throb in a way he hasn't felt recently.
And now, after that text, he can't stop replaying all of it.
He shouldn't be noticing the way her shirt clings when she's sweating after practice. He shouldn't be wondering if she meant it when she said she "noticed more than she should." He shouldn't be imagining the tone she'd use if she ever said that to his face instead of over the phone.
But he is.
And the worst part is…it feels good in a way that makes his stomach tighten and his heart speed up. Not wholesome like Annie. Not safe.
Something that pulls him in exactly because he's not supposed to want it.
------------------------
Thursday moves quicker than Kieran expects. His alarm hits at 6:45 and he is up, dressed, and out the door before his brain fully wakes up. The drive to school is quiet. He keeps replaying last night in his head, Annie laughing over ice cream, Maya's texts echoing in the dark, but he forces himself to focus once he parks.
Classes blur.
First period is notes he barely reads.Second is a worksheet he finishes early.In third, Annie sends him one small text, "Morning, superstar," and he tries not to smile like an idiot in the back row.Ms. Smith's class is normal, nothing special. She looks tired but calm, and the project session is moved to tomorrow. Kieran does not complain.
By lunch he feels steady. Focused. Almost too aware of how soon 7 PM is.
The rest of the day slips past. Teachers lecture. Bells ring. Students buzz about the game on Friday. Every time Kieran passes a trophy case or a team poster, his mind drifts back to Maya's message from last night, I notice more than I should.
By the time the final bell rings, his chest is tight with energy he cannot sit on.
He eats a quick protein bar from the vending machine, kills time in the library, and checks the clock every few minutes until 6:45.
Then he heads across campus.
The athletic building is quieter than usual. Most of the team has already cleared out. Lights hum in the hallway. The faint smell of turf and sweat hangs in the air. Kieran pushes open the door to Coach Maya's office and steps inside.
She is at her desk, hair tied up, wearing a fitted long-sleeve quarter-zip athletic top , flipping through a clipboard. Her breasts are pressed together and look fantastic. She looks up the second he enters.
"Kieran," she says, smiling like she was expecting him. "Right on time."
He closes the door behind him, heart picking up."Always."
Maya sets the clipboard aside and leans back in her chair, giving him her full attention.
"Good," she says. "Tonight we are going to push you harder than yesterday. A real one-on-one."
Kieran nods, feeling heat rush into his chest.
"Ready whenever you are."
"Perfect," she says, standing. "Let's start."
She walks past him toward the weight room, the smell of her shampoo trailing behind her, and Kieran follows, pulse thumping like he is already mid-drill. She opens the door and he follows her into a room with training equipment everywhere. A black foam flooring and mirrors on one wall make the room look bigger than it actually is. Maya takes him to a bench press in the middle of the room and racks some weights. It's less that what Kieran normally does but he doesn't complain.
"Alright, lets get you warmed up. Since it's just the two of us I think I'll work in with you when we start doing legs."
"Oh, yeah sure. That'll give me a break so I don't mind." Kieran laughs and lays back on the bench adjusting his grip on the bar.
"Alright, slow and steady, if this is too much just tell me." Maya stands behind him in a spotter's position, ready in case something goes wrong.
Kieran just gives a little smirk before unracking the bar and easily pumping out ten reps. He lets out deep breath as he sits up and turns to face Maya; who has her eyebrows raised pretty high.
She can't help but smirk back at him, "Wow, that was pretty good, but I was doing that weight in the second grade."
Kieran's face faulters for a second before rolling his eyes, "Yeah right. Put some more on for me."
Maya puts on another forty-five pounds and Kieran reps it out. 225lbs and still going strong. Maya acknowledges him again before moving them to another machine, this one built to simulate curls. He sits down after taking a drink of water and adjusts the weight to his liking before starting to curl. Maya places a gentle hand on his back, telling him to fix his posture. Her touch sends a jolt through him and he nearly loses his grip on the heavy weight before focusing back on his task. Her hand stays against his back, and when he sets the weight down she rubs little circles on him.
"You're a lot stronger than I thought. I'm pretty sure you've broken two team records just on those two workouts. For quarterbacks at least, some of those offensive linemen could probably bench a semi-truck." She laughs at her own joke and steps to the side, bending down to get her water bottle. Kieran can't help but look at her butt, it looks so hot in tight white gym shorts. Maya doesn't notice and moves them on to a squatting machine.
"Alright Kieran, put some weight on for me." Kieran obliges and puts on quite a bit of weight, enough that he knows even he couldn't show off with it. "That's all?" Maya asks.
"Uhh.." Kieran feels a little silly.
"Nevermind, we can always add more later." Maya positions herself beneath the bar and grunts as she lifts up. Kieran stands behind her, gently placing his hands on her waist in a protective way. Maya takes a little breath in surprise but doesn't let the intimacy bother her as she squats to depth, once, twice, as she continues Kieran tightens his grip on her slightly, helping her out. She ends after five and sets the bar back on on the rack.
As she steps back from the bar Kieran doesn't move, causing her to press right against him. Her butt against him is soft and her back is warm with the recent effort of working out. Maya hesitates, not knowing what to do, she look up at him, his hands on her waist tight and commanding. Their eyes meet for only a moment before Kieran steps away.
"I- I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" Kieran mumbles.
Maya steps up to him and puts a hand on his arm. "Stop. It's alright. Want to hit the showers? I'm sure you have homework."
Kieran nods reluctantly, "Yeah, alright. Thanks for your help tonight I wouldn't mind doing this again if you know..."
"Yeah of course, we'll do it again. Coach's orders." Maya smiles kindly before leading him back outside. "Drive safe home, I'll see you at the game tomorrow. Don't forget to be humble even though Eli is starting, got me?"
Kieran waves and nods as he walks towards his car, "See you tomorrow!"
He looks back and sees Maya go back inside the football facility, then he turns and sees something even better standing right in front of his Mercedes.