Second Chance Romance (Southern Nights) Completed

Chapter 12

"Second Chance Romance"

2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 12

     Austin held his bruised and bloodied hand close to his chest.  Slowly he began to make his way back towards the locker room.  The throbbing pain in his hand was beginning to get the best of him and as he walked, he started to question how smart he had been when he decided to take his frustrations out on an immovable brick wall. 

     As he neared the entrance to the boy’s locker room, he heard a faint murmur coming from his boys.  At first it struck him odd that they were as quiet as they were, usually they were whooping and hollering it up by now, preparing to take the field.  But then, he heard one voice above all the others as he rested his hand on the door handle and something inside of him; told him to wait a minute and let Lee speak.

     "Come on guys, let's go out there and give a hundred and ten percent.  Let’s win this one for Coach Giles.  What do ya’ll say?!"  A boisterous roar went up and all the boys started to chant, “Bull-dogs!  Bull-dogs!  Bull-dogs!”

     Austin couldn’t help but to smile.  Listening to his boy's talk in the locker room carried him back to the night of his own State Championship game.  He could even remember saying something very similar to his team, about his coach.  The only difference between that game and this one was that at the half of his own game, they were down by seven.  It didn’t matter though, they came out swinging and they won that game, for their coach.

     Hearing the boys shuffle around, he hastily stepped back, around the corner.  Seconds later, the door busted open and the rowdy boys raced out of the room, cleats stomping across the tile floor as they filed out, down the hallway and out onto the field.  His smile grew bigger.  These were his boys.  He would be the first one to admit that he made a lot of mistakes in his life; especially concerning one particular female but this-  making the decision to teach and coach, that was the one thing he knew he got right. 

     When the last player exited the hallway, Austin just stood there, rooted in his place.  The temporary numbness in his hand faded away and that intense throbbing returned with a vengeance.  He was really wishing he had not hit that brick wall now.  It was a stupid, impulsive move on his part but when it came to Jade Sampson, he seemed to always have a case of the stupids.  She had always made him crazy insane through high school and evidently time had made no difference.  She still held the adept ability to make him crazy insane.

     Glancing down at his swollen hand, he winced at what looked like a mess of shredded flesh.  There was no way he could go on the field with it looking like this.  Clenching his teeth against the pain, he headed for the locker room.  He remembered that in his office he had a first aid kit and there should be something in there that he could use to clean up his hand.  If nothing else, he needed to get the blood cleaned up and change shirts.  He was anxious to get back out on the field with his team. He would be dammed if he wouldn’t be there while his boys played the game of their life.

     "Austin?  What in God's name happened to your hand?" His back stiffened at the sound of the all too familiar voice.  Begrudgingly, he turned himself around and sure enough, it was Tina standing right there in front of him. She had her hands cocked on her hips and a disapproving look on her face.  It didn’t escape his notice that she was dressed in a skirt that barely covered her ass and a flimsy top that was without a doubt two sizes to small.  Years ago, a woman dressed like that would have immediately caught his attention, but today- it just plain out disgusted him.  Where was her dignity?  What about self worth?  And then he reminded himself who this was and that answered all of his questions.