I sat down at the bar and deeply exhaled.
What a fucking week. Work had been insanely busy because people kept quitting. That meant that everyone who was staying around had to do two times the work. It was completely unsustainable. I worked at an engineering firm and loved my job, but sometimes it could be a bit much. It did pay the bills though.
I ordered a beer and took a seat. I was ready to just kick back, relax, and unwind after this crappy week.
I had been sitting towards the end of the bar for about 20 minutes, enjoying my drink, and reading a book on my phone (yes I'm that guy), when two young ladies walked up to the bar to order.
"Hi! Can I get one gin and tonic and one vodka cranberry please!"
The voice sounded oddly familiar so I turned and looked to see who it was. As I turned to look, the girl who had spoken turned towards her friend to say something and our eyes locked.
"Oh fuck," she muttered to herself. "Coach Smith..."
"Hey there Lexi. Funny seeing you here," I replied with a smirk.
Now would be a good time to mention that I also coach Basketball at a local high school in my spare time. I had a coach that really impacted my life while I was in high school and when the opportunity to coach had presented itself to me a few years ago, I jumped at the chance. I had been doing it for about 6 years now and had seen a lot of kids come and go. But none of them were quite like Lexi Scooper.
Her long blonde hair up in a loose bun, she was wearing tight jeans, a loose green crop top shirt that showed off her amazing abs, and a pair of short heels. She had spent all 4 of her high school years on the varsity basketball team and had graduated a couple of years ago. She was extremely talented and was playing in college at a small DII school on the west coast. She had been a captain on the team and was well respected by her teammates during her time at our school. Sometimes you just click with an athlete and that had been the case with me and Lexi. It got to the point where my body language on the sideline was enough to tip her off to what play I wanted ran on the court. It was like having a coach in the game at all times and it helped lead us to two State Championships while she was there. Since I had had her on the squad for 4 years, we had grown quite close over time and had stayed in relative touch after she left.
I had not seen her since an alumni gathering we had about a year ago and boy had that year been good to her. Lexi was about 5'2" and was all lean muscle. This was short for a basketball player but her raw athletic ability more than made up for it. She had a tight, slim, toned body, and the most breathtaking, deep blueish-green eyes you could imagine. She had a plump, but toned ass that was to die for. Her skin was perfectly tanned from all the time she must spend outside while away at school. I had never thought of her in any manner other than as her coach, but after looking her over right now, that quickly changed. That being said, she was still just 19 or 20, not old enough to drink, and yet was at the bar ordering drinks with a friend.
"I gotta admit, I'm curious as to how you're here right now when they start checking ID at the door at 9pm. But based on you and your friend ordering drinks at the bar right now, I think I understand," I said through a smile.
Her face had gone red, although she recovered quickly and smiled in return. She glanced over quickly to make sure that the bartender was out of earshot before responding, "Maybe more time has passed than you think it has Coach Smith. Anyone willing to check my ID would clearly see that I am 22 years old and being in bars after 9pm is no issue."
Our eyes stayed locked on each other's until the bartender returned with their drinks. I motioned to the bartender and told him to put their drinks on my tab. After he was gone, Lexi's friend took a sip of her drink and turned to me.
"Thanks for the drinks. I like your friend, Lexi," she said before winking and walking over to a group that was at a nearby table.
My eye lingered on her for a moment before Lexi stepped in front of me and said, "Don't waste your time on Liz. She is just a big flirt."
"I certainly wasn't planning to...waste my time on her?" I said laughing. "What the hell does that even mean?"
Lexi smiled and I motioned for her to sit. She sat in the seat next to mine and took a sip of her drink.
"I mean she would just flirt with you all night to get you to keep buying her drinks and then you would go home hard and lonely."
Lexi's face turned beet red as she realized what she had just said and to who. She covered her mouth with her hand in surprise and softly said, "Oh...my...God. I'm so sorry Coach Smith. I didn't mean..."
Laughing I waved off her concern and said, "Lexi, it's ok. You aren't in high school anymore. Actually, since we are sitting here in a bar drinking together and you evidently somehow managed to become 22 years old when I'm pretty sure you are 19, you may as well call me Carter."
Lexi rolled her eyes and took another drink while she regained her composure. "Well Carter, at least my ID doesn't say I'm from a different state like Liz's. So at least part of it is legit. And I'll have you know I paid good money for it."
Never one to be a hypocrite about the things we do while in college, I held up my drink and we toasted to her college hijinks. I kept expecting her to eventually make her way back over to her friends but as the night wore on, we continued to drink and talk and drink and talk some more. Eventually a noticeably wobbly Liz came back over and said they were heading out. Lexi paused for a moment and mouthed something to Liz. I couldn't make out what it was. Liz's eye got really big and then she started to giggle.
