Just to give you guys fair warning, this chapter has nothing sexual in it. I promise that the next chapter will get back to the romance.
I hurt my hand on vacation last month, and it still isn't better. That's making it hard to churn out the pages I want to write.
As always, I want to thank you for all the votes. Chapter 13 was the highest rated new mature story in June. Chapter 14 was the highest rated new mature story in July. And as of right now, Chap. 15 is sixth in the month of August even though it was all tease and no sex.
I don't expect Chap. 16 to get those same kind of high marks, but it is necessary for the story, and I fully expect to score high for September with Chap. 17.
One last thing: Neighborhood Dad is a terrible title. I just slapped that name on my file the first time I saved the document. I still haven't had any inspiration for a better title. I think "On The Rebound" would fit the romance and basketball angles, but sounds cheesy and trite.
If you have any ideas, send me a message. Click on my name to go to my author page. Then there is a tab on the far right that says Contact. If I get a suggestion I like, I'll be sure to give that person full credit when I post the next chapter.
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If I hadn't been sharing a room with Charles, I would have rubbed one out before climbing in bed. Instead, I lay there with visions of Autumn's naked body spinning through my head over and over like an old 45 record that gets stuck.
Eventually I fell asleep, and if I had any sexy dreams in the night, I couldn't remember them in the morning.
Before the regional championship, I walked into the locker room to address the team.
Even after a whole season of games, I still didn't feel comfortable giving pregame speeches. My comfort level dropped a few notches lower when I saw Autumn and Kim whispering and giggling over in the left corner of the room. There was no doubt that Autumn had told Kim everything that happened as soon as they were together the night before.
It was very fortunate that Gina knocked when she did. I'd like to think that I would have come to my senses and told Autumn to knock it off. Would I have done the right thing? A year ago I would have said yes without a hesitation, but that was before Randi.
Is it just Randi that I can't resist, or am I turning into some creepy pervert?
Sure, like any red-blooded American male, I check out porn from time to time, but I don't frequent sites that boast Teens and Barely Legal. Unlike when I was in high school and college, I don't mind a few wrinkles around the eyes. I actually find those little lines around the corners of the mouth quite cute. I don't have a fetish about teenaged girls. But when they are right under your nose all the time, the fresh, young, ripe bodies are hard to ignore.
If I had succumbed to temptation and done something I'd regret, that something would have been passed along to Kim. And who knows whom Kim might have told.
Then a worse thought struck me: what if Autumn embellished the story? What if it weren't enough to say that she stripped for me? What if she lied and said I felt her up or sucked her breast or had full-on intercourse?
What would happen then? Well, I could go to jail. It wouldn't matter that Autumn is 18. It wouldn't matter if Kim knew that Autumn initiated it. Autumn was still in high school and protected by the law.
That's all I could think about as I tried to give some motivation to the players. I have no idea what it was I said to those girls, but by the end it looked like they had zoned out and weren't listening anyway.
Out on the floor, I watched my team for a minute, but everyone seemed to have their heads in the game, so I turned my eyes to the other end. It was easy to find the opponent's best player.
The center was as tall as Carrie, but had nimble feet. She caught passes and went through the layup drills smoothly and effortlessly. She could be a problem.
"That's Anna Doyle," Heather said, knowing exactly whom I was watching. "Player of the year in her conference, still weighing college offers. Her mom is Cherokee Indian."
"Cherokee Indian?" I asked. "I mean, she looks the part with her long black hair and tan skin, but she's going to a Catholic school?"
"I dunno. Her name is Doyle. Maybe her dad is Irish Catholic."
"More likely they've been recruiting again. Public schools have to pick from whatever students they've got on hand, and these private schools can go out and look for help."
Heather patted me on the shoulder. "You can take that up with the athletic association after the season, but right now we've got a game to play."
"Sorry, I'll climb down off my soapbox."
As the girls finished their warm-up drills, I called them together.
"Okay, remember what I said. We're gonna have Carrie doing a three-quarters front on their center, Doyle. If she starts to dribble, the weakside defender has to come over and help. This girl Doyle is good. Stay on her."
Once the game began, it was obvious that Doyle was too fast for Carrie. While they were equal in height, Doyle was getting the shots she wanted too often and was doing it quick enough the other defenders couldn't get there to help.
By the end of the first quarter, Carrie had two fouls and was sitting next to Heather, who was giving her a pep talk. I put Crystal in the game for her scrappy defense, and she and Tessa rewarded me with a couple of steals that kept us in the game.
Carrie didn't play much in the second quarter before getting her third foul, and we were down eight points at the break.
As the girls went into the locker room, Heather and I stopped outside the door to confer.
"Carrie couldn't hang with Doyle," Heather stated the obvious.
"Not when they were both fresh anyway," I added. "What if we start the third with Carrie sitting and play full-court pressure? Doyle has to run the floor, chasing Paige, and gets winded. Then we bring in Carrie who is all rested."
