Taming Molly: Heroes of Henderson ~ Book 2.5 A DuVal Cousins Quickie (2 page)

Everyone knew Big Jim had a storied history playing quarterback at Henderson High. Then he went on to have a winning career as a running back at East Carolina. So it was no secret that the overwhelming love for baseball this town had developed had been burning his ass but good. Now Big Jim’s own nephew was refusing to play tight end this year, so he could focus solely on his pitching arm as Coach Evans suggested.

Speak of the devil.

Coach Evans came around the corner at a jog and practically banged into Josh as he was opening the training room door.

“Hey, Josh! How’s your summer going?” Vance asked, but both men were immediately distracted by the squealing and giggling going on inside the training room. The training room located inside the
boys’
locker room. When they forced the doors open, Josh was secretly glad Vance was there. Because to save his life, Josh would have had no idea how to handle the prevailing situation.

Six boys, all sweaty football players Josh could name, and three pretty young girls dressed in bun-hugging athletic shorts and crop tops—or were they sports bras? Josh never knew the difference—were chasing each other around the weight training equipment slapping hands, pulling ponytails, and generally having a grand ol’ time flirting. The fun scrambled to a dead halt when he and Vance stepped through the door, the girls turning bright red and the guys just smirking like they’d been through this before.

“Ladies,” Vance said, as he held the door open and let his free arm usher them out of the room. The three of them practically fell over one another, giggling as they pushed through the door.

Once the giggling drifted away, Coach Evans closed the door and turned his attention to the front line of his offense. Man, Josh hoped this wasn’t going to end poorly.

“One of those was a DuVal, right?” Vance asked.

Thatcher Douglas nodded his head. “Tinley. The little blonde with the big tits.”

Josh heard Vance’s heavy sigh. “Okay. That one—with the last name of DuVal—she is now classified as off limits. The other two, whatever. Only not here. Never in here. This is my
office
, for Christ’s sake. I don’t know why people think it’s okay to fool around in my office….” He trailed off, rubbing his chin, looking over at the barely chagrined youths. “What do you think, Josh? A little tough love in the form of circuit training?”

What the F is circuit training?

“Be my guest,” Josh said. He allowed his left hand to drift toward the boys hoping Vance would go ahead and…do the honors.

It didn’t take long for Vance to demonstrate a six-machine circuit of punishment for Henderson’s front line. Once the groans were going full force and the sweat was really flowing, Vance gave Josh a cheeky grin as they stood back overseeing the action. “Should I be feelin’ at all bad punishing them for something I would have done back in my day?”

Josh lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Frankly, I’m feelin’ bad that sneakin’ a girl into the locker room never occurred to me.”

Vance slapped him on the back. “Welcome to the world of sports, where an athlete’s one continuous thought is thinkin’ about scoring, on and
off
the field.”

“I hear ya. One week on the team has certainly opened my eyes.”

“How’s that?”

Josh shook his head, not really knowing how to put it in words. “It’s like I’ve been livin’ my life in self-imposed solitary confinement. Lord, when I was their age, all I did after school was take things apart and then put them back together—computers mostly, but other stuff too—just to figure out how they worked. Then I’d try to make them work faster, or better, with fewer parts. Then I’d see if I could design my own computer to do one thing or another, then…well, you get the picture. Now that I’m working with the football team, I still do the solitary work of designing the program, inputting a specific defensive strategy, layering in whatever stats I have on my offensive players, and then have the computer come up with play options that will run through that particular defense. But when I bring all that to the field, well, I actually don’t know what’s gonna happen. Because, I have now realized, when you add the human factor into the equation that’s when the excitement really begins.”

Vance stared at him blankly and then blinked a few times before he said, “You have got to meet Lewis Kampmueller.”

“Been working for the man for years. He’s a buddy of yours, right?”

“Right.”

“Yeah, Lewis wants me to move to New York. Says he’ll give me an office at KampApps. But I’m not all that interested in leaving North Carolina. Besides, I can work in solitary here just as well as there.”

Vance chuckled. “Sounds like your days in solitary are numbered.”

“I didn’t realize how much I’d like the camaraderie. Especially from a group of guys who know next to nothing about physics on paper. But I can tell you this. Their brains and their bodies sure get it out there on the field. Do you know how many mathematical calculations it takes for a quarterback to release a perfect spiral and have it arrive at the exact place and the exact time where a receiver is eventually going to be?”

Vance shook his head. “I honestly have no idea.”

“Neither do I,” Josh exclaimed. “It’s like a miracle. The fact that my plays are working out fifty percent of the time and they’ve just started learning them?” He shook his head. “I like the human factor. More than I expected.”

Just then some pushing, shoving, and cursing broke out among his front line as they shifted from one machine to the next. The physical punishment of a long day out in the summer sun along with the extra burden of circuit training was apparently undoing them.

“How do you like that human factor now?” Vance asked over his shoulder as he headed to break up the brawl. “All right, all right,” he shouted, clapping his hands. “That’ll do. Hit the showers and then find a whiteboard somewhere and write
I will never bring a girl into Coach Evans’ office again
, fifty times. We are done here. Move out.”

Josh watched them go. “Are they really gonna do that? Write it out fifty times?”

“Are you fucking nuts? Of course they’re not gonna do it. I just wanted to get my point across.”

Josh laughed. “Tell me about that DuVal girl. The cute one. Why’d you classify her as off limits?”

Vance shrugged. “I’m friends with Lolly, one of the many, many DuVal cousins running around Henderson. My father is marrying Lolly’s mother, Genevra, so I’m feeling a bit protective about all the ladies DuVal right now. And there are a slew of them, I tell you. Lolly worked me up a cheat sheet so I’d be able to figure out who was who at the wedding.”

Vance walked over to his desk, grabbed up a sheet of paper, and read. “The DuVal cousins from oldest to youngest. Molly, Lilly, Lucy, Jacey, Lolly, Linley, Vivi, and Tinley. That does not include the one shining DuVal Y chromosome, Henry, who is a starter on my baseball team.”

“I hear he’s got a good arm and can run fast.”

“Yeah, yeah—no. Don’t even think about him. You and your crazy computer generated plays are not going to lure my pitcher into a head-bashing, concussion-producing, bone-breaking sport so that he’s sittin’ on the damn bench come spring.”

“Not much of a football fan, are you?” Josh asked.

“Absolutely love it. Just tryin’ to protect my championship-winning baseball team.”

Josh chuckled. “There’s a lot of statistics in baseball. Maybe I can find a way to help out your team this spring.”

Vance looked up, pleased. “Maybe you can at that.”

“And being as you are close to all those DuVal ladies, maybe you can do something for me.”

Vance looked skeptical. “What would that be?”

“I want you to fix me up with the wild one. That first one. The oldest.”

“Molly?”

“Yes, Molly. She won’t remember, but she was sweet to me back in high school when I came over to compete with Henderson High’s
It’s Academic
team.”

“Molly DuVal was never on any academic team,” Vance assured him.

“No. But when I got the directions to the auditorium wrong, she noticed. She introduced herself and showed me the way. Even wished me good luck.”

“You remembered her? From that?”

“A pretty girl, payin’ attention to me? Of course I remembered her.”

“Trust me, even if she still lived in town, Molly DuVal is not your type.”

“Perfect. Because I am no longer interested in my type. I’ve dated a lot of my type. Nice physics majors, brilliant mathematicians, and pretty little bookworms. None of them made me want to take them apart to see how they work, if you get my drift. These last few weeks have woken me up to a piece of myself I didn’t realize existed. I like being social. I like being a part of a team, and I like taking charge. I like contributing and getting feedback in the form of a high five. Who knew? Being one of the assistant coaches has made me realize I need to get out more. Because if I can find a reason to enjoy being around a bunch of sweaty, grunting, musclebound jocks, I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of other stuff outside my computer lair I’m going to enjoy, too. You’re Vance Evans. You know a lot of women. Introduce me to one who is willing to sneak into a locker room and let me chase her around the equipment.”

Vance choked out a laugh.

“What?”

“You sure know how to pick ’em.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Molly DuVal crawled all over me back before I even knew what a hickey was, much less what to do with all those soft, round, sweet-smelling parts she was pressing up against me. She will be the one taking
you
apart, and there is no guarantee she’ll bother putting you back together.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Josh said. He felt the big grin splitting his face at the same time a part of his brain was blinking
tilt
.

Vance scrutinized Josh as he rubbed a hand over his jaw. “The fact is I sort of had a hand in Molly moving out of town a few years back. Lately I’ve been feeling a little guilty about that, so I’m not willing to do all that much here. However, there is a high statistical probability that she will show up for her aunt’s wedding two weeks from Saturday. What I can do is get you on that guest list. I’ll point her out during the reception. There will be a band, food, and alcohol, along with a lot of flowers and a very romantic setting. Whatever the hell happens after that is all up to you.”

Josh licked his lips. “Done.”

Chapter Three

Molly DuVal stood tapping the engraved wedding invitation against her fingertips. She ran a thumb over the lovely loopy handwriting covering the attached sticky note.

Molly, it would mean the world to me if you were able to attend. I’ve spoken to your father. He is eager for your attendance as well.

Love, Aunt Gen

Whether Aunt Genevra had spoken to her father or not, Molly had no intention of missing her aunt’s wedding. She’d been missing out on way too much over the last several years, and right now she was full-out missin’ every last one of the crazy DuVal clan—but most especially her cousins.

As much as her father hated her use of the word
banned
, after she’d made the rather spectacular but unfortunate choice of breaking off her engagement to Tyler Jackson by running away for a weekend with Vance Evans, he was the one who had strongly suggested that she move her gossip-feeding shenanigans outside of Henderson.

Far outside of Henderson.
 

She thought her father was merely being dramatic until the ultimate blow was handed down from Henderson’s upper crust. No doubt following the lead of Tyler’s grandmother, Evie Jackson, the secret society decided that Molly’s beloved cousin, Jacey DuVal, would not be invited to make her debut. Jacey, who was the girliest of all the cousins, was devastated and Jacey’s mother, Aunt Charlotte, was beyond consolation.

And it was all Molly’s fault.

Tearfully she’d agreed with her father, apologized to Jacey, Aunt Charlotte, and Uncle Jeb, and then snuck out of town.

Molly had been socially banned from Henderson, but not entirely exiled. She’d gone home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, participating in all the DuVal family rituals. Her parents, sisters, and cousins, even Jacey, were always happy to see her. But leaving the house and going out partying with them and her old friends over the holidays? Not a good idea, her dad told her.

And it probably wasn’t.

Because Molly knew herself well. Now that she’d been working and living in Raleigh for five years, she’d figured out a few things. Family and friends were just about everything. And most of hers lived and played in Henderson. Or at least, that is where they gathered from time to time.