The Virgin’s Bucket List Episode 8

📖 The Story Continues

Wayne reached Lindsay before anyone else. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, lowering himself beside her. The concern in his voice made the pain feel less frightening, although the entire school seemed to be watching.

He offered to take her for medical help and carefully supported her as she tried to rise. Lindsay’s scraped leg throbbed, and she leaned against him despite knowing exactly what Alyssa would say. Behind them, the cheer captain called her a desperate pick-me girl who had staged the rescue for Wayne’s attention.

Wayne ignored the accusation. His focus remained on Lindsay, steadying her until they reached a bench away from the field. When he asked again whether she was all right, she gestured toward the blood and told him it obviously hurt.

“Why did you throw yourself in front of the ball?” he asked. His tone held frustration, but fear lay beneath it. Lindsay pointed toward the girl in the wheelchair and demanded what else she was supposed to do.

The answer silenced him. Wayne had seen many people perform courage when an audience was present, but Lindsay had moved before anyone else understood the danger. It matched the girl in his memory so precisely that his guarded expression softened.

Lindsay blamed him for throwing the ball off the field. Wayne did not defend his skill or make excuses about the pressure around him. He accepted responsibility and apologized, which unsettled her far more than arrogance would have.

As he inspected the scrape without touching it, Lindsay studied him. He was tall, handsome, gentle, and apparently capable of admitting when he was wrong. He was exactly her type—if she had ever been experienced enough to have a type.

Then her father’s warning returned. Wayne was the star player, and she was the distraction Mike had already condemned. Lindsay drew slightly away, wishing attraction could be switched off as easily as an unwanted message.

Wayne seemed to notice the distance. After a moment, he mentioned a party later that night and asked whether she wanted to go with him. The invitation sounded casual, but the hope in his eyes made Lindsay wonder whether he wanted more than company.

Her heart lifted before common sense could intervene. The party might help her meet potential boyfriends, and arriving with Wayne would silence half the school. More dangerously, part of her wanted to attend simply because he had asked.

“Dad!” Lindsay exclaimed when Mike’s shadow fell across them. Wayne immediately straightened. The warmth of the private moment vanished beneath the coach’s hard stare.

Mike addressed Wayne rather than his injured daughter. Practice was not over, he reminded him, and star players did not leave in the middle of drills. Wayne started to explain, but Mike cut him off.

If Wayne skipped out again, Mike warned, it might affect the college recommendation letter he was writing. The threat was calm and unmistakable. Lindsay saw Wayne’s jaw tighten as gratitude for the scholarship collided with resentment at being controlled.

She protested that none of it was Wayne’s fault. He had only left practice because she was hurt, but Mike interrupted her and repeated the warning he had given the night before. The accusation was clear: she was already becoming the distraction he feared.

Lindsay pointed to her bleeding leg. Her own father had arrived and assessed the cost to his player before asking whether she needed help. The familiar ache of being second to football opened all over again.

“Shows how much you care about your daughter,” she said. Mike called after her, but she pushed herself up without his assistance. She would rather limp away than let him treat her injury as an inconvenience to his season.

Wayne took a step after her. Mike’s hand closed around his shoulder, silently ordering him back to the field. For one suspended moment, Wayne had to choose between the coach who controlled his future and the girl whose pain he could not ignore.

Lindsay heard Wayne call “Hey!” behind her but did not turn. She did not know whether he was calling to her or arguing with Mike, and she was afraid of how much either answer mattered. The party invitation remained unanswered, hanging between them like a promise neither her father nor Alyssa intended to let her keep.