Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson

for dinner at seven. Kendra had been asked to babysit the five-year-old in the condo next door, and in case of an emergency, Adele programed her phone number into Kendra’s cell.
    An hour before Cletus picked Adele up, she threw on a long-sleeved red dress and shiny red pumps she pulled from Sherilyn’s closet. She didn’t bother with nice underwear, not that she’d packed her nice stuff anyway. Even if the date went really well, and she discovered an overwhelming attraction to Cletus, she had to be home when Kendra got home at eleven.
    Over appetizers, Cletus told Adele about his divorce and his two-year-old daughter. He asked questions about her life and seemed genuinely interested. They laughed about things that had happened to them in school, but by the time Cletus paid the check, Adele knew nothing was going to happen with him. Ever. He was really nice, but she had absolutely no desire to get naked and freaky with him, which was kind of sad because the date was going surprisingly well. So well that she was beginning to wonder if the curse was broken.
    At around ten he drove her back to the condo and walked her to the door.
    “When can I see you again?” he asked.
    She wouldn’t mind having Cletus for a friend. “I don’t know.” She dug her keys out of her clutch purse. “I’m really busy with my sister, and I don’t have a lot of free time. Call me though, and maybe we can get together for coffee.”
    “Oh. You’re one of those.”
    One of those?
    “You think you’re too good for me. You think because I teach math that I’m not any fun. You think I’ll be pacified with a little coffee date.”
    “Cletus, my sister’s in the hospital, and I have to take care of my niece,” she said through a sigh. “I just don’t have a lot of time for real dates.”
    “Sure you don’t. I bet if I had a lot of money, you’d find the time. If I’d been one of the popular guys in school, you’d be dying to date me.”
    Adele looked at him, and she couldn’t get angry. It wasn’t his fault he’d turned into a jerk. It was hers. She was still cursed.

Chapter 5
    O ne hundred fifty miles west of Cedar Creek, Zach was beginning to wonder if he was cursed, too. Cursed with a defense that hesitated on the snap and couldn’t get past a determined offensive line to rush the quarterback.
    Within the guest locker room of the Grande Communications Stadium in Midland, he and his assistant coaches stood surrounded by the rattle of Tylenol bottles, the rip of athletic tape, the smell of grass, sweat, and frustration. In the first half of the game against Midland, the Cougars were behind by fourteen points.
    Zach folded his arms across his dark green Cougar’s Football jacket while the defensive coach, Joe Brunner, drew a diagram of the zone blitz on a marker board. “We spent all goddamn week reviewing the Bulldogs’ tapes,” Joe said as he drew x’s and o’s on the board. “We knew goin’ into this game that they play their zone better than any team we’ve been up against this year. Their goddamn quarterback is just sittin’ back in the pocket lobbing balls to the soft spot, and you guys aren’t goddamn rushin’ him.” Joe drew dashes and arrows from the linebackers through the o’s as he continued.
    Zach liked Joe. He respected his knowledge and devotion and his gut instinct. Joe had played cornerback for Cedar Creek and later for Virginia Tech in the nineties. No one loved football more than Joe Brunner, but he had a problem that held him back from ever being a head coach. He cracked under pressure. Right in half like someone split him with an ax, and out came a spitting, whirling devil. It was every coach’s job to get their boys to pull their heads out of their asses and turn games around, but that was hard to do if the fifty-three players in front of you were trying not to laugh.
    Zach stood with the offensive coach to one side and watched to make sure Joe didn’t crack. They interjected when