Resisting Her || BBANGSAZ

I

"Lucian really is a sweet kid." Sunmi bumped my elbow and pointed to the kid who held the suit's attention. "But he's probably the only one. What kind of snacks did you bring the kids?"

Panic burned throughout me. I was supposed to bring snacks? What the fuck? What snacks? Nathan didn't say a thing to me. "Uh, none. I didn't know we were supposed to. Nobody told me anything."

Sunmi looked at her watch. "Well, we don't have a lot of time left, so let's see what we can round up. I'll text the moms."

I watched several heads shake as they read Sunmi's text. When the suit looked at me, I froze. She was more beautiful than I expected. Her light brown eyes were expressive, her lips red and plump. I was nervous not just because she was beautiful, but she was confident and her gaze never wavered once her eyes met mine. I held my breath for no other reason than I simply forgot how to breathe. She stood and motioned for me to follow. Without hesitation, I stood, wove my way around the other moms sitting on the bleachers, and met her near a very nice, very clean Mercedes SUV.

"Hi. I'm Minji and apparently have committed the heinous crime of not bringing snacks today." I was nervous and had absolutely no game.

She stared at me for a few moments, then opened the back of her SUV to reveal canvas bags filled with goodies. "I understand you are filling in for Margaret. I have juice boxes and oranges that you can pass out after practice. I always have spares on hand for the parents who forget." Her voice held a slight note of judgment.

"In all fairness, I didn't forget. I was never told. Plus, I'm not a parent." I shrugged, trying to convey that I didn't care what she thought about me, but I did. I was always self-conscious around pretty women, especially today with my hair pulled back in a ponytail and very little makeup on. I was babysitting. Who knew I would run into a hot mom? "But thank you. I can repay you Friday."

She shrugged. "Don't worry about it." She handed me the two bags and walked away to claim her seat on the first row, away from everyone else.

I wanted to know her story. I wanted to know why she didn't sit with the other moms, why she was dressed like she was closing multi-million-dollar deals, and why she wasn't wearing a ring on her left hand. I heaved the bags up to Sunmi and plopped down. Shit. I forgot to ask the suit's name.

"Wow. Good for you. Hanni Pham doesn't talk to a lot of people here."

Pham. It was a well-known high-society name. "She seems nice. And she helped me out of a bind."

"I've never spoken to her, and our kids have been on this soccer team for two years now," Sunmi said.

"You're kidding. That doesn't even make sense."

"I mean, I've heard her talk to the group as a whole, but we've never actually had a one-on-one conversation."

I stared at Hanni. Her eyes never left her son. When he scored during their practice scrimmage, he turned to find her in the crowd, his face beaming with pride. She pumped her fist in the air, and it looked like they did a distant high five. I smiled. Hanni Pham might be an ice queen with this crowd, but I saw her unguarded, softer side with her son.

"I'm just thankful she had snacks. She just saved me from breaking a dozen hearts."

"She's saved us quite a few times. Always prepared."

When practice ended, the kids circled me like vultures, hungrily picking at the bags. Sunmi reminded the children of the manners they had abandoned and lined them up like soldiers. I handed each one a juice box and an orange and received more eye rolls than thank yous, but I didn't blame them. Where were the fruit roll-ups? What about chocolate-chip cookies or tiny bags of Doritos? It was bad enough that Blake ate only organic and had zero processed sugar in her diet, but every single kid in this neighborhood, too? That seemed unfair. When snacks were divvied up, I found Hanni at her car and handed her the empty canvas bags.