Page 23 of The Coach

“I don’t know,” Victoria says, looking at her nearly empty glass with a frown. “Cassie told me we need to talk to you.”

Cassie rolls her eyes. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice it, too.”

“Notice what?”

Victoria sighs dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead and bending backward. “How utterly morose you’ve been for a fortnight.”

I laugh at her antics, and Cassie frowns. “A fortnight is two weeks.”

Victoria waves her hand about. “Whatever. You know what I mean.”

This is why I love these two. They were not only an excellent distraction but always able to entertain me when I need it the most.

“Are you seeing someone?” Cassie asks, genuinely curious. “I know you said he ghosted—”

“I’m not seeing him,” I tell her quickly, cutting her off. I don’t need anyone here to overhear her and get any ideas.

“But you want to be,” Victoria says, nodding at Cassie. “She filled me in on what happened a few weeks ago, and damn, girl, way to go. If you’re gonna finish your master’s degree, finish with a bang.” She lifts a brow teasingly. “Literally.”

I cover my mouth and whisper to her harshly, “I’m not sleeping with a professor.”

“Bummer, that was way more interesting,” she quips back, pursing her lips for a drink.

I want to tell them. I desperately want to tell them about Tanner and about us breaking it off and not being able to talk to him, but also not being able to stop thinking about him.

It was exhausting keeping it to myself, but I have to. I don’t have a choice.

“Seriously, though, you know you can talk to us, right?”

I don’t have a chance to answer before a loud commotion comes from the stairs leading to our front door. My baby brother comes bounding up the stairs, Crew on his heels. “The party has arrived!”

Given that everyone here knows who the hockey team is, they cheer and crowd around the two of them, welcoming them with a flourish to a party we did not invite them to.

“Ugh, you invited Lincoln?” Cassie grouses, casting a mean sneer his way.

“No,” I answer honestly with a shrug. “I don’t know why he’s here.”

After he’s gone around the room, offering small bits of conversation to everyone, he comes over to me and picks me up in a giant hug. “Big sis!”

I smile at him and return the hug. “Where have you been?”

We wander over to the kitchen. I lean against the counter as he raids my fridge, pulling out the items he needs to make himself a sandwich. “Practicing my ass off. Coach has something up his ass and has been taking it out on us.”

I freeze for a moment. Part of me is wondering if that ‘thing’ up his ass is us breaking up or if there’s something else going on. Something else bothering him.

It’s not your concern, Micayla.

I shake my head at myself. “Really? That’s too bad. You guys did great last weekend.”

“I know,” he answers, carefully stacking more than enough meat on his piece of bread. I don’t know how the bread is going to withstand that weight. “I don’t know what it is. Some of the team think he’s trying to prove something.”

“Prove something?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Like he’s trying to get respect from the assistant coaches, prove he’s a badass and can lead our team. I don’t get why though. He’s only been with us for a short time, but he’s still one of the best coaches we’ve ever had.”

My heart thumps in my chest, hearing my brother speak about Tanner like that, knowing that Tanner would probably be thrilled to hear that he was thought of that way. I bite my lip, wondering why I have this tight feeling in my chest, wondering why I have this urge to throw out the last conversation we had and reach out to him again.

But no.

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