Page 45 of The Coach

“It slipped,” I lie, settling back into the chore that will take me decades to finish. Do people even like mashed potatoes this much? I’m not sure they do.

They finally all settle down in the dining area off the kitchen, leaving me, Mom, and Lincoln to do our duties while Dad entertains the hockey players.

Every year since we were old enough, Mom has always insisted that we help her in the kitchen for holidays. So it was a nice tradition of fighting with my baby brother, who insisted on being a pain in my ass, and hiding said fighting from our mother so she didn’t break down in tears and tell us we ruined the holidays.

Good times.

“Hello!” a voice calls, and I smile when I see Cassie and Vic come around the corner.

I hear my brother growl low in his throat behind me, and my foot finds his, stomping hard yet nonchalantly. I smile when I hear a groan and move around the island to hug my two best friends.

“You’re here!” They return the hug and look at me with a question in their eyes.

“We just saw you this morning,” Vic says, setting down a pie on the counter. My mom comes over and gives the girls hugs, thanking them for the pie and asking about their families.

When she finally shoos us away, I take a moment to grab a drink and lead the girls far away from the kitchen. “Don’t you need to help?” Vic asks, taking a seat in our sitting room, her bare feet tucked up underneath her.

The unspoken rule in this house—shoes don’t leave the foyer.

“I’ve been in there for four hours.” I run a hand over my hair, feeling a coolness at the back from where I was sweating. “I need a break.”

Laughter explodes from the dining room, and the girls look on curiously.

“Who all is here? I didn’t think it was going to be a major thing.”

I roll my eyes and sigh. “Basically every member of the hockey team is here.”

“Don’t they have their own families?” Vic asks, pulling her phone out of her back pocket.

“I’m sure they do; they didn’t just fall out of the sky.” I take a sip of water, licking my dry lips. “But they have games tomorrow and Saturday, so most of them can’t get home and back in time. Lincoln invited the ones who needed a place.”

Cassie sneers at that. “What a do-gooder.”

I don’t really know what Cassie’s issue with my brother is, I mean, other than that he’s completely annoying. That I can understand. But ever since they met, they’ve had this hate-hate relationship that I can’t quite figure out.

Frankly, I don’t want to try.

“Sooooo…” Cassie draws out the word, snapping me back to reality.

“Yeah, so where the fuck have you been lately?” Vic asks, not bothering to sugarcoat her words and putting her phone away. She takes a sip of her wine, eyeing me over the rim as she does so, her dark hair pulled back into two braids that nearly reach her waist.

I shrug. “Nowhere, really.”

“Mick,” Cassie says sternly, “You’ve been spending nights away from our place and when you are home, you’re holed up in your room studying, not giving me an opportunity to talk to you.”

“I just come here sometimes,” I lie quickly. A burning sensation starts in my chest and moves up into my throat. I don’t want to lie to my best friends. They wouldn’t even tell anyone anything if I did let them in.

“Nah.” Vic glares at me, her mouth ticked up in a knowing smirk. “No girl goes home to her parents and shows back up the next fucking day glowing like there’s a rainbow coming out of her ass.”

“Vic!” Cassie admonishes, looking over Vic’s shoulder toward the kitchen. Cassie is always worried about offending my parents, even though my parents are not the type to pretend to be oblivious to their children or the way culture changes. Hearing that from someone like Vic would likely make them laugh.

“Sorry,” she answers her quickly before resuming her glare at me. “Tell us what’s going on, or I’m going to go get your brother and tell him you’re hiding something.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

She lifts a brow at me. “Hey, Lincoln!”

“Victoria Marie!” I scold her, ready to pounce on her and duct tape her mouth shut if that’s what’s necessary.

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