Page 55 of The Coach

“Tanner?” Lincoln asks, and I’m freaking the hell out that he answered the phone now.

Finally, I get the phone back in my hand and see that Tanner’s name is on my recent call list on the screen, but thankfully, he didn’t answer. “Huh?”

“Who’s Tanner?” Lincoln asks, almost a little too innocently.

“Huh?” I reply again, shutting off my phone and tucking it into my back pocket. “No one.”

“Sis, come on. Is that the guy?” I assess my brother and see he’s gone into full brother protection mode but… he’s not connecting it. He’s not coming to the realization that the Tanner I’m seeing is the same as Coach Mitchum who yells at him at practice.

“It’s…new,” I reply, starting my walk to my car. “I have class, baby brother.”

“Damn, I wanted to get lunch with you.”

I eye him, guiding us away from the conversation I don’t want to have. “You mean you wanted me to buy you lunch?”

He rolls his eyes. “I can afford to buy you lunch.” Lincoln crosses his arms and glances away. “As long as we eat at the student hall and use my lunch pass.”

I snort, opening the door to my car and tossing my bag in. “So Mom and Dad are buying lunch, then?”

Huffing, he unfolds his arms and steps closer. “Come on, all you do is hang out with those two nut cases you call friends. You could use some quality time with your baby brother.”

“Those nut cases are good people, for one.” I say, sinking into my seat and turning on the car. I roll the driver’s side window down and shut the door. Lincoln squats and rests his arms on the open window. “For two, I have class. Maybe on Friday.”

“We have a two o’clock game on Friday,” he responds. “Let’s do dinner.”

I open my mouth to respond that I have plans, but then I take a good look at him. He’s got dark circles under his eyes, his hair is unbrushed—not entirely unusual—and he looks irritable.

I can’t say no to him. “I had dinner plans, but I’ll cancel them just for you.”

He gives me a half smile and taps my door. “I still want to meet him.”

I swallow hard, pasting a fake smile on my face. “Who?”

“The guy who’s been making my sister look like she’s in love.”

He stands and makes his way over to his car. It’s still the same beater I drove in high school before I upgraded, then Lincoln took it over when he got his own license.

It makes a loud screeching sound when he turns it on and pulls away and for a moment, I’m stuck in my thoughts.

He didn’t look okay. I pause and realize that though we spent many hours together over the holidays, we never really talked about how he was doing. I was too concerned with not spilling my own secrets to realize my brother may have some of his own.

There’s no way he could know about Tanner and me. Right? We’ve been fairly good about hiding it, about keeping our relationship under wraps. When I was able to get to a game, we didn’t spend the time eyeing each other, we didn’t touch or hug after games, we never went out in Rose Hill, always opting to get out of town when we did manage to see each other.

Sure, his parents and my roommates know, but his parents wouldn’t be gossiping about it to anyone who would out us—I don’t think, anyway—and Cassie and Vic just aren’t gossips. We are a tight-knit group. We didn’t hide things from each other, but outside of our little bubble, people didn’t know us.

I think back to Lincoln and wonder what else could be going on, if there’s something wrong with hockey, school, or worse, girls.

Dinner should be interesting, but if there was one thing I was determined to do, it was to get my brother to spill his guts.

twenty-three

TANNER

Opening my newest message, I clench the phone in my hand hard enough that I feel like it's going to snap. Instead of allowing that to happen, though, I set it on my desk and tilt my head back in disappointment.

A few days ago, Mick called me to tell me they offered her a position at work for something permanent after graduation. I was thrilled for her. I was also ecstatic that she was going to work in the field she wanted until she could find something more veteran-based and therefore, remain close enough to me that we wouldn’t have to do something long distance.

If I have it my way, not long after graduation we’d be sharing an address, so long distance isn’t what I want at all.

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