Page 76 of The Coach

I haven’t heard from Tanner.

Soon after he left for his meeting, I got my call from Mary, my student adviser, and with lead in my gut, went to go meet with her.

I was terrified of what was going to come of it, but thankfully, no one seems to know what Tanner and I have been doing. At least, not on my end.

Maybe Lincoln didn’t tattle after all.

My phone rings in my purse, and I rummage through it until I find the vibrating device. My mom’s name blinks on the screen, and I answer it in a huff. “Hello?”

“Darling… we should talk.”

Shit. She definitely knows. “I know we should. Lincoln talked to you?”

“Lincoln came in like an F5 tornado, spewing this and that. Your father and I could barely understand a word except ‘Mick and my hockey coach! And my hockey coach!’”

I swallow a laugh at her reenactment of Lincoln’s outrage. “Yeah, he’s mad at me.” More like pissed, which just pisses me off even more.

“I would say so. Do you have time to come by?”

“Yeah, I do. I’ll be over in twenty.”

I hang up the phone, and just as I do, Tanner rings through. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he breathes through the phone, sounding stressed.

“You okay?” I hold my breath, wondering if this amazing man just got fired just for dating me. I don’t know what I would do if that happened.

“I’m alright. Though we’ll need to talk.”

“Okay, I just got out of a meeting with my adviser.” I close my eyes for a moment. “Now I have to go to my folks because Lincoln spilled the beans to them.”

“I’ll come with you,” he replies. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the northern corner of campus.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

I bite my lip. “Are you sure?”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Are you nervous?” I ask, twiddling my fingers together as we pull into my parent’s driveway.

“No,” he replies, turning his head to give me a smile. He’s relaxed and so, so calm that I don’t know how to handle him.

The drive from campus to my parents is less than twenty minutes, so aside from hearing that Ed knows and will fire Tanner—something I’m not sure I can forgive my baby brother for—I don’t know what’s going to happen after that. “I’m a grown man, dating a grown woman, and I’m going to meet her parents, who for better or worse, will either like me or hate me. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Yeah,” I reply, shrugging, trying my best to match his calm energy.

We reach the door, and I step in, Tanner right behind me. We take off our shoes and step into the relatively quiet house. “Mom? Dad?”

“In here!” Mom calls from the direction of the kitchen. I reach behind me and interlock my fingers with Tanner’s.

When we enter, my dad is sitting at the table, playing a game of solitaire—with actual cards, not on a computer or tablet—and my mom is making a pot of coffee.

“Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Tanner Mitchum, officially.” They obviously know all about Tanner Mitchum, have watched and attended games where he’s coached.

“Oh!” Mom says in surprise when she glances up. “I didn’t know you were bringing him.” Mom fusses at me, patting down her hair and approaching Tanner with a smile, her hand outstretched. “I’m Sienna Ellis. Welcome to our home.”

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