Page 84 of The Coach

“Sure,” I answer offhandedly. “Care to explain why the team isn’t ready to warm up?”

He purses his lips to the side. “It seems our team is not thrilled with you being let go.”

I stand straight, not giving away my feelings on the matter. It feels good to be wanted, but I can’t let them throw away their chances at winning this year, at catching the eyes of pro teams. They were too good to throw that away.

“Okay,” I answer and sigh, looking at the team. “Guys, while I appreciate the support, I made my choice. This is in no way a reflection of you as a team. You have what it takes to go all the way, don’t ruin your chances by trying to be honorable.”

“We know, Coach,” Lincoln answers, nodding his head. “However, we don’t want to play without you as our coach.”

I rub my jaw, looking to Ed for help. He shrugs. “Look.” I let out a breath. “Maybe it’s a hard situation to understand, hell, I don’t know what you even know—”

“We know you’re with Ellis’s sister and the school hates that, so they fired you,” Connor Bedford answers helpfully.

I nod my head in understanding. “Okay, so you know the truth.”

“We do.” Lincoln nods, his eyes meeting mine, and instead of the defiance I saw yesterday, instead of the hate, it’s some sort of acknowledgment. It’s acceptance. “We also took it upon ourselves to look up the rules for faculty dating students.”

He reaches behind him where Crew Thatcher hands him some papers, He looks over them and reads off, “According to this, no professor shall interact with a student that is non-consensual, acts of non-consensual relationships will result in fines and possibly, termination.”

Lincoln looks up at me, and I frown, wondering if there is more to it than that. I look at Ed. “Ed?”

He sighs, glancing at me. “It’s not just about what the rules state. It’s about how it looks for the team.”

Anger boils inside me, my teeth grind together, and I plant my feet, crossing my arms. “Clearly, the team has no issue in my being with Micayla. I see no need to make this an issue when it’s not crossing any lines.”

“Tanner…”

“We want him reinstated, or we don’t play,” Lincoln announces, keeping the papers clutched in his hand. “I’m not playing without him as my coach.”

I glance at him, and he looks at me, giving me a nod of his head, and I let a small bit of relief filter through me. Finally, her brother was getting his ass on board with this.

He has a long way to go to make it up to his sister, but this was a good start.

“I can’t just reinstate him. The paperwork has already been started,” Ed says, trying to come up with some sort of excuse.

“Get it unstarted,” Katz growls from his seat along the back wall. He and Hansley sit together, and I nod at him in gratitude.

Ed visibly bites his tongue, and I stand with my team, waiting for him to decide.

Finally, he sighs loudly and grabs the papers from Lincoln. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do if you guys get your asses ready to play.”

“Only if you promise to get this sorted before our next games.”

“Ellis, don’t push me,” Ed replies, looking about two seconds away from blowing his top.

“You have pushed us into this situation because this facility apparently cares more about media and image than it does about the wellbeing of our team.” Lincoln gestures to me. “Coach is one of the best things to happen to the Vapors. We all thought Stanford leaving was bad. Well, Coach Mitchum leaving would devastate this team.”

Ed looks around the room, and not one player budges from their spot. Each one looks Ed in the eye, waiting to see what he’ll do. “I’ll set up a meeting. But we’re not forfeiting this game for this nonsense, or you’ll all be proving me right.”

Seeing my opening, I nod my head. “He’s right. Let’s not sacrifice your futures. Get ready to kick some ass.”

The team seems to accept our answer for now, and they start to pull out their gear and get themselves dressed. Ed walks up to me, a contrite look on his face. “I’m sorry, Mitchum. It was part me and part of our media relations group. They don’t want to bring any negative attention to the team. Not many coaches are famous before becoming a college hockey coach, there’s already enough media coverage around you as it is.”

“I understand. However, Mick and I are not drama,” I answer him. “That woman is going to be my wife, not some sort of fling or sordid affair like you seem to have in your mind. So get this straight, if I stay on as the head coach, Mick will be around, cheering me on. She will be seen with me, and nothing you can do will stop that from being the truth.”

Ed bites the inside of his cheek. “Fine.”

“Fine,” I say dismissively and see Lincoln approach from the corner of my eye.

---