Page 85 of The Coach

“One more thing,” he says to Ed. “Can you clear up something for me and Coach?”

“What’s that?” Ed looks nervous, and I’m glad. He’s taking this seriously enough that he doesn’t know what’s about to be thrown at him.

“Who showed you pictures of Coach and my sister?”

Ed frowns, looking between the two of us. “It was Johnson.”

Understanding dawns on me, and I shake my head.

“He was trying to use it as leverage to become the new head coach, but even if we hired him back, I told him it wouldn’t be in that position. It’s not right for him.”

“Thank you,” Lincoln says respectfully.

Ed shakes his head at us and starts to walk out of the locker room. “I have some stuff to do before game time. Get your heads on straight.”

I’m not thrilled with the man. I’m not happy he didn’t tell me the truth when it came to Mick and my relationship, but I would be able to live with it. Especially if I got to keep my job, and we could stay in our hometown with our dream jobs.

I know it would be a relief to her, too.

When we have a minute, Lincoln turns to me and squares his shoulders up. “I’m sorry for the grief I gave you both.” He shakes his head. “I was caught off guard, and I shouldn’t have talked to you or my sister that way. I’m going to make it up to her.”

“I appreciate what you did here today, Ellis. I hope that you can make Mick happy again, because if that doesn’t happen, we’re still going to have problems.”

“I understand. I have a plan to make her see that I approve of you both, that I can move past my own issues so long as she’s happy.”

I bite my lip in thought and nod my head. “Alright, well, I’ll leave that up to her to decide.”

He nods and holds out his hand for me. I shake it, hoping that this will be the last time we have an issue.

He walks toward his spot to start getting ready, and I think about how everything I thought I knew has changed in the past twenty minutes. I walked in here with the thought that I was never going to do it again. Now, there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

thirty-six

MICK

It was an interesting juggle to get my parents, my best friends, and the copious amounts of food and drink to our seats so we could watch Tanner’s final game.

The thought brought on a rush of tears to my eyes that I blinked back. I wasn’t sure why I was so emotional when I thought about that, but the only logical explanation in my head was that the man I love was losing his dream job.

The idea of breaking up for him had crossed my mind. We could do it. Break up until I graduate and then get back together once I was officially not a student.

I had told him my thoughts on this a week ago, and he looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“How could you think I would be okay with that?” he had said.

“I don’t. But then we don’t have to worry about what everyone else thinks.”

“I don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I care what you think and what I think. And hopefully, you think like me and realize that even though the time between now and graduation is infinitesimal, it doesn’t matter because I can’t and won’t live my life without you by my side.”

I couldn’t argue with him again after that.

“Are you nervous?” Cassie asks as we finally take our seats, watching the guys do their warm-ups like normal. I keep my gaze away from my brother, my emotions far too high right now.

“Uh, no.” I shrug. “I hope they win so Tanner can end on a high, but it is what it is.”

She wraps an arm around my shoulders and gives me a squeeze, knowing without me needing to say the words that I was having a harder time with this than I was letting on.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Dad says from the seat on my left, giving my shoulder a nudge. “Your brother is fired up after yesterday.”

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