Page 43 of Waiting for Her

Done trying to cover for me and overlooking my overreaction.

Because as hard as I try to justify it to anyone, including myself, it was just that. An extreme overreaction. But after the miscarriage, I couldn’t go back. I felt like such a failure. I couldn’t even get a handle on my life enough to take care of myself and, subsequently, a baby.

Yes, the doctors said that had nothing to do with it.

But I know better.

Soon his attention is needed by someone on his coaching staff. He squeezes my elbow once and jogs off. I turn my head to the side slightly, my eyes focus on his legs, trying to see if there’s any noticeable change in the way he moves now. He glances over his shoulder as he talks to a guy who looks like he could use a day or two jogging and does a double take when he notices I’m staring at him.

His eyes stay glued to mine before he shakes his head and tells the team to start warming up.

For the rest of the week, he had me doing interviews with a few of the players and other coaching staff.

“You have a few moments?” I ask Drew, one of the staff members on my list I’ve been waiting to talk to.

“For you? Of course!” He grins.

“I’m going to warn you now…”

“Uh oh,” he interrupts teasingly.

“It won’t be bad, I promise. Shall we sit?” I ask, gesturing to the chairs on the sidelines.

“Now you really have me worried.”

I laugh lightly, shaking my head. “No faith, man. No faith.”

We both take a seat, him with his elbows on his knees as he leans over. Drew is probably in his mid-thirties, incredibly built, his dark hair buzzed short. His brown eyes are so dark they’re almost black and there’s a small scar right above his upper lip. He has a tattoo sleeve on his right arm and up onto his neck. He might be rough around the edges, but he’s still pretty damn good looking.

“Alright, hit me with it.”

“As assistant head coach, you didn’t want the job?”

“Nope.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give me?”

“That’s all you asked!”

I roll my eyes playfully. “You win. Why didn’t you want the head coach position?”

“Real talk and some of this is off the record?” I nod. “I was a foster kid. Felt lucky as hell that I was able to get into college in the first place, and I never took one second of it for granted. Working under Coach Bales was a dream come true. Could never consider replacing him. Worked with Grady when he was a player but then when he started coaching with the freshman, it was clear he was meant for more. It felt right. I can’t explain it, even in my own head.”

“After watching him this week, I get what you mean.”

“Right? It just… I don’t know. He’s the right man to lead this team. This group of guys, they’re hard workers but I’m noticing a shift since Grady came on board as head coach. Not that they didn’t respect Bales, because they did. But I think they like having someone younger that they can talk to who’s closer to their level. Who isn’t so far removed from understanding the temptations they’re bombarded with every day. Grady listens and the players respond well to it.”

“So you were a foster kid?”

“Off the record, yeah. I don’t need my personal business in the feature, y’know?”

“You’ve got my word on that.”

“Thanks for your honesty, Drew. I was going to ask how you like working with Grady and a few other things, but basically you answered them already when you said he was right for the job.”

“I do what I can to make your day easier. Now I have a question for you, off the record, of course.”

“Go for it.”

---