Page 145 of The Coach

I smirk. “That the same best friend who flashed a security guard to get you into the tunnel?”

“That’s the one.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “The one who was there at the bar, too. We gotta hang out again.”

She grins. “Oh, we will. Don’t worry.”

We eat, talking about nothing and everything. She tells me about the funniest things her fourth graders did last week—something about one kid accidentally calling an oxymoron a ‘sexy moron’ during a lesson, and I nearly choke on my bacon.

And then, as she reaches for her water, her phone screen lights up.

A text from her mom.

She glances at it, suddenly quiet.

I set my fork down.

“You haven’t told them about me yet.”

She sighs, rubbing her temples.

“No,” she admits. “They know I was with someone. But they don’t know…who.”

I nod, leaning back.

“I get it,” I say. “It’s a lot.”

She exhales, shaking her head. “They just…I don’t want them to think I’m being irresponsible. That I’m jumping into something when I don’t even know what it is yet. Don’t know if you’re going to be in the child’s life.”

I study her.

“Ivy.”

She looks up.

“I have to be honest. I’m still a little gun shy. I want to trust you. And in some ways I do. I’m getting there, little by little. But these are big things we’re talking about. Really big things, Jackson.”

I set my coffee down and lean in closer.

“I know we didn’t plan this,” I say. “I know we’re figuring it out as we go. But I need you to know something. I want to be in your life. I want to be there for our kid. And I want to be there for you.”

Her lips part slightly.

And for a second, I think she’s going to say something.

But then my phone buzzes.

I sigh, glancing at the screen.

Drew.

I curse under my breath and answer, throwing him on speaker.

“This better be good,” I say, staring at Ivy.

“Boss,” Drew’s voice crackles through the line. “Travis Carter’s PR nightmare just got worse. You need to get to the stadium.”

I rub my temples. “What happened now?”

---