Page 31 of Yes, Coach

“Oh, Taryn, come on. I’ve seen the outfits you wear. You can’t expect a man not to notice you.”

“That’s... What I wear is my business!”

“I’m not complaining,” he says with a grin. “I just think we can help each other out and—”

“Get away from me!” I scream, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. “Just leave me alone.”

I try to turn and get away, but he grabs the front of my shirt, his fingertips brushing my breast, and I nearly throw up. I try to bat his hand away, but it only tightens more, grabbing a handful of my shirt and trying to pull me closer.

“Taryn, you’re… You’re misunderstanding. I didn’t mean—”

“I know exactly what youmeant.” At that moment, Murphy appears in the doorway to the sports building, and I scream. “Help!”

Principal Morrison turns his head to follow my gaze, and instantly lets go of my shirt. In seconds, I’m running, my eyes streaming with tears as I throw myself into Murphy’s arms, glad that at this moment he doesn’t choose to push me away for the sake of appearances.

Instead, he growls in that protective way, and I feel my heart instantly start to calm.

“What. The. Fuck.” He demands, his arm wrapping possessively around my waist. “Tell me what happened. Right now.”

“She’s overreacting.” Principal Morrison sounds indignant. “All I was doing was offering—”

“Not you,” Murphy barks. “Taryn. Tell me what happened.”

I glance between them both, trying to find the words. “He was… I mean, it wasn’t what he said so much as the way he said it. And then he grabbed me, and—”

“He did what?”

“I was just trying to stop the girl from falling! Taryn, come on, you’re being ridiculous.”

“You come in there and lecture me about appropriate relationships, then you’re out here, what? Sexually harassing an eighteen-year-old girl?”

“Sexually harassing? Murphy, that’s slander! I could have you—”

“Do it.” Murphy pulls me tighter to him. He takes a step forward, getting closer to Principal Morrison, right up in his face. “Go ahead. Do it, motherfucker. Let’s see what the school board makes of this incident, shall we?”

There’s silence for a moment. Morrison stares at Murphy, and Murphy at Morrison. The principal is the first to break it.

“What do you want?”

“You’re retiring in the next five years, right?” Murphy says, eyeing him. Morrison nods, but doesn’t say anything. “Bring that forward. After graduation, you’re gone.”

“Murphy, I can’t do that. Be reasonable—”

“Thisisfucking reasonable, you dumb fuck. The things Iwantto do to you… Take the fucking easy option, for both our sakes.Claim illness, claim family issues, claim you're fucking chasing your dreams for all I care, but I don’t want to see you here or at any other school again. Because if I do, the school board will be the least of your worries. Do I make myself clear?” Silence. Then when Murphy speaks again, it’s loud enough that Morrison jumps out of his skin. “Do I fucking make myself clear?”

“Yes. Yes, crystal clear.”

“Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

When he’s gone, Murphy takes me between his hands, meets my eyes and says the words that instantly calm me down. “Good girl. That’s my good girl, coming to me as soon as there was a problem. I’ll always take care of you, Taryn. We’ve been sloppy. That’s my fault, and I’m going to take care of it. Make sure nobody sees us around school the way we have been. But as soon as you graduate, all bets are off. Yes?”

I nod. “Yes, Coach Daddy.”

CHAPTER 10

Taryn

Six Weeks Later - Graduation Day

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