Coach spread his thumb and forefinger across his brow. “I do.”
“Okay. Give him a call and offer an intensive clinic hosted by loverboy here. Smooth things over a little bit. Build some good will so the kids don’t act out. Then here’s the story. You, Jonesy, are mentoring their captain. You were in their house because you met with them after your game. Your girlfriend came to meet you there because you were late for dinner plans. End of story.”
“At 11 p.m.? After my game?” I asked.
Miranda threw her hands up. “Fine! You were taking herout for a nightcap. Who cares? Stay vague. It’s nobody’s business. I’ll send a cease and desist to Slapped Shot and pay off whoever sent the video. With that and the clinic you’re going to hold, everything should be handled. If it continues to circulate past a day or two, the official line is that you and your girlfriend thought you were having a private moment before you left for your date. Sound good?”
I hesitated. “Does she have to be my girlfriend?”
Miranda rolled her lips between her teeth. “It’s nobody’s business what you do in your private life, Colt. We all know that. But that doesn’t mean people won’t be on you about being a player. You need to come out of this as squeaky clean as possible. If you say she’s a one night stand?—”
“She is not a one night stand,” I cut in.
She sighed. “Okay. She’s your friend. But it’ll look better if she’s your girlfriend.”
I nodded as my stomach roiled. “I need to talk to Violet.”
Miranda gave me a sympathetic look. “Why don’t you go call her? You’re starting to turn green.”
I stood and headed for the door.
“Jones!” he barked just before the doorknob hit my back.
I popped my head in. “Yes, Coach?”
“You’re scratched the next game. Know that.”
“Yes, sir.” Now I had two reasons to have a mouth full of sand. This could go wrong in so many different ways. Violet could laugh in my face. She could say this was just casual. She could say she didn’t have time for a relationship like she did every other time. She could tell me I’m not like that to her.
These weren’t the conditions under which I wanted to ask her to be with me. This could be the thing that ended things for good. But before she heard it from someone else, I needed to ask her.
I pulled up Violet’s contact and pressed to call her.
“Hey, how’d it go?”
The way she answered already made me want to cry, if I was a crying kind of person. She was so gentle. She was worried aboutme.Meanwhile, I was way more worried about how this affected her.
“Hey, um, okay. Still in the middle of it. So, listen . . .” I clawed my hair between my fingertips.
“What?” She sounded terrified, and I realized I’d been silent a little too long.
“Sorry.” My heart pounded and I let out a shaky breath. “Look, there’s no easy way to say this?—”
“Everyone knows I sucked you off in a college house bathroom?”
“What? No. At least I hope not. But you might want to call your boss. They think your job might be at risk since you were fraternizing with students and underage drinking was happening around us.”
Violet was quiet for a long time. “Okay. I’ll talk to Margot.”
“Okay?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Colt. I have to deal with the consequences. I’m technically paid by the National Science Foundation, not the school. But I’m not sure what stuff might be in my contract.”
“Oh. I guess that helps.”
“Yeah,” she said. “And Margot and I have known each other a few years. She’s pretty easygoing. I mean, it’s not great, and kinda awkward, but I’m not too worried. What about your job? What did the team say?”
I looked up at the ceiling. “They, uh . . . god, this is going to sound bad.”
