“Just grabbing a coffee before the coaches’ meeting before the game tonight.”
“That should be interesting.”
“You worried?” I hand over my card, and her co-worker swipes it before going to get my drink.
“Aren’t you?” Lennon cocks a hip against the counter. Her tan apron brings out the brown flecks in her eyes. “The first game back after winter break is always a rough one.”
“You can’t have a losing attitude heading into it. Every game matters as we get closer to the tournament.”
She holds her hands up. “I know. I’m just worried about the second line. Jordyn is, too.”
“Let that line worry about themselves. Focus on your own game.”
She leans forward, planting her hands on the counter. “You’re right, I know. My focus has just been a little…shaken the last few weeks.” She smirks at me, and the side of me that is justLukewith her is pleased to hear that, but the side of me that’s her coach hates it.
Her co-worker returns with my drink, and I thank her. She looks between the two of us, and Lennon says, “Krista, this is my coach. Coach, this is my boss, Krista. You both get the pleasure of always telling me what to do.”
Krista bats her arm playfully. “As if I ever lord my title over you.” She then turns her attention to me. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard plenty about you.”
An alarm triggers in the back of my mind, and I dart my eyes to Lennon. We talked about how we’re not telling anyone about us. There’s no way she broke that already, right?
Lennon senses my panic and is quick to butt in. “I like to lament about your hyperfixation on pull-ups and step-ups. She listens to me complain.”
Crisis averted, but it doesn’t stop the itchiness under my skin. I’m now sitting here overthinking every single look Lennon has given me since I walked in here. The way she’s standing with her body leaned toward me, the soft look in her eye as we talk, the way I probably look the same back to her.
We’ve been keeping a respectable distance in practice, but for some reason in this different setting, it feels more dangerous. Lines feel more blurred because our title of coach and athlete aren’t as prevalent. Lennon was talking about her focus slipping, but maybe I’m the one who needs to watch out for that myself.
I twist the sleeve protector around the warm coffee cup and back up a few steps. “Well, I’ll let you gripe about me in private.”
Lennon’s face falls at my quick exit, but she recovers quickly. “See you at the game.”
I raise my coffee in response and tuck my jacket in tight as I step back outside. The wind is a cold slap in the face, but maybe it’s just what I needed.
The meeting with Alice and Jenna is a good distraction as we prep for the game tonight. Lennon is right; the second line has been sloppy and lacking communication since we came back from break. All week they’ve been trying to get on the same page, but it’s like they’re all in completely different books.
Alice makes the decision to bump Jordyn down from the first line to the second, hoping her steadiness will bring cohesion to the second. It’s a risk to do it without giving them time in practice to test it out, but it’s worth a shot. The team is definitely in play-off contention, but every point matters.
After the meeting breaks, I still have a few hours to kill before the team will start arriving for warm-ups. I head to my office and kill the overhead lighting that’s giving me a headache. I slump back in my chair and let out a long breath. There’s probably enough time for a quick nap if I wanted to.
But that’s cut off as my phone rattles against my desk, and I see my old teammate is calling me.
“Hey, Decker,” I answer the phone. “Two phone calls in one year. I didn’t realize you missed me that much.”
“There’s that cocky bastard attitude I’ve missed!” He barks out a laugh loud enough that I briefly pull the phone away from my ear. “And technically, it’s a new year so we’re only at one call so far.”
“Fair enough,” I chuckle.
“Hey, listen I gotta make this quick because Tash and I are getting dinner with her parents in a few, but I wanted to give you a few more details about the engagement party. Season is looking like shit, I don’t know if you’ve seen.”
I cringe. “Yeah, sorry about that, man.”
“It is what it is this year. But with that, playoffs are looking like a pipe dream, so we’re going to move forward with planning the party at the end of May.”
“And if you guys suddenly turn the season around and make it?”
“Then Tash will have my balls, and it’ll be the greatest comeback story in history.” He snorts. “But since I doubt that’s gonna happen, keep your calendar blocked the last weekend of May, alright? And she’s looking to get a headcount, so I wanted to double check and see if you still didn’t need a plus one?”
I rub my forehead and stare up at the ceiling. My immediate response is to say no, I actually would like a plus one. I like the idea of taking Lennon to New York City and showing her all my old favorite spots and braving seeing my old teammates with her by my side.
