My mind is running away with this.
Coach Richards stares at Maverick a long time after his use of the M-word. Eventually, he says, “Whatever it is you’re doing, make sure you’re not doing it here. Be careful. Both your reputations are on the line here.”
He’s not wrong.
I’m fuming when we leave his office. I whisper-yell in the hallway, “Did you have to be so blunt?”
He glances at me, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“You said you’re fucking your teammate’s sister,” I say.
He holds both hands up wildly in my direction as if to say,well, I am.
“Ugh!” I cry out in frustration.
He links an arm around my waist and hauls me toward him.
“Not here,” I whisper-yell, setting my hands on his chest and pushing him away. He looks offended that I’m pushing him away, but I can’t stand here in this hallway with him holding me in his arms when the other coaches’ offices are just down the hall, when Jack’s office is just up the stairs, after the warning we just got.
He storms off toward the locker room, and I head into a conference room to get a little work done before I head out onto the field to watch practice.
He’s a little on the grumpy side today, but when isn’t he? And who would blame him? He came from his mother’s funeral. Most people would take some bereavement time, but not Maverick Jennings. I think the field is where he best works out his emotions, anyway.
Practice has ended, but Maverick stays on the field a little longer to run extra drills. It’s during that time that Coach Nash approaches me where I’m sitting on some bleachers.
“You’re doing a good job with him,” he says quietly, nodding toward the field.
“I’m doing my best to turn things around.”
“So Coach Richards mentioned,” he muses, both of us still looking at Maverick.
I sigh, not committing to a response other than that.
He turns toward me, and my eyes dart to him. “Look, what you do in your spare time is your own business. Just be careful with someone who’s so volatile, okay? I can’t have him losing whatever progress he’s made because of some emotional journey you’ve taken him on.”
I want to defend myself. I want to tell him it’s not like that. I’m not out to break his heart or hurt him. I’m here to support him, and we’ve fallen for each other along the way.
Somehow, though, it feels like my admission would only make things worse.
“I won’t mention it to Jack, but consider this your fair warning. If Richards and I know, it won’t be long before word gets out. You know Dex isn’t going to take kindly to it. Just be careful, okay?”
I look away from him and back at Maverick as a wave of emotion plows into me. I nod a little. “Okay.”
And then I slip out of the training facility and head toward home.
CHAPTER 34: Maverick Jennings
Don’t Move
I don’t want to go home after practice.
I’m not sure why I do it, but my car leads me straight for her father’s lounge. I don’t have a game tomorrow, and I need to blow off some steam, I guess. I have practice in the morning, but I can show up for practice tired. I’m not planning to stay very long anyway.
It’s stupid to show up here. I’m in season, and the league has rules about this sort of thing—not gambling in a casino, but definitely the underground part. But it hasn’t stopped me before. Maybe I’ll just stay in the legal area for a few minutes before I head home.
I walk in the front doors and grab myself a drink at the bar. I play a few rounds at the tables upstairs, and I lose every hand.
I need to change my luck.
