“I understand that, and I respect your opinion, but maybe you should give him a chance – just as a friend.”
“I don’t think he’d be capable of that.”
“It’s okay to be hurt, Jordan; to feel like you can never trust anyone again. And it’s okay to hate people, sometimes, too – I mean, I can’t do it, but some people need to place the blame on others. They need to slam someone else’s balls in the boot of the car.”
I laugh, in spite of myself.
“But it’ll pass, I promise. And when you start to look around, when you start to long for something again, you need to open your eyes. You need to make sure you don’t miss anything – even the things you never believed in could grow into something amazing.”
Niall
Isay goodbye to the kids as I’m collecting up the vests and balls, when Jordan crosses the court towards me.
“Nice work, Coach.”
I heave the bag of equipment over my shoulder.
“Are you making fun of me?”
“Why would I?”
“Because I feel like I did anythingbuta good job today.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“I feel like they don’t want me here.”
“You’re new. Just give them time – they’ll get used to you and your ways.”
“My ways? What ‘ways’?”
“I was keeping count of how many times you said the word…” she leans closer to me and lowers her voice, “…fuck.”
I grin.
“We’re alone, you know,” I point out. “You can say it out loud.”
Jordan looks around; maybe she hadn’t realised that we were alone in the gym. Just me and her. Tyler left twenty minutes ago – he had to be somewhere – and all the kids had already filed outside.
“I’m not used to using that kind of language,” she says, by way of explanation.
“Well, the other night…”
“Didn’t we agree not to bring that up again?”
“Sorry, you’re right. Let me buy you an apology drink – what do you say?”
She lifts one eyebrow.
“Ah, right. It’s against the contract.”
“Exactly.”
“The tournament is in three weeks. And it’ll last a month. I can’t wait that long.”
“First you have to win.”
Is she challenging me?
