Page 85 of Her Coach

Mom set a box of pasta on the counter and didn’t say anything for a second. I watched her smooth her hand over the top of it like she needed something to do with her hands. When she finally looked at me, her face was careful in that way it got when she was choosing words.

“I know what you were trying to do,” she said quietly. “When he first got here.”

My stomach dropped straight to the floor. “Mom —”

She shook her head once, not unkindly. “I’m not mad at you. I want you to know that. You were trying to take care of me, the same way you always do.” She paused. “But you don’t have to do that, Brynn. That’s not your job.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I had no idea what I expected her to say, but it wasn’t that. My throat went tight. “I just didn’t want you to be alone forever.”

Mom crossed the kitchen and pulled me into a hug before I even saw her move. I pressed my face into her shoulder and blinked hard a few times. She smelled like her soap and the cold air from outside and underneath all of it, still faintly like the perfume Dad used to buy her every Christmas without fail.

“I know,” she said into my hair. “I know that’s why you did it. And I love you for it, even when it drives me up the wall.”

I laughed a little, wet and embarrassing. “He wasn’t even interested. I want you to know that. I wasn’t lying about that part.”

She pulled back just far enough to look at my face, and one corner of her mouth moved. Not quite a smile. But something. “No,” she said, “I don’t imagine he was.”

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, feeling about twelve years old. “I’m sorry I tried to manage your life.”

She tucked my hair back from my face with both hands the way she’d done since I was small. “I’m sorry I made you feel like you needed to.” She held my face for a second, just looking at me. “Now. Tell me he’s a good man.”

“He’s a good man,” I said without hesitating for half a second.

She nodded once, like that settled something for her. Then she let me go and went back to the groceries, and that was that. The way it always was with Mom. No drawn-out speeches. No carrying on. Just the thing that needed to be said, said, and then the two of us putting the cans away like normal people.

And that’s when I saw it. The confirmation of Dani’s theory. My mother’s face paled. I watched her sway for a second in her heels before she redirected herself to another grocery bag. Her shoulders were tense. Her voice was clipped. Mom was so terrified of the dating world that she was even scared of me dating.

But before I could address it, a knock came at the door, prompting me to check the time on the microwave, only to see that it was a quarter to five.

But before I could even begin to think about panicking, Mom flicked her wrist. “Go get ready. I’ll entertain the company.”

And even though I didn’t want to stick Colton with the awkward company of my mother, I didn’t have a choice. I let time get away from me, and if I didn’t hurry, we’d be late for the pregame festivities.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said as I walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “And I’m serious. I’m sorry.”

She patted me on my cheek. “I know. I love you. Now, go get ready. And wear something warm, you know that rink is always colder during games.”

And she sure as hell didn’t have to tell me twice as I scampered off down the hallway.

33

COLTON

When the door whipped open, I put on my best smile. But when Victoria answered the door, it slowly melted off my face. Her presence made me more alert as I peered around her shoulders, looking for any signs of Brynn.

“I’ll be out in a second, Colton! Sorry!” my woman exclaimed from somewhere in the house.

Victoria quirked an eyebrow. “Colton, huh?”

When I heard my truck grunting on its chassis, I knew the boys were climbing off its bed. And while Rhett’s annoying fucking phone call about needing a ride to the stadium turned into me picking up four of the fucking boys for the game just for fun, I’d never been happier to have had an entourage than when Rhett and Jett came up behind me.

“Heeeeey, Miss C,” Rhett said as he leaned against the façade of the house.

“Rhett,” I warned.

“Rhett,” Jett mocked playfully as he came up to stand on my other side.

“What!?” Rhett asked with a shrug. “I was just saying hi.”