Page 76 of Her Player

“An age difference is only what you make of it, Mom,” she said.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Brynn, it’s not that simple.”

“It really is. Look at me and Colton. We⁠—”

I shook my head. “It’s different for men. They can get away with a lot in this day and age, still. But older women?”

She grinned. “So you have thought about Rhett that way.”

My face fell flat as I met her grin with a deadpan stare. That was until she laughed.

Which, of course, kicked up my own laughter.

“You know,” Brynn said through her giggling, “Colton said something to me the other day that really helped. Do you want to hear it?”

I calmed my own laughter with another sip of my coffee. “Any other day, I’d say no. But this coffee is extra good today, and I feel open.”

“You know I’d say it anyway.”

“You are my daughter, after all.”

She giggled with delight, and she almost looked… proud… to have me as her mother.

It struck a chord with me.

“Seriously, though, Mom. I really think you should hear it,” she said before she downed the rest of her coffee.

I had to admit, Coach had been a fabulous counterpart for her despite my hesitations in the beginning. So why not listen to his advice? I’d have to anyway, if they were going to be together for the long haul. And every time I caught my daughter staring at him when she thought no one was looking, I knew exactly what I was looking at.

Coach would be family before too long if things continued on like that with them.

“All right,” I said as I set my half-cup coffee down on my desk, “let’s hear it.”

Brynn cocked her body toward the trashcan near the door and tossed her to-go cup through the air. It bounced off the rim of the trashcan before dropping into the basket, and she pumped her fist into the air before turning to face me.

I just sat there with a smirk on my face as she tucked her legs beneath her in the chair.

“Colton says that we’re never going to be able to forget what happened to Dad,” she said with confidence as if she believed every single word that man uttered, “but we can give him something happy to watch on the other side. He wouldn’t want me to be miserable, and he certainly wouldn’t want you to be miserable any longer. And I figure, after hearing it that way, that if he’s going to be dead? And he’s going to be watching over us, like you say he is? The very least we can do is give him a smile.”

Her words stole my very breath away. She said they came from Coach, but I would’ve believed if someone told me they had come from her. My daughter had grown into the most outstanding young woman, despite the fact that I knew she moved back home because of my struggles. It’s why I always took her in. It’s why I never made her pay for anything. It’s why she’d never want for anything. She felt responsible for me. A child for their parent.

And I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong to make her think that.

Tears crested my eyes and I looked away. I swallowed hard again, trying to keep my emotions under control. There was so much truth in those words. So many hard things to swallow.

But not a single word told a single lie that moment.

“Coach said that, huh?” I asked, clearing the knot out of my throat.

Brynn smiled brightly, her eyes shimmering with tears that I knew mimicked mine. “He has his moments. You know, when he’s not barking at the team.”

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL DID I TELL YOU ABOUT WEIGHT ROOMS ON GAME DAYS! GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE AND GET YOUR ASSES ON THE ICE! WE GOT A STADIUM TO PREPARE TONIGHT!”

Coach’s bellowing voice pushed a laugh up the back of my throat and quickly overtook my body. I leaned forward, allowing the sound to flow out of my body as my shoulders shook. Brynn slumped down into her chair, giggling into her palm as Coach Mercer’s voice echoed down the hallway again.

“STONE! JETT! CUT THE SHIT! PUT YOUR DAMN STICKS UP AND STOP FUCKING AROUND!”

I allowed my head to fall back in laughter as his voice continued bellowing.