Page 45 of Not My Coach

Worry and anxiety lift me from the bed, and I turn on the lamp on the nightstand. “About what?”

The bed is empty next to me. Oh shit, Nate’s on his way right now to have a meeting at the arena.

“I’ve had the night to chill the fuck out and talk to Mom and Dad.” He pauses, and my entire body freezes. “I don’t like it. Like, at all. But I just need to know … does he treat you well? Does he make you happy?”

The aroma of fresh peonies invades my nose, and I answer truthfully, “Yes, very much to both of your questions. I really like him, Brett.” This time, it’s me who hesitates, preparing to say something that I haven’t even told him yet. “I’m falling in love with him.”

He sighs. “I’m happy for you, Eves. I am. I just don’t know how your relationship is going to change our team, you know? He’s the best coach we’ve had, and we love having him here.”

“Why does it have to be one or the other?” I ask genuinely.

Surely, there is some way they can all work this out.

“I don’t know if it is one or the other. I just want you to be happy, and if that’s with Carrington, then okay. But I never ever want to hear about your sex life, okay?” He laughs, and I do too. “Look, I have to go. I only had a second to talk. I just needed to chat with you before I went in.”

“Brett?” I stop him from hanging up.

“Yeah?”

“I love you, Bubba,” I hum, my chest swelling from his willingness to accept my relationship.

“I love you too,” he murmurs.

When I stand up, silence falls upon the meeting table, and as I speak, my words are precise and spoken with clarity because I mean them. “I respect everyone in this room. But if this conversation starts with you telling me I need to end my relationship with Evie Burns, then I will save you your breath and offer you my resignation.”

My assistant coaches audibly gasp, clearly taken by surprise at my admission. Perhaps I should have discussed that with them prior to this, but there wasn’t enough time.

“Mr. Carrington, that is not necessary.” Loretta, the head of HR, raises her hand, stopping me from abandoning my team. “Please start from the beginning and tell us how the nature of your relationship began.”

Do I tell them the real details of how we met?

Sitting across the table from me is Loretta. Then, clockwise around the table is her assistant, then Brett, then me, then my two assistants. Brett looks up at me with curious, angry, and confused eyes.

Maybe I’ll leave the details out.

“When we first met, I had no idea that Evie was related to one of my players.” I clench my jaw, not willing to share any more information than that.

If they have specific questions, they can ask them.

Loretta grins at me, then asks, “And at the point that you did discover the relation between Brett and Evie Burns, why did you not terminate the relationship or have a meeting thrown together with necessary staff?”

Clearing my throat, I respond, “To be completely honest, we hadn’t fully discussed what we wanted out of our relationship. Once it reached that point, you were all my first call. However, a situation arose that required me to step in publicly and protect her from a guy who was touching her inappropriately. For that, I do not apologize.”

When I glance at Brett, he has a smirk on his face that makes me feel better about the odds of him punching me during this meeting. Granted, Brett Burns isn’t usually the player to throw gloves. In fact, I’ve never seen him drop them and fight anyone. The team handles his battles, not because they think he can’t, but out of respect.

If there was ever going to be a time that I would become worried about being hit in the face by any of my players, I imagine this would be the circumstance.

“Mr. Carrington, as you understand, the manner in which you handled the exposure of your relationship was less than ideal. It has become a social sensation and is being talked about by far more than just the Nighthawks club. Now, our team has to work hard to ensure that the aftermath is painted in a picture-perfect image.” She glances at Brett, and I just now realize his hand is raised in the air, like he’s a student raising his hand for the teacher. “Umm, yes, Brett?”

“Does my opinion matter in all of this?” he asks, his voice even and calm.

She nods. “Yes, of course. It will also be of great value to the public and fans of the Nighthawks.”

He sits up in his chair and glances at me with a side-eye before looking over the rest of the table. “Did I love finding out about this at our game? No, obviously not. Would I have loved hearing about it in any circumstance? No, probably not. But I have had the chance to speak with my sister, and I have come to a decision on how I feel about the whole thing.” He sighs. “Of course it’s weird. It would be weird if it wasn’t. But I have no issue with him remaining as my head coach. He’s the greatest coach we could ask for. He trusts us as players and as people. He helps build us up, and I think with his help, we have a real chance at taking the Stanley Cup. My sister is happy, and at the end of the day, that means a lot to me, and if Coach Carrington is the one who does that, then so be it.”

My shoulders relax with every word he says. I know that Evie’s family is important to her, which means they are to me too. I would have lived without having Brett’s approval, but I feel more at peace with it, knowing how much Evie wants it.

Loretta looks satisfied at what Brett had to say. “Thank you, Brett. Clearly, we have a lot to discuss. At this time, Coaches and Brett, you are dismissed. Thank you.”

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