Page 107 of Every Beat of My Heart

“I don’t want to talk about this now.” I ran a hand through my hair. But from the stubborn set to my dad’s jaw, he wasn’t leaving until I told him everything.

“I lost my job at the school and with the team.” I let that statement drop without any fanfare and was met with silence.

“What happened?”

“One of the dad’s was mad I took his kid out of the game on Friday night.”

“The quarterback? His dad was quite vocal that night.”

“He always is. He threatened after the game that he’d go to the athletic director over it, and I said if he felt like that’s what he needed to do, then he should.”

“You’re telling me he whined about his kid not getting enough playing time, and they sacked you?” Dad asked, and I appreciated him getting pissed on my account.

“He also followed me to Claire’s house and filmed us kissing on her front porch. He leaked the video to someone at the school, and the video was trending on all the kids’ phones by Monday.” I was worried he’d pressured Bryce to do it.

“You lost your job over that?”

“It’s inappropriate. I knew better than to carry on a relationship with a teacher in the school, especially when I was coaching her son. It was wrong, and we knew it.”

“You’re just going to roll over and take it?” Dad asked, his tone incredulous.

“You know the administration is going to do whatever it has to do. They have parents to answer to. I’m just a sub.” And obviously a poor one at that since I couldn’t manage to keep my job. I was expendable. “And what I did was irresponsible.”

Then I waited for him to go through all the reasons why I screwed up, but he just looked at me.

“What?” I asked, not sure what was going through his head.

“What that parent did was messed up. He manufactured a reason to remove you so he could control the team going forward.”

“Maybe.” I’d heard the PE teacher took over for me, and he was a decent guy. The kids would be okay with him.

“It doesn’t seem right; that’s all.”

“I think we can all agree that I screwed up. I should have stayed away from Claire. All I did was make things worse for her and Owen.”

Dad crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that really what you think?”

Despite the fact that my bed was calling to me, I grabbed a water from the fridge, unscrewed the cap, and drank from it. “It’s not what I think that matters. What I did was wrong, and I got caught.”

Dad shook his head. “Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous to let one parent have that much power?”

“Well, sure. But isn’t that how it always is? He has money and clout in the community, and he pushes his weight around to get what he wants. The ridiculous part was I got the impression his son, Bryce, was embarrassed by it.”

“I was proud of what you’d done with that team. And if you teach how you coach, then that school was lucky to have you.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, surprised that he was so adamant about it.

“Are you going to fight, or are you going to give up?”

I gestured around the room. “There’s nothing I can do. My job was temporary; they obviously feel like they can easily replace me. They already have a new coach. What’s there to do?”

“Are you and Claire okay?”

I winced.

“You screwed that up too?”

The familiar guilt and shame returned like a battering ram against my chest. “She deserves better than me. I was never going to be the right guy for her. She’s strong, intelligent, and responsible.”

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