Page 56 of Worth the Risk

I laugh bitterly. “That’s just life, though, isn’t it? Nothing is perfect. I’d rather be here alone than in Georgia with Jefferson anyway.”

“You can always stay with me. If things don’t work out with your friend. Okay?” Uncle Bennett reaches up and pinches my cheek, just like he used to do when I was a kid and he was a gangly teenager.

“Thanks, Uncle Bennett,” I tell him. He gives me a big hug before patting me on the back.

After dropping my resignation letter off in Human Resources, I begin cleaning out my personal effects from my office. When the door bursts open, I expect to see an angry Luca. Instead, I find the terrible terrors, with looks of shock on both their faces.

“You did not quit!” Jessica shouts.

“I did in fact quit,” I answer.

“No! You are so good at your job! You can’t quit. Who is going to train us now?” Lindsay wails. “Seriously don’t leave us. If you aren’t here, the creep will probably bother us more.”

I stop loading things into the box, turning to stare at them. “The creep?”

Lindsay nods, before looking at Jessica. They quietly close the office door before turning back to me.

“Well?” I ask.

“We can tell you, since you’re leaving,” Jessica whispers, “but it’s one of the coaches. We call him ‘the creep.’”

“Which coach?” I ask quietly. While I assume it’s Woodward, I’m apprehensive they’ll say it’s my uncle.

“Can we get in trouble if we tell you this?” Lindsay asks.

“Get in trouble for saying some man in an authoritative position was pervy with you? I would hope not,” I answer.

“I — we need these hours to graduate. And he seems like the kind of guy who would make our lives miserable for the fun of it,” Jessica says.

“Aren’t you related to the owners? I’d say you could just go to them, ladies. You have better connections than I do,” I remind them.

They look at each other before Jessica speaks up. “Our grandpa owns the team. He’s old school. He didn’t want to let us intern here, and we had to promise never to come to him with any complaints or issues. We think he’d probably side with the coach and claim we’d brought it on ourselves.”

I grimace. Way too many sports teams are owned by rich white men who think they’re above everything, including the law. It’s disgraceful.

“He just gives us the creeps, Hannah. And we saw him with one of the admin assistants a few weeks ago. She looked so uncomfortable,” Lindsay adds.

“Okay. Tell me which coach, and I’ll see what I can do,” I tell them.

They look at each other, both nodding, before turning to me and whispering in unison. “It’s Woodward.”

Holy hell.

The tangled web of Coach Woodward and his antics just got more involved.

After emptying my office and taking my things to my car, I fire off a text to my uncle asking for a dinner this week. I need to get him on board with me moving forward with a case against Woodward. I’m not entirely sure of who I should reach out to, and I figure my uncle will know best.

Before I can leave the parking lot, I receive a phone call from Arianna.

“Hey! Are you definitely looking for a job?” she asks.

“I am. Just turned in my resignation today,” I answer.

“My hometown has an opening. The special events coordinator at Everlasting Inn and Spa is pregnant, and she wants to stay home with her baby. I think you’d be perfect for the job.”

“Oh, that might be fun. What kinds of things would I do? Seems like it’s a far cry from social media for sports teams,” I say.

“Well, yeah. But there aren’t that many options for that here. At the hotel, you’d be responsible for all kinds of events. Lots of weddings. Company events. You’d do some social media, as the hotel does have a Facebook and Instagram page, but you’d spend more time working in the trenches instead. There are some neat family-friendly events Gia created recently that she’s hoping will continue in her absence as well.”

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