Page 36 of In Too Deep

My stomach knots as I breathlessly take in his words.

“Huh? Investigation for what?” Caro asks.

“It’s complicated. I put in that complaint. Coach Mathers disputes it. He claims I’m only doing it so that Katie will be disqualified, and Melissa can take her place in the 200m fly lineup.”

“What! That’s crazy,” I yell. People stare at us.

“Don’t worry, there’s more to this drama. Mathers has it out for me. He won’t stop till I’m gone.”

Furrowing my brows, I turn to Coby. It suddenly clicks. “Mathers, as in Coby’s dad?”

He nods. I gasp.

“I’ll go see what the deal is.” Coby races off.

Tuck slumps. “Don’t worry, girls, I’m gonna sort this out.”

“Your hearing is about to start, Coach Tucker. We need to go,” the official tells Tuck. He acknowledges and hugs us both.

I hold onto him tightly as I cry. “Is it going to be okay, Tuck?”

He plants a kiss on both our heads. “I’ll make sure of it. I won’t let you down. I gotta go. Good luck and have fun. Don’t worry about me.” He walks off with the two bodyguards, and I turn to Caro, who’s shaking her head.

“He’s like my father. What the fuck am I going to do without him?” I cry.

She reaches out, grabbing and pulling me to her in an embrace. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll fix it.”

East slumps and sighs. “Phil Mathers is driven. If he wants something, he usually gets it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, girls, but Tuck might actually be in trouble.”

I hug Caro as Coby rushes back and slumps into the seat next to East.

He slowly turns to us and winces. “So they want to remove Tuck’s coaching license for frauding the system. They’re saying he’s trying to falsify information to have Katie disqualified so Melissa can take her place in Melbourne.”

“Right, and who’s saying his information is false? Your dad?” I demand.

Coby tilts his head. “Well, yeah.”

I scoff, letting go of Caro and folding my arms. “And you believe him?”

He furrows his brows, sitting up a bit taller in his chair. “He is my dad. Tuck may be your coach, but they do anything for their athletes. Even cheating. Why would Tuck be any different?”

I groan. “You don’t know him. You don’t understand the situation. How can you be so goddamned judgmental?”

He slumps. “Lacy… c’mon.”

“No,youc’mon! Tuck is like my father. He’s a good, decent man, unlike yours. You take the word of your father over mine, that’s fine. Honestly, I hardly know you, but this thing we had, whatever it was… is done!” I scream. My blood boils.

“Lacy!” Coby booms, standing up and reaching out.

I back away. “No, don’t talk to me.” Sniffling, I storm away to the other side of the room. I practically run, heaving as I process what’s just happened.

I’ve just lost my father figure, my coach, and my boyfriend in mere minutes.

I pace the floor and reign in my breathing. A hand on my shoulder startles me, and I turn to Caro. Hot tears fill my eyes. Trying my hardest to fight them back, I sniff.

She sighs. “I thought he was nice. I figured he was someone I could grow to lean on. I was so wrong.”

Caro pats my arm and wipes the stray tear that I couldn’t help but let fall down my cheek. “Hey, tensions are high. Let’s just get through this ceremony with fake smiles, and we can figure this all out after. Okay?”

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