Page 71 of Second Sin

The wind pushes at us. People pass. My Uber arrives. I make myself walk to it.

I don’t look back.

Not because I don’t want to.

But because if I do, I’ll stay.

CHAPTER 28

SEBASTIAN

Coach's office has always felt too damn small.

Walls too close. Air too still. Like the room knows what’s coming.

I stand in the doorway, fists tight at my sides, jaw locked like that’s enough to keep everything from spilling out.

He doesn’t look up right away. Just finishes whatever he’s scribbling, then lifts his head, eyes flat, tone sharp. “What do you want, Wilde?”

I rub the back of my neck. “Got a minute?”

His eyes narrow a little. He jerks his chin toward the chair across from him. “Shut the door.”

I do. Then sit. Then regret sitting.

He leans back slowly, mouth tugging into a flat line. “This the part where I brace myself?”

I drag in a breath, feel it scrape down my throat.

Hoping to hell I’m doing the right thing.

“Something happened,” I say, voice low. “And I need to be reassigned. From Olivia Hart.”

Coach doesn’t blink. “You’re saying you don’t want to work with the team counselor?”

“I’m saying I can’t.”

A beat.

His gaze sharpens. “Explain.”

I brace my forearms on my knees, spine locked straight even though my gut’s folding in on itself.

“It’s not her. She’s—Christ, she’s more professional than anyone else on staff. Always has been.”

“And yet you’re in my office.”

I grit my jaw. “Because I’m the problem. I...messed up. Kissed her.”

That's all he needs to know.

Coach watches me for a moment. His stare doesn’t waver. “You saying there’s something going on between you two?”

I don’t answer right away.

My knee starts bouncing. I clamp it still.

“I’m saying…I care about her.”

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