Page 71 of Why We Break

“Thanks, Principal Hale. We’ve worked hard, and I’m really proud of the team. But, I do need to let you know that Hannah and I are together, obviously. And if that’s a problem, I’ll have my resignation on your desk first thing Monday morning,” Will declares, his tone leaving no room for argument.

My mouth drops open in shock and I’m about to argue when Principal Hale beats me to it. “Resign? Why in the heck would you do that?”

“The policy,” I interject. “You know the one that says staff members can’t date?”

Principal Hale furrows his brow in confusion before he mutters, “This darn town and their rumors. I think there’s been some confusion. There’s no policy against staff members dating, Miss Scott. We used to even have married couples that both worked for the school. There was an incident years ago when a principal tried to date a teacher, and she was uncomfortable with it. He tried to threaten her job, and the board fired him. But it was because he was trying to use his position to pressure her, not because they were both staff members.”

I freeze. “So there’s nothing that says that Will and I can’t date?”

“Nope, not a thing,” Principal Hale says. “And I do hope you’ll both stay. We don’t want to lose either of you at Springside High.”

“Thank you,” Will states while I just stare into space, trying to wrap my brain around the fact that there’s nothing keeping us apart any longer.

As soon as Principal Hale walks away, Kent runs over, clapping Will on the shoulder before looking at the two of us. “Can you believe we did it, man?” he asks excitedly.

“I think it may take a few days to sink in,” Will admits before adding, “we couldn’t have done it without you and the other coaches though.”

“Well, I’ve enjoyed learning from you. And I’m already thinking about how we can build on this for next season,” Kent exclaims, before looking down and finally noticing Will and my linked hands.

I brace myself for an awkward encounter, but instead, his face splits into a wide smile. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it. Y’all are finally together?”

“Yeah. Listen, man, I know you talked about wanting to ask her out, but—” Will starts, but before he can finish Kent brushes him off.

“Will, we’re good. It was actually a bit of a test between me and the other coaches. We noticed how into her you seemed, despite the fact that the two of you fought like crazy. So Theo told me to mention asking her out to see how you’d react.”

“He what?” Will asks, his eyes wide as he turns to where Theo is standing, still dripping in Gatorade talking to Caroline.

“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not,” Theo says with a shrug, while Caroline shoves him playfully.

“Wait, you did all that without telling me?” she declares, crossing her arms over her chest and poking out her lip in a pout.

“Sorry, Sunshine, but you and I both know you wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret from Hannah. We just wanted to see how Will would react. But he’s so damn stubborn. So we just decided to keep pushing. By the time we got to the bonfire, I kept expecting smoke to start coming out of Will’s ears,” Theo tells her, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She leans into him, obviously deciding to forgive him.

Will shakes his head at Theo’s confession while Kent turns to me. “Sorry, Hannah. I wasn’t trying to lead you on. But we could all tell it wasn’t me you were interested in, and we were trying to get you both to get your head out of your ass and just be together.”

We all laugh at that, and I wave him off. “No hard feelings, Kent. You’re a nice guy, but I was obviously already spoken for, even if I didn’t want to admit it.”

Will smiles at that before whispering, “Hell yeah, you were.” He pulls me in for another kiss, and I hear a bunch of the kids coming up behind us, yelling and cheering.

“Oh my gosh, they’re actually together,” one of them yells, causing us to pull back with a laugh.

“Coach Will, can you believe it? We’re state champs!” Blake yells over the noise of the crowd.

“Heck yeah, we are.” Marcus whoops beside us before asking, “You about ready to go claim that trophy?”

Will nods. “Yeah, head on out to the middle of the field. I’ll be right behind you.”

The coaches and players start to move, as Will pulls me in close again. He drops his mouth back down, kissing my forehead before whispering, “I told you we’d get everything we wanted.”

CHAPTER 52

WILL

“Damn, what a day,” I mutter to the other coaches as the bus pulls into the parking lot of Springside High around midnight after the Championship.

“Yeah, I’m freaking beat,” Theo agrees. The bus comes to a stop, and the boys rise from their seats, eager to move around after sitting still for the last few hours.

“All right, guys. Grab all your stuff and you’re free to head out. But listen, I know it’s late and y’all want to celebrate tonight, but let me just say, please be safe. Just make good choices, okay?” I say, and all the players chorus back with “Yes, sir.”

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