Page 30 of Coach Me
“It looks like it. That is, if you’re okay with it?”
Miles nods his head eagerly. “Oh yeah, I’d love for you to be my teacher! And my nanny. Oh! Does this mean we get your turtles in our classroom?”
I’m going to kill Callie.
When I open my mouth to tell my son that I’m thinking about it, Lucie speaks first. “I’m not quite sure yet. I might let some other students have my turtles, but either way, I promise we’ll still have a fun time learning. Plus, we get to have a traveling classroom which is so cool, don’t ya think?”
“So cool!”
Miles doesn’t even flinch at the idea that he might not get to see Lucie’s turtles—but internally, I do. Lucie responded to that so effortlessly, and what gets me the most is that she didn’t once put the blame on me and my hesitations.
She could and probably should have. It is on me, really, but that’s not what she said. She made it sound so good that Miles didn’t even mind the idea that we might not have them and put zero of the well-deserved fault on me.
Finally pushing off from Lucie’s chair, Miles moves to the edge of my desk.
“Dad, are you done talking now? Can I show Lucie around the stadium?”
“Yes, you can, but can you do me a huge favor and take Lucie by Miss Shannon’s office first? She has some papers for her.”
Miles crinkles his nose. “Do I have to? Miss Shannon’s kind of grumpy.”
Beck chuckles as he leans against my door frame. “So that’s the kid version of she’s kind of a bit?—”
“Okay,” Lucie cuts him off. “Miles, I would love for you to take me around the stadium. It doesn’t matter if Shannon’s grumpy, her mood doesn’t affect ours.”
“I guess, but she’s still not very fun.”
Miles very much has a point. Our team assistant isn’t exactly the easiest to get along with, but she does her job. “Just a quick stop in there and Lucie will be with you for the rest of the day.”
“Awesome!” Miles yells. “Can we still come see you sometimes, though?”
“Of course you can, just have Lucie text me to find out where I’m at, okay?”
Miles whips his head to Lucie then back to me. “Okay, we’ll probably do that later. We have a very busy day today.”
“Oh, well…squeeze me in where you can, please,” I mock softly.
Another small laugh comes from Lucie as she stands, placing her hand on Miles’s shoulder. “I’m sure there’s extra time in there somewhere.” Lucie looks to me next. “I’ll keep you updated.”
I nod. “Please.”
Lucie’s pink lips turn up slightly, but then she turns back to Miles. “So, should we get started?”
Miles beams like he’s on cloud nine. “Yes!”
“Dex is really throwing you in head first, isn’t he, Lucie?” Beck says as they leave my office. I knew that fucker wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut.
Lucie waves her hand. “I’m sure there’s a baseball pun in there somewhere, Beck. I’ll let you think about it. For now, I’ve got a tour to get to.”
Without another glance back at either myself or Beck, Lucie follows Miles right out.
“So, I see you hired a nanny,” Beck teases. The cocky prick has that stupid cheesy smile on his face that he uses on all of the reporters.
“Don’t start.”
“What? I was just stating?—”
Please. I know this fucker too well. “Beck, we’ve been friends for six years—don’t start.”
