Page 101 of Coach Me
I take deep breaths before walking back over to Dex’s office chair. There’s no way I can walk around now, I’m too worked up to talk to anyone.
I reach for my canvas bag. Maybe finishing this turtle for Miles will help. It forces me to focus on something instead of Reagan’s words bouncing through my mind. Not to mention, it reminds me of the sole reason Dex and I are taking this one step at a time to begin with.Miles.
Growing up, our mom always said she never introduced us to any dates she went on because they were never serious. She never wanted to bring someone into our lives who wasn’t even thinking about staying.
I knew this would be complicated. I’m already so entangled in Miles’s life. I need to take it one step at a time. I can’t say how Miles would feel about me dating his dad. I have to trust that Dex knows the best way to handle this, because I am serious. I’m serious about both of them.
I get my stuff set back up and start my first loop when there’s a knock at the door. I swear, I won’t be able to handle another round with Reagan, and honestly, I’d prefer it not to be Dex either, with my brain feeling all twisted.
“Hey, Luce, can I come in?” Will’s voice comes from behind me.
I spin around in the chair to find him standing in the doorway. I have to blink my eyes a lot because my immediate reaction is to cry. I don’t know why—it’s the dad-effect, I guess. That safe feeling of knowing I can cry and he won’t judge me.
ButI’mjudging me. It takes quite a lot of willpower, but I swallow down enough emotion to speak. “You can come in, but don’t you dare hug me. I don’t want to cry.”
Will chuckles before stepping in and closing the door behind him. “You know, when Dex texted me asking to come check on you, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But I did not think I’d find a grandma. Are you knitting?”
“I’m crocheting for Miles. I will never do this again.” I can’t form a full laugh yet, but a smile threatens my lips for a moment. “Dex texted you?”
“Yep, he said Reagan showed up, and I might want to come check on you.” Will picks up one of the small chairs and brings it around to the window. “Want to talk about it?”
“Reagan…” I exhale. I don’t know what to even say to him about what happened. Frankly, I’m a little worried that Will might have the same opinions as her—two sibling lectures back to back, I can’t handle. “It was fine. I just haven’t seen her all week, that’s all.”
“Phew, lying to me…that bad, huh?” When I can’t bring myself to answer, let alone look at him, he curses. “Don’t get mad, but I told Rea to give you some space.”
My needle falls. I don’t even care how it will mess me up later. “What? Why?”
Will gives me a pointed look. “I think the answer comes from you actually telling me why you're upset at her. I know it’s not about her not texting you back. That might be part of it, but she had opinions about you and Dex, didn’t she?”
“H-how do you know about me and Dex?” I figured he did, but to go as far as telling Reagan not to message me…what is going on?
“How did you and Reagan know I liked Callie?”
Oh, dang, was I reallythatobvious?
Will leans back in the chair. “I could tell he liked you the day you moved in, but I told you I wasn’t asking questions, so I just watched.”
“He wasn’t even that nice to me in the first week of hiring.”
Will shrugs. “And I avoided Callie for a whole month. Sorry, sis, but the tables have turned. You were less obvious than Dex was, I’ll give you that.”
I attempt an amusedhmph. “You’re being a lot nicer than Reagan was about me potentially datingyourcoach.”
Will laughs. “And now you know why I asked her to give you some space.”
“Not really. Part of me sees the logic, but I don’t understand. She knew I had always enjoyed watching him play and…stuff.” Hmm, maybe I don’t tell my brother that I’ve always been attracted to Dex.
Will shakes his head. “Do you remember your sophomore year when Miller Richardson asked you to the homecoming dance?”
I look at him sideways. “Yeah? He also stood me up at the last minute, and you raced me across town so I could meet up with my friends.”
“Yeah, well, Reagan told him he wasn’t taking you because she knew he was actually still seeing a girl in the next town over.”
Oh,thatI didn’t know. I blink as I try to wrap my head around this. “Why tell him not to take me instead of telling me that? We could have actually made a plan instead of—” I stop with a deep exhale. I’m getting too worked up over a high school dance.
“Yeah, take another deep breath. You’ll need it.” Will shakes my leg. “That was the first of many guys Reagan ran off.”
“What? You mean she’s done this to me multiple times? Talking to the guys instead of just telling me about it?”
