Page 79 of Sexting the Coach
I turn back to her, raising an eyebrow in her direction. She takes the challenge, forging ahead, “We picked you. The vote was unanimous, and Fincher was never even a consideration. In fact, we’re just waiting for his two-year contract to be up at the end of the season so we can let him go.”
I blink at her, mind whirring with this new information. All this time, I assumed Fincher just needed the slightest advantage over me—for example, being in good health to my injury—to come out ahead. Now, to hear that it wasn’t even a question, is rearranging my world view.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, maybe we thought it was obvious. Or maybe we thought you’d be able to deal with Fincher.Maybewe didn’t realize how much of an asshole he was going to turn out to be.”
“He took that video.”
“I know.”
“So, what?” I ask. “Nothing happens to him?”
“Do you have any proof?” Karlee asks, even though she already knows the answer to that. If I had proof, I would have turned it over to the Squids a long time ago, ready for them to fire his ass.
It’s not like it’s against the rules for him to record in the arena, or even for him to be here after hours. But the administration isn’t going to be happy that he put his private need for revenge over upholding the team’s public image. I know for a fact that Tamra and the others in PR have been here late since the day it happened, trying to do damage control.
“No,” I admit.
“That’s too bad.”
“Wait—” I stare at her, trying to figure out what stands out about this to me. The next time I saw Karlee, I thought she might be bidding me good riddance. Glad that I was gone, especially since I know she doesn’t like me and Elsie being together. “You’re pissed off at him, too?”
“Not going to lie,” Karlee says, sighing and leaning against the wall, her arms still crossed. “I’m not thrilled about the two of you being together. I want what’s best for her, and I’m still not convinced someone twice her age?—”
“—I’m not twice her age?—”
“—is the right one. But I’m also capable of understanding that taking that video and posting it was shady on several levels. First, a guy who really cared about the Squids and the success of the team wouldn’t have done it. And second, I’m fuckingpissedthat he did that to Elsie.”
“But you’re not pissed that she was fired?” This comes out a little louder than I mean for it to, but I still can’t handle the look on her face in her apartment. The way she had been crying non-stop. No doubt from HR calling her in and making it clear they considered her expendable.
It’s somewhat obvious. Head coach or PT hire? Loraine would be picking only one PT hire from this year to stay on permanently, anyway. It only made sense to fire Elsie.
But I still couldn’t stomach it. Couldn’t look at the Squids logo without the sense that this team had betrayed her, aftereverything she poured into it. And I also didn’t want to stomach the idea of working without her, dealing with the absence of the woman I’d become to accustomed to seeing around.
“Fired?” Karlee repeats, her brow creasing. “The hell are you talking about?”
I roll my eyes at her. I don’t have time for this bullshit. “They fired her. When it came out that this whole thing was fake from that video, they cut her instantly. Forget the fact thatIshould have been the obvious cut. I’m older than her, if anyone was fucking up?—”
“I agree with that,” Karlee says, coolly. “But Elsie wasn’t fired. She quit.”
Time seems to go still as Karlee continues studying me, finally uncrossing her arms. Like this has gone from being a face-off to being a real conversation.
“She quit to protect you,” Karlee says, her voice softening. “Because she didn’t want you to lose your dream, Wolfe.”
Once again, everything is rearranging. First, the Squids chose me. They’re letting Fincher go. This entire thing hasn’t been some sort of test, and all this work I’ve been doing to keep my injury under wraps has been a waste.
I think about every late night with Elsie, the insistence to use a fake name. The shame around not having a perfect body at nearly forty-six years old.
They didn’t fire her. She quit this job for me. This job that she fought for, that she told me was her dream. Elsie gave it up to protect me.
There’s still something that she’s not telling me. More that needs to be worked out.
“And she told you that?” I ask, finally returning my gaze to Karlee, who is watching me like I’m an interesting specimen for her to study.
Karlee sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head. “She didn’t have to.”
Elsie was lying when she said she didn’t want this. She quit this job to protect me, to make sure I would get to keep my dream.
