Page 44 of The Coach

"Oh." Jasmine comes to sit on the floor beside me, patting Nala.

"How did you two get along, anyway? Did you miss me?" I say, nudging my sister on the arm, hoping to change the subject.

"We were just fine without you. She was a good girl. We even went for a little walk today. I think she likes me better," she teases.

"Thank you for looking after her. I owe you."

"Sorry you guys lost." She gives me a sympathetic smile.

"Can't win them all, I guess," I say with a shrug. It was shitty to lose, especially to Kansas City, but I'm not going to sulk about it.

Darcy enters the room and glares at me. I have no idea what her problem is. I got a goal today, not my fault she didn't. But I'm not blaming her. "Yeah, especially when Andy spends half the night in some random guy's room so she's too tired to play," she mutters under her breath on her way to the kitchen.

I whip my head around to stare at her quickly. Did she just say what I think she did? How the fuck does she know what I was doing last night? We weren't in the same room. No one saw me come in—at least I don't think they did. If she wants a fight, she's going to get one. She should know better than anyone I don't put up with bitchy comments being fired at me. "What are you going on about, Darcy? You got something to say, say it to my face. Don't go making snippy remarks under your breath," I call back to her.

She spins around, glaring at me. "Alright, I will. I'm sick of you sneaking round and being all secretive. There, I said it." She puts her hands on her hips, all defensive.

"I'm not," I snap back.

"Andy, I know you really fucking well. We have been friends for a long time, and when you left early last nightto sleep,it was obvious what you were doing. I came looking for you later and you didn't answer your door, I kinda worked it out. You stayed with someone else."

I stand up, ready to defend myself. "I could have been asleep with my earphones in and didn't hear you. Why do you assume—?"

She comes closer to me and gets up in my face. "Don't lie to me. I know you. I wouldn't care, except when you let the team down because you're so tired, it starts to piss me off."

I see red. How dare she blame me for this? "I didn't let the team down. I played my heart out today. We lost, yes, but not because of me. And you know I'm tired at the moment because I can't sleep properly from what happened on my birthday. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

Jasmine rests her hand on my shoulder, and I jump and glare at her. "Andy, let's go out for a walk, cool off a bit. This isn't going to get either of you anywhere."

She offers me a knowing smile. She wants me out of here and cooling off before I lose my shit completely and say something we will all regret later. I take a deep breath, trying to calm the crazy raging bitch inside. "Thanks, Jas, that's a good idea." I throw a look at Darcy. She better be over her foul mood by the time I get home, cause I'm not putting up with her moody shit. I've got enough going on.

I fasten the lead on Nala and she follows along happily. "She's a lucky dog, two walks today," says Jasmine. I can see she's trying to break the awkward tension. She's such a people-pleaser, she hates it when people fight. She was the same when we were kids, always having to step in and break up our fights.

"She is." We stride down the street, and I try to get my anger under control by using the breathing exercise Jasmine has taught me.

"What's going on? You guys never fight. You lost plenty of games last year and nothing like this came from it."

I look at her, trying to understand what is going on myself. "I don't know, she's the one with the problem." I shrug.

"She has a bit of a point, though, doesn't she? You're sneaking around, Sis. Is something still going on between you and Brad? Is that what happened last night, you were in his room?"

I stare at her. Trust Jasmine to have it all worked out. I want so badly to talk to her about it all because I hate keeping secrets, it's driving me nuts. I know I shouldn't admit to anything but I'm bursting at the seams. I can't keep it from her any longer. "Oh my God, Jasmine, you can't tell anyone. You have to promise me."

She gives me a small knowing smile. "Of course I won't. Who am I going to tell? Anyway, I can't. Client-therapist privilege."

"You're not my therapist." I laugh at her for being silly.

"I kind of am, though." She laughs as well. "I wouldn't say anything. So, are you okay? Cause you seem off lately. Since your birthday."

I sigh. "Yeah, I'm alright. I just… well, things are different between us than I thought they would be. When I got into it, I thought it was just a bit of fun, you know. Exploring a mutual attraction for one another, made a bit more exciting by the fact he was off limits."

"You've never been one to follow the rules." She shakes her head.

I give her a look. I'm trying to have a serious conversation with her. She could be less judgmental and snarky about it. "Anyway. Things are getting complicated. He's my coach and in the middle of a messy divorce and way older than me. But I really like him. Like, stupidly so. To the point I can't stop thinking about him. He is so sweet. He's the one who got me Nala because he wanted me to have someone with me at night to make me feel safe when he isn't around. I think he feels the same as well. Last night he told me he is looking for his right person and he won't let the bad things that happened in the past stop him from finding her. I felt that he was talking about me. What am I going to do, Jasmine?"

She blinks back at me, her expression blank, like she's thinking it all over. "Okay, that is a lot to take in. What are the actual rules here? If you want to see him?"

"I can't. He'll get fired. It is literally against club policy."

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