Page 68 of The Coach

Andy

I don't knowhow I let my sisters and Brad talk me into this, but somehow, I did. Brad drove us all home, back to my parents' house. And well, since he's here, I guess we had to tell them something, because I wasn't letting him drive all the way home tonight. Now, I think it's time to tell my parents what is going on. But I'm shitting myself. My dad is going to go ape when he hears what's going on between us. I just know it.

Before getting out of the car, I turn to my sisters in the back. "You sure we need to tell them? They're going to freak. I think they'll be better off kept in the dark."

Amelia gives me her best don't-fuck-with-me look. The one she normally uses on her kids when they're playing up. "Andy, you know that's not true. You're a grown woman who can make her own decisions about who she chooses to date. Right now, it's more important to tell them everything else that's going on."

I sigh. "Yeah, okay." So much for a fun night out with my sisters. Well, it was fun for a bit, anyway. Now I'm slammed back to reality.

Brad comes around to my side of the car, opening the door for me. He gives me a tight smile. He is shitting himself as well, I can tell. "We can do it together. I'm sure they're not as scary as you're making them out to be."

"Ha, that's where you're wrong. You're about to learn that the hard way."

He holds out a hand for me to take and I do, walking to the house with our hands intertwined. I can't believe I ever let my friends put doubt in my mind about him. I find it so hard to trust men, and when they gave me a reason to doubt him, I did. He is a genuinely good guy who cares about me. I saw the look of fear in his eyes tonight when he found me. He must have been thinking the worst the entire drive here from LA after seeing that photo. I never should have pushed him away.

"It's all going to be okay. We just need to tell your parents the truth about what's going on so we can keep you safe," he says, and I hope he's right.

"It'syoursafety I'm worried about right now," I sass, leaning in to give him a quick kiss before we enter the house.

It's just past midnight, so I'm not surprised that the house is quiet when we push open the front door. Mom and Dad would be in bed. Before I have a chance to say,oh well, I guess we tell them in the morning,the hall light flicks on and Dad's heavy footsteps come down the hall. I drop Brad's hand immediately.

"Just checking that my girls got home safely," says Dad, stopping when he sees all of us. "Andrea, why is your coach here?" He looks between the two of us.

Amelia gives me a smile. "I'm going to go and check on my kids," she says, slipping out of the room.

"Yeah, and I can hear my pillow calling my name." Cassie turns to me. She mouths, "Good luck," as she scurries off to her room. Some help they are.

"Dad, why don't you take a seat. We all need to talk to you about something," says Jasmine, taking his hand, and I'm grateful that she is at least staying to mediate the situation. If we need a mediator, that is.

"Alright. But something tells me I'm not going to like where this is going," he grumbles, taking a seat. Jasmine sits next to him.

"What's going on?" Mom comes sleepily into the room, and I silently thank God she's here, because if anyone can calm down Dad, it will be her, and she is already on to this. She takes a seat beside me. She smiles over to Brad, and he offers her a quick smile back.

"Sorry, guys, we didn't mean to wake you. It's just, well… I'll let these two tell you," Jasmine says, handing it over to us.

I look at Brad, hoping he will do the talking, because I don't even know where to start.

"Mr. Harper, Mrs. Harper, sorry to intrude at this time of the night. But there have been some further developments with Andy's stalker, and your daughters and I felt that it was time you knew what was going on. I'm starting to really worry about Andy's safety."

The way he says it is so formal, and if this weren't such a shitty situation, I would have laughed at him.

Dad's face changes immediately, his brow furrowing and his lips forming a thin line. "What new developments? I thought that was just a one-time thing on her birthday." He looks at me, then Brad, getting impatient for answers.

"It wasn't, Dad, it's been going on since my car was tampered with. Different things have been happening. It's really starting to mess with my head," I admit, feeling pathetic for letting it all get to me so much.

Mom rests her hand on my knee. "That's why you came home on stress leave. What exactly is happening, love?"

I look at her and wonder just how much to say. She offers me a warm, comforting smile, and I just want to curl up on her lap and get consoled from her like I used to when I was a kid. "Um, I'm getting text messages, some with threats, some with photos. My bedroom was bugged with a camera and there were images taken of me."

"What are the threats?" snaps Dad.

"That's why I'm here. They're to do with me," admits Brad.

Dad raises an accusatory brow, and I can see he's getting ready to lose his shit. "Why? What do you have to do with it?"

"Andy and I have been seeing each other for a few months now, and this person is trying to split us up with threats of telling the club what we have been doing. It's not an ideal situation, and I can see how bad it looks, but we met before all of this, when neither of us had any idea I would end up her coach." Brad is talking fast, trying to make it sound less suspect than it already does, but this is bad. We both knew what we were doing, and now we're going to have to deal with it.

Dad doesn't say anything, and I'm not sure what else to add to make any of it better.

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