Page 3 of The Good Girl Next Door

Coach Parker leans forward. “I see a lot of me inside you, Silas. Kindred spirits. I know what it’s like to have a difficult childhood. A family…”

Coach sighs, leaning back in his chair. His eyes go a little hazy before he scrubs his face with his hand and refocuses on me. “Well, I should let you go. You probably have a lot of unpacking to do, and I don’t want to keep you any longer. We’ll have plenty of time together this season.”

I nod. “Yes, Coach.”

My hands are aching. I’d been white-knuckling the chair the entire meeting, my body agitated by the fire Prudence ignited inside me. And now that I know where she is…

I head for the door, but Coach stops me. “Where are you staying? The athlete dorms, I hope. Off-campus housing can be… complicated for athletes.”

Complicated.

Another cute way of saying a mistake for people like me with a history of getting into trouble.

“I don’t know,” I say, rubbing at the soreness in my knuckles. “There was a paperwork mix-up at the housing office. That’s why I was late. I need to find a new place because there’s no more on-campus housing left this summer.”

Coach narrows his eyes. “I’ll make a few phone calls, but why don’t you stay with me until we figure it out? I have a pool house. It’s nothing special but it has all the amenities you’d need. How about it?”

I can barely breathe.Does he… Is this…

“Prudence lives with you?”

Jesus. It just shot out of me. And now that it’s out, there’s no chance of putting it back inside the box.

“She does.” The words crawl from Coach’s lips, slow and thick. “But I think it would be best for both of you if you steer clear of each other. You should be focused on hockey, not girls. And Prudence…” Coach sighs. “She needs to focus on her senior thesis research. Not…”

He doesn’t have to say anything more—I get it. Coach doesn’t want the notorious hockey player around his daughter. If he could read my mind—thoughts of Prudence swirling—he wouldn’t be inviting me to stay with him.

“Nothing against you, Silas but Prudence doesn’t date any of my players. In fact, she doesn’t date at all. Not with a schedule like hers.”

Silence hangs in the air for a beat.

“Okay,” I say through gritted teeth. “Your pool house sounds great.”

Coach writes down his address and slides it over to me. “That’s the key code to the door. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to come up to the house. I’ll help you out.”

Or Prudence will…

I stare at the address for a beat before shoving it into my pocket.

“Thanks for everything, Coach.”

He smiles. “I’m expecting great things from you, Silas. Don’t let me down.”

I give a curt nod. My mouth is sour and my stomach’s roiling as I throw my hood back on and leave his office. Coach Parker didn’t draw many clear lines for me except for one: Prudence is off-limits. I don’t want to break his trust, but letting Prudence slip through my fingers will break my soul.

As I march toward the library, the only thing on my mind is Prudence.

Sorry Coach, but some rules are meant to be broken, and some lines need to be crossed. And there’s not a single thing in this world that will stop me from making Prudence mine.

two

prudence

Silas Cole hasa rap sheet the length of a CVS receipt.

At least, that’s what the article I’m reading says. I couldn’t help myself. Once I made it to the library, I had to do some light stalk—research. It’s research and nothing more. I know that because that’s all I do when I’m at the library, even when I’m working there for my summer job.

Research.

---