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He came inside, juggling a stack of boxes with a drink holder on top, and had a slice of pizza dangling from his mouth. He handed the bounty over to Ryan and tore a bite off the slice before turning back to Kevin.
“Thanks for the dough, Kevin. You aren’t getting a tip because you tried to check out my sister.” Then he slammed the door in the delivery man’s face.
“Oh my God, Jamie! I ordered pizza, not a date,” Rory exclaimed.
“You should spank her, Ry. She did that shit on purpose,” Jamie said, smacking his lips as he chewed.
My eyelid started twitching again.
“You have to tip the delivery guy,” Landry ordered. “Next time, he’ll spit in our food.” When no one reacted, she turned to Coach. “Dad,”
Coach sighed and went to the door. “Hey, kid,” he called as he went outside to hopefully give him a decent tip.
Ryan handed off all the boxes to Win and then turned to Rory. She let out a squeak. He caught her around the waist and dumped her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing and stalked out of the room toward the kitchen.
“Jamie!” Rory called.
“You deserve it,” he called back.
Win set the haul on the coffee table and glanced toward the kitchen. “I think we should just eat with our hands.”
Madison grabbed a white paper cup out of the beverage carrier and brought it over to me. “Thought you might want a fresh trauma latte.”
“Thank you,” I said, accepting the gift. The heat of the drink seeped into my palm, offering small comfort.
Coach came back inside, muttering beneath his breath. He saw me and Madison staring and glowered. “I’m too old for this shit.”
“You aren’t that old, Coach,” I said.
“You can’t be more than, what, forty-five?” Madison guessed.
“I’m barely thirty-nine,” he grumped.
“Come get some pizza, Coach,” Rush called.
“Fraternizing with you mermaids when it ain’t pool hours is not in my job description.”
“Then hang as our friend,” Lars said.
Coach choked. “No.”
“What did you just say to him?” Win glowered, shoulders hiking up. No one told Lars no. No one.
Coach glanced at Lars, likely noting the embarrassment in his pale eyes. Lars was kinda shy, so Coach rebuffing him like that probably made him feel bad.
“There has to be some coach-swimmer boundaries,” Coach told him. “But thanks for the invite.”
Win seemed pacified, and Lars nodded.
Turning to me, he said, “Are you okay? Do you need to talk?”
I shook my head. I’d said everything I needed to say. Way more than I wanted.
“You sure?”
I nodded. “Thank you for coming to the station. I appreciate it. I know that’s not in your job description either.”
He grunted. “Yeah, well, some boundaries have to be stepped over. You need anything, you know where to find me.”
