Page 81 of Her Coach

“Missing Christmas always,” she said with a snort. “Now, fill me in on everything. The season’s about to kick off, right? How’s that new coach working out for the team?”

It had been a few weeks since Dani and I had properly talked. I mean, we still talked during our regular weekly scheduled times, but only for a few minutes at a time. With Dani being a big-wig editor now with a big box publishing company, sometimes her weeks were eaten up with books and manuscripts and authors searching for feedback before publication. She had also never fully forgiven me for not calling her back after the lunch date the way I promised I would, which she had brought up exactly twice per conversation since, with the precision of a woman who kept score and was not shy about it.

It felt good to have her attention now that she was on a little break.

“Funny you talk about the coach,” I said as I took a sip of my Dr. Pepper.

Dani snickered. “Please tell me that’s code for ‘the man is hot as fuck.’”

I grinned. “Actually, it’s code for ‘we’re dating and I lost my virginity to him.’”

Silence filled the other end of the line, and I paused.

“Dani?”

I heard her gasp a bit. “Did you just say… you lost your virginity?”

My smile was bright. “Yes. I did.”

And then, the biggest whoop I’d ever heard came through my phone. “WAAAAAA-HOOOOO! She did it! She’s a woman!” I cackled with delight as Dani danced on the other end of the line, her voice going wild. “My bestie is a woooooman. She finally gaaaaaave in. And now she geeeets it. She is a wooooooman.”

I shook my head and sipped my drink. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Okay, we are so not changing the subject,” she said as I heard her shuffling around. “All right, you have my undivided attention. Now, ready for the important questions?”

“Oh boy.”

“How big is he?”

“Dani!”

“What!? Now come on, girl. This is you and me we’re talkin’ about. You can’t drop a life-changing bomb on me like that after the weeks I spent in hell trying to get books edited, published, and out onto bookshelves. So, tell me all the deets. No holding back.”

I leaned back in my bed and sighed. “He’s wonderful, Dani.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said dreamily before I took another gulp of my Dr. Pepper. “I mean, it’s still new news, so to speak. We’ve only been out a handful of times over the past couple of weeks.”

“He’s got your number?”

“Duh?”

“And you two talk regularly, even when he’s not drilling you into the mattress?”

I gasped. “Dani!”

“What!? Don’t tell me he’s not good at what he does, now. That would be so disappointing.”

I giggled. “Now, I didn’t say any of that.”

She scoffed playfully. “Okay, now you have to tell me. Are you a size queen right now? Or, are you all about that motion in the ocean?”

“Dani.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll wait.”

“Dani!”