Page 39 of Her Player

“I’ll go call the sheriff,” her boss muttered beneath his breath as he walked away.

Brynn thumbed over her shoulder. “I should go help him. It doesn’t look like he’s been able to get a damn thing done for opening.”

I leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t you dare leave this place without an escort. Call me, and I’ll be here in a heartbeat.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I squeezed her hand in mine before I turned away, but her voice rose behind me.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?” I asked as I turned back around to face her.

Her smile was sheepish, and I knew what that meant. I held up my hand to stop her and shook my head.

“You owe me no apologies for speaking what you feel is your truth.”

Her eyes watered over. “I know that Dad’s death was hard on you. It was hard on me, too. But, I’m tired of seeing you so hollowed out all the time. I’m tired of seeing you just function. I want you to be happy, too.”

I reached up and cupped her cheek. “Day by day, all right?”

She nodded slowly. “All right.”

With a stroke of my thumb against her cheek, I set back out into the wild. Cameras clicked, shuttering pictures of me I never once gave permission for. It didn’t matter, though. Them photographing me meant they weren’t hounding my daughter, and that was just fine, as far as I was concerned. I strutted my stuff, swaying my hips and giving those assholes something to think about later.

I texted James and slipped out the side door toward the waiting car, speeding off across the street toward the parking lot of Caldwell Arena.

I wrapped around to the side entrance, thinking maybe it would be easier to get inside than the front doors. But apparently, the team must’ve used the side entrance to get into practice, because there was another crowd of picture-snappers and cameramen standing at the door.

They rushed toward me before I ever got out of my fucking car. The questions came fast and overlapping and deeply personal, the kind that told me someone had been digging, and digging hard. I barely got a word out before a gruff hand came down onto my shoulder.

“No fucking comment,” Coach Mercer growled before I was practically yanked away from the crowd.

I barely noticed how he practically dragged me through the side door. He pulled the door closed, flipping every single lock we had on the damned thing, and the entire time, I just stared at the wall.

How did they know…

“Miss Caldwell,” Coach said as he turned to face me. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t even realize I was shivering until he said my name. I tightened my muscles to stop the onslaught of emotions.

“Brynn’s going to need an escort home from the bar tonight. I’m assuming you’ll be picking her up?” I said, voice clipped, as I turned to face him.

Coach nodded his head. “Promptly at ten.”

I raked my eyes up and down Coach’s haggard form before I drew in another deep breath. “What are you going to do about all this?”

I didn’t like how silent he was before he answered. “The big game is Friday night. If they aren’t deterred when we win it, I’ll do an interview.”

I felt my nose tick with something akin to distrust. I swept my eyes over him once more before clicking past him once my body stopped trembling like a fucking leaf in the wind.

“You better hope it works,” I said as my heels touched down against the floor.

He was smart not to respond as I made my way to my office.

14

RHETT