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“What the hell does he mean by take over this season?” I demanded. “I was clear when I took this job that they were my team until the season was over. I told you that I wouldn’t abandon them.”

“I know,” he said, quietly closing the door. “And I don’t want you to leave. I want you to train him.”

“Train who? Peterson?” I asked. Wasn’t the point of hiring a seasoned coach that you didn’t have to train him?

“Whatever you did this year, it worked,” Wirtz replied. “The players loved it, and it showed in how they played this year. And yes, Hale quit, but some people can’t handle change. I would be an idiot to think we need fewer people like you and more people like Hale. I’d also be an idiot to let you leave at the end of the season without utilizing whatever it is that’s made you successful.”

That stopped me. Wirtz wasn’t trying to replace me. He was trying to figure out what I’d changed and reproduce it before I walked away. Somewhere along the line, this had stopped being about finding someone to take over the team and started being about preserving the way I’d been running it.

He didn’t want Peterson to do things his way. He wanted me to teach Peterson how to do them my way.

“So, yes,” he continued. “I do want you to step down, but only from the head coach to the guy training the next head coach. Give him hell. Make him work for it. I know Peterson’s up for it.”

I nodded slowly, replaying every sentence of his request as I let it sink in. It wasn’t the transition I’d agreed to, but it also wasn’t Wirtz pushing me aside before the season was finished either. I could understand the request—could respect it.

“Okay,” I said finally. “But I get to tell the team first without you or Peterson there. It should come from me. No one else.”

“I can agree to that.” He nodded slowly. “You did well, Rhodes. You took what could’ve been one of our most damning moments and made it into something fantastic. I’m grateful.”

“You’re welcome,” I said after a long moment, unsure of what else to say. Wirtz gave me one last smile before leaving.

When he was gone, I settled back into my chair and let the conversation sink in. I’d always known my time as head coach had an expiration date. But knowing something was ending and seeing the finish line were apparently two very different things. Somewhere along the way, this team and its players had become more important to me than I’d planned.

Letting them go would be a hell of a lot harder than I’d expected.

CHAPTER 92

Theo

When I finally went to bed, Rhodes was already asleep. I stood in the doorway for a long moment, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest in the darkness as I wondered if I should wake him. The conversation with Jude and Wyatt was still spinning through my head, along with everything I wanted to say to Rhodes now that I finally had some idea of what I actually wanted. But he looked exhausted, and after spending half the night avoiding coming home, I figured forcing a serious relationship conversation on him at two in the morning probably wasn’t my best move.

So, I crawled into bed beside him instead. Rhodes barely stirred when I settled against him. He made some sleepy sound, turned toward me, and draped an arm over my waist on instinct. That tiny movement should’ve made me feel better—he was still seeking me out.

It didn’t.

Neither did the fact that he was gone when I woke up the next morning. There was no note or text beyond a quick one-liner telling me he’d gone in early. That left me with several uninterrupted hours to convince myself I had completely messed up our relationship.

By the time practice started, my nerves were stretched so thin I was ready to unravel. I hadn’t seen Rhodes all morning, and the longer that went on, the more every rational thing Jude and Wyatt had said the night before disappeared beneath increasingly catastrophic possibilities.

Maybe Rhodes had decided he needed space.

Maybe he was reconsidering us.

Maybe I’d waited too long to explain what I meant.

Maybe—

“McLaughlin.”

My head snapped up to where Rhodes stood midfield with the rest of the team settling down on the turf around him. His expression was completely unreadable, which did nothing to help the situation.

“Do you plan to join us?” Rhodes asked, inciting a few laughs from the other guys. My ears burned with embarrassment.

“Yeah,” I said and jogged the last few yards to join them. I sat down quickly beside Jude. “Sorry, Coach.”

Jude’s shoulder bumped against mine, but I ignored him. My attention stayed fixed on Rhodes as he waited until everyone settled down before looking over the team.

“Before we start today,” Rhodes began, “I want to talk to all of you about something important.”