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“She knew what was wrong with my knee in less than five minutes. We need her on our team. Larry naps in between sets.”
Eric shook his head in disapproval. “Give me a fucking break, Pierce. You don’t give a shit about her resume. You took one look at her and wanted to add her to your list.”
Sometimes Eric and I didn’t agree. He wanted Scott and I to work on plays we knew wouldn’t work. He wanted to back off when we wanted to be aggressive. He wanted us to train when we knew we were too exhausted for another round of reps. But I’d never felt the need to fight him so adamantly as I did right now.
“Bull shit.”
“All right. You want the truth?” He crossed his arms.
“Damn straight I do.”
I sat in one of the fluorescent green chairs next to the wall. I wasn’t over how gaudy some of the decorations were around here.
He pressed his elbows into his knees. “Ok, here it is. She did apply when we had an open position.”
“Then what the fuck, Eric?”
He held up his hand. “Some people aren’t the right fit. She wasn’t going to work on our team.”
“Why not? Did you fuck her?” I was instantly mad thinking he had his hands on her. I wanted to punch him for touching her creamy smooth skin. For his lips pressing into hers. It was irrational, but I didn’t give a shit.
“No, but I was worried you would.” His eyes flared.
“What?”
“She’s too pretty. Gorgeous, really. I couldn’t have that kind of distraction on the sideline. You’d screw her over night one and then what? I’d have to hire a new trainer anyway. I decided to go with someone a little less easy on the eyes.”
“Fuck, Eric. That’s a shitty answer.”
“It’s the truth. You’re already interested in something with her and she’s on the Italian team. She’s completely off limits and yet here you are asking about her.”
“I’m asking about her because she knows what the fuck she’s talking about. My knee already feels better.”
“What does that mean? She looked at it for five minutes on the sideline.”
I looked at the ceiling. Fuck.
“I went over to her room for an assessment.”
“A what?” he roared. He stood from the chair, slamming his laptop screen in the process. “You need to stay away from her.”
“You can’t tell me what to do or who to see. This isn’t high school. And you sure as hell aren’t my dad.”
“I’m your coach. And I’m not interested in getting a violation from the Olympics committee because you screwed some trainer from another country.”
“I screw lots of people from other countries.”
“Yeah, exactly. But not this one.”
“Why are you so protective of her? Why do you care? Did you have something with her and you can’t man up to it?”
“It’s not like that, but I feel like I need to look out for her. And you are exactly the kind of man she needs to stay away from. She’s not built like your models or athlete hookups. She’s a kind, genuine person. I doubt she’s ever had a one-night stand.”
“And just how do you know so much about her?” I believed him less and less. He had an emotional attachment to Sierra. It was as visible as the USA flag embroidered on his coach’s hoodie.
“Because she’s my best friend’s little sister. Ok? I’ve known her since I was in college. Although back then she had pigtails and braces. She’s off limits.”
The relief hit me first followed by the realization that Eric was dead serious about me keeping my distance from Sierra.
