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As I walk out of the office, I’m ready to leave and get home to my girl. When I get out the front doors, however, the whole football team is gathered on the sidewalk—Kellan and Tanner standing in front.
“So, it’s true?” Kellan asks. “You’re really leaving?”
I nod once. “I’m afraid so, buddy.”
“This is bullshit!” Tanner exclaims. “Who’s going to lead us to the championship?
“You are,” I tell them, as if it’s obvious. “You don’t need me. You never did. Each one of you has potential. You just need to push yourselves. You’ll get there, whether you have me as your coach or not.”
One by one, each of them come up to say their goodbyes. I make a mental note to have every scout I know come check them out, because some of them have the ability to be incredible players. Once they’re done, they all head to the field, while I go the other way.
“Asher,” Trent calls. “Wait up.”
I stop and lean against the back of my SUV. He jogs over to me.
“I heard what you said back there. That was really nice of you.”
I shrug. “It’s nothing I didn’t mean. They’re all good kids.”
He nods. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Not that you ever wanted this job in the first place.”
“Eh, it kind of grew on me,” I chuckle. “But my passion is always going to be football.”
“Any hopes of getting back to it?”
“Who knows. We’ll see what happens.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he hums. “Well, don’t become a stranger. I’m here if you need anything.”
“Thanks, man,” I smile. “That means a lot. But I’ve got to get back to Tess.”
“Yeah, of course.” He steps back. “How’s she doing by the way? Is she going to be all right?”
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. She’s seemed okay the past few days, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that she’s a hurricane. For all I know, this could just be the eye of the storm.
“I’m not sure, but I really hope so.”
I PULL INTO THE parking garage and park my car. Now that all that is out of the way, it’s just a matter of waiting for Selena to handle the reputation fall out. Once all the media attention blows over, we should be free to do what we want for the most part.
Climbing out of my car, I find Delaney waiting by the elevators. When she sees me, she exhales and pulls the phone away from her ear.
“Thank God,” she says. “I forgot the code for the elevator, and Tess isn’t answering her phone.”
My brows furrow. “You could have just called me.”
Her expression drops, as if she hadn’t thought about that. “Because that would have made sense.”
I chuckle. “Come on.”
The two of us step into the elevator, making small talk about how things went. However, the closer we get to the top of the building, the louder it gets.
“Is someone yelling?” Delaney tries harder to listen.
“Fine! I did it!” Tessa cries. “I did it because I’m weak. Because I’m a failure. I took a whole bottle of pills in an attempt to kill myself, and I couldn’t even fucking succeed at that!”
Everything in me goes cold. Numb. Dead. I instantly have the urge to throw up as I realize the worst. The doors open and both Lennon and Tessa freeze. We step out, and I glance at a heartbroken Delaney.
“You what?” she breathes.
