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Mac’s phone buzzed with another message, but he ignored it. “Working out at the facility. I was going to meet him there, but the shit hit the fan.”
“Go meet him. If any of the guys ask, tell them I’ll talk to them after we’ve seen Coach.”
Mac nodded. “Damage control. Got it.”
He slipped around us to leave, and suddenly, Parker and I were alone with my slowly increasing panic. We’d been caught, and now Coach wanted to see me. If we never left—if we just went back to bed and woke up again—maybe none of this would happen. It could all be a horrible dream for us to laugh about later.
When I stopped moving again, Parker gathered me against him, brushing a kiss on my temple. “We’ll handle this together.”
From the depths of my mind, I realized Coach hadn’t asked to see Parker. Only me. None of the headlines mentioned Parker unless they were referring to him as a stud quarterback. If there was going to be fallout, maybe I could spare him from some of it.
I pushed on his chest until he eased back. “You should go to training like normal.”
He let out a dry laugh. “No way in hell, Lorelai. You don’t have to go through everything alone anymore. I’m driving you.”
Parker linked his fingers with my trembling ones and led me out into the bright winter sunlight, mercifully empty of anyone taking notice of us.
26
“Wait outside, Shaw.” Coach’s tone brooked no argument, but if Riley hadn’t given me a subtle nod, nothing would have kept me in the hallway.
I sat in one of the two visitor chairs outside his office, wishing there weren’t blinds covering his windows.
Riley had been silent and closed down since she’d seen the news, but I trusted Coach to support her. It hurt a little bit that she’d shut me out along with everything else, but she’d developed thick walls to protect herself when she hadn’t had anyone to lean on.
If I had my way, she’d never have to deal with bullshit alone again. George, asshole reporters, the administration—I’d be by her side for all of it if she’d let me.
I spent the next half hour responding to the constant stream of messages from friends and family, mostly agreeing with them about the articles being total crap. We’d been spared any follow up “journalism” this morning, but Eva texted to say there were vultures waiting outside the apartments now.
She asked if I wanted her toaccidentallyback into one of their cars, which brought out a smile. I loved Eva like a sister, and if she and Jaina ever got together, I’d probably have to go into hiding.
When I didn’t respond, she took it as a maybe and saved the idea for emergency plan C. I didn’t ask about plans A or B. Better if I didn’t know.
I’d about reached the limit of my patience when Coach’s door opened. Riley walked out, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes, staring over my shoulder instead. What the hell had Coach said to her?
“You okay?” I reached for her, but my girlfriend fucking side-stepped me.
Coach’s bushy eyebrows nearly covered his eyes as he leveled me with a disappointed scowl. “Shaw, you’re up.”
I didn’t give a flying fuck. Riley was upset, and she came first. Always.
“Lorelai?”
She must have read the mutiny in my expression because her stiff posture softened. “Go on. I’ll be fine.”
My instincts screamed at me to ignore the grumbling coming from Coach and take care of Riley instead. But she clearly didn’t want that. Riley liked to deal with her emotions in private, and the longer I stood there, the more I forced her to hold everything in.
“I’ll be right out.”
Riley nodded, and I followed Coach into his office. The door shut behind me with a finality I definitely didn’t like. What was going on?
“Have a seat.”
It wasn’t a request, so I took one of the chairs in front of his desk. He shuffled the papers in front of him, finally sighing and setting them aside. With a lawyer as a mother, I’d learned never to be the first to talk in bad situations.
I itched to rush back through the door and whisk Riley away somewhere private, but I respected Coach’s leadership. If he had something to say to me, I could wait longer than ten seconds. Notmuchlonger though.
Finally, Coach leaned back in his chair with a loud squeak and crossed his hands over his belly. “You guys fucked up.”
