She swallowed hard and took a step back. Her eyes turning glassy with tears, I knew she'd sooner gouge her own eyes out than shed them in front of me as she headed for the door.
Turning the handle, she gave the door a hard tug, the familiar squeak cutting into the heavy silence of our final goodbye. “So, practice tomorrow, then?” she said without looking me in the eye.
“Practice tomorrow,” I said quietly.
“I hate to admit this and if you remind me tomorrow, I’ll deny I said it, but—he sees something in you on that track.” She turned to me then as the first tear tracked down her cheek. “Despite it, he’s still a bastard for what he pulled today.”
CAIN
“Wow, that was a chilly goodbye,” Lilith said the minute I stepped through the doorway.
“They’re just tired.” And pissed at me, but then, there will be more where that came from.
Coaching had changed in ten years.
Or maybe I’d changed in ten years.
I used to step out there so damn sure of myself, but this time, I silently wore my old mistakes like a pair of wet jeans. I was all jerky movements, barked orders, and I suspected—fucking it up.
My life for the last decade had been ruled by regulation, policy, and law. I held on to the absolute in that. I drew comfort from it.
I sought absolution in it.
But now I wondered if it had numbed me to some of the nuances of human interaction.
The nuances of women.
Because with one move, my team wanted to skin me alive.
My team.
They were mine, dammit. I don’t care if we’d only been out there for a day. Somewhere along the way, after giving in and agreeing to this, I’d started wanting it, too. This was a shot to get it right when I’d gotten so many things wrong.
I could leave this town on a high this time instead of weighed down by regrets and a trail of destruction in my wake.
“Oh, they’re tired too,” she agreed. “Turn around.”
“Why?” I said but turned to hang up my jacket.
She skimmed her fingers over my shoulders, smoothing my shirt. “Just figured I’d count the knives in your back.”
With nothing better to do with her time than cook that little nephew of mine, she was definitely working on that skill of seeing everything.
Every. Damn. Thing.
“It’s fine. They’ll get over it.” But a bit of spark in Mayhem’s eyes died tonight—the exact opposite of what I expected to see when Tilly showed up, making me all but sure I’d misjudged the situation or I was missing something. Something big.
“What did you do?” she said, propping her hip against the counter and popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth.
I glanced over my shoulder as I leaned in to snag a bottle of cold water from the fridge. “What makes you think I did something?”
She gestured with another piece of chocolate. “You’re a man.”
She’d gotten so sassy. It’s a wonder Jordan got her to close her mouth long enough to knock her up. “They’re pissed about Tilly being on the team.”
“Seems kind of stupid to be pissed at you when they agreed to it.”
My skin prickled. I tossed back three long gulps before I turned to her—my throat still dry—with guilt. “I didn’t ask them.”
“I’m sorry?” Her voice had gone all high-pitched now, telling me I was in for it and whose side she was definitely going to take in this particular hurdle.
I was a man on my own. Cool. Not exactly new territory for me. “I. Didn’t. Ask. Them.”
“Woooowwwww. Dick move, Cain.”
I glanced away and shrugged. “Thanks.”
“No, really. I mean, I said you were a good coach and I meant it, but this…”
“Yeah, I get it, Lil.” I sucked down the last of the water and crushed the bottle in my hands. “You think I fucked up.” Tossing the bottle toward the recyclables, I watched it glance off the corner, spin, and pitch right back out onto the floor.
“No—I know you fucked up,” she said, reaching for the bottle.
I grabbed her arm to stop her and snatched up the bottle with my other hand. “Stop, I’ve got it.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m not breakable.”
“I’m not okay with you picking up after me.”
“Fine, I’ll go back to what I’m good at then, irritating the shit out of you.”
“Great.” I snorted.
“Maybe you’re rusty with this whole coaching thing. It’s only day one. I mean, it’s a hell of a mistake to make on day one, but you’ve always been a bit of an overachiever. Go big, am I right?”
“Your confidence in me is astounding. Thanks.”
She crossed her arms and settled in. “If it’s part of a master plan…enlighten me.”
“Tilly and Mayhem have a problem with one another.”
“You’re supposed to be convincing me why you’re not an idiot.”
“Working on it.” Only I was trying to convince myself now too because all of a sudden, my stellar idea didn’t seem so stellar. “The issue isn’t so much Mayhem. Her biggest problem is she lets Tilly get in her head. Tilly’s the one who likes to play dirty and throw elbows.”
“Wait—hold up,” Lilith said, holding her hand up to stop me.
“What?”
She shook her head and shifted her weight, the wince on her face telling me she’d gotten uncomfortable on her feet. “That’s not having a problem with one another. That’s one person bullying another.”
I pulled out a chair. “Here, sit.”
She shuffled over, sat down, and glanced up at me. “How exactly do you expect Maisy to set aside the way she’s been treated?”
“I, uh—” It’s not what I intended when I agreed to let Tilly on the team. I hadn’t even considered what
