Page 25 of Anything Goes

“Speaking of long days, how is everything going at the school?” My mother asked. “Did you guys finally find a new assistant coach?”

As soon as the words left her lips, I rolled my eyes.

I knew exactly where this conversation was headed.

Smiling, Denver said, “We sure did.”

“That’s good,” she replied before taking a seat in the chair and looking over at me. “I’m sure you’re glad to have some help. Not that you need it. You were already carrying that team when Coach Ramsey was there.”

“Yeah, it was time for him to retire. He could barely move around,” I said, laughing and hoping that I could steer things away from any mention of—

“Coach Montgomery is definitely a much better fit,” Denver blurted. “In fact, he’s such a good fit that Alauni gave him the goods on the first night.”

My eyes damn near popped out of my head.

Did this fool really…

“Denver! What the hell?”

“My bad, I couldn’t resist.”

“Well, apparently my baby girl couldn’t either,” my mother chimed in, an amused expression on her face. “You’ve already slept with the coach?”

“First of all, when I slept with him, he wasn’t the coach. Second, that’s my business and big mouth over here shouldn’t be sharing it.”

My mother scoffed. “Well, if you were trying to keep a secret you know you shouldn’t have told Denver. He can’t hold anything.”

“That’s not true. I keep a lot of shit to myself. Hell, I never told Alauni about you sleeping with Coach Ramsey. That’s probably why his ass needed to retire. You fucked up his back.”

“Wait, what? You slept with Coach Ramsey?”

“Damn, Denver,” my mother scolded. “You didn’t have to out me like that. I told you to take that shit to the grave.”

“That was the plan until you decided to put me on blast.”

“Clearly, I was right to do so. Look at you…telling every damn thing.”

My mouth was still open, and my mind was going.

I nodded slowly, thinking about how mama was always so excited to come to a meet. Of course, she always made it seem like it was in support of me. But now I knew better.

“Hold up, so you weren't coming to the meets to support me as a coach, you were there to gawk at Coach Ramsey, huh?”

Shaking her head, she gave me an innocent smile. “Now, you know that I came to those meets to support you. Seeing Coach Ramsey was a bonus.”

“Oh yeah, it was a bonus alright,” Denver said, using a chip to scoop up a large glob of dip and shoving it into his mouth. “Ms. Frankie and Coach Ramsey used to get it in when no one was looking. In the office, under the bleachers, behind the—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” my mother said, stuffing a chicken wing into his mouth. “You talk too damn much.”

“How does he even know all of this?”

“Because Denver’s ass is nosey.”

“Nosey? I’m a principal. It’s my job to make sure things are secure around the school.”

“Yeah, well, you could have kept your damn mouth shut. My business isn’t for everyone’s consumption.”

“Now you see how I feel,” I replied.