Page 100 of Striking Heat

I pull her into a hug. “Go be with your team and listen to your coach’s pep talk. We can talk about this later, okay?”

“But…” Mac starts to say, but her bottom lip quivers.

“It’s okay. Now get going, lady. Go find your team and your friends.” I try to get her to leave, but she’s rooted to the spot. “Come on. We’ll talk more about this later.”

“I feel so bad that this didn’t impact me the way it did you.”

“Let’s not worry about this now,” I tell her.

Hendrix comes over to get her, effectively stopping our conversation.

“Hey, Mac. Coach wants us to come into the tunnel now. we gotta pep talk.” She turns to me. “Are you proud of your girl? She kicked some serious ass out there tonight.”

“I am. Always am.” I pull Mac in for a side hug.

“You know, I kinda like this for you, Mac. He’s hot and you two look adorable together.”

“Thanks. I think,” I reply

Mac looks at Hendrix, then back at me. I don’t think she’s sure what to say about it. “So, Coach is ready for us to come back into the tunnel, huh? He didn’t ask you to come get me, did he?”

Hendrix shakes her head. “He didn’t, but Jase did.”

“You better go. No more insubordination, got it?” I laugh and kiss her on the head.

“Yeah, okay. Are you coming to the bar with us tonight?” she asks me.

“If that’s what you want, then yes, I am,” I tell her.

Mac nods and heads off into the tunnel with Hendrix. Hendrix has placed her arm around Mac, and I’m hoping that whatever she’s currently saying can help lift her spirits.

“Hey, how are you doing, man?”

I turn to see Jase standing there. “Eh, I’m doing alright.”

“I heard you got fired,” Jase tells me.

“How did you hear that?”

“August may have mentioned it to me.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize this was getting around already. I’m glad I got to tell Mac before it did.”

Jase nods. “He’s chatty like a girl. I just wanted to come over here and say I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You don’t seem that sad about losing your job. Is it because you get to keep the girl?”

I laugh. “Maybe. I don’t know. I always thought I loved my job, but then I got in that room all those weeks ago with the Cromwell’s and Martin. I saw all of the back door meandering they were doing to make a story happen the way they wanted it to. It just felt like the wrong kind of journalism. I don’t want to be in that kind of world.”

“That isn’t what you set out to do, huh?” Jase asks.

“No, not really. I mean, I fell into this because I was injured while swimming, and I wanted to remain around sports.” I shrug. “This was a job I was able to get without my dad’s connections, though he may have helped without realizing it. It worked for me for a while. Until it didn’t. I think this whole thing with Mac helped me see it.”

“I get it. It’s hard. This isn’t where I thought I was going to be either. But here I am coaching a women’s team. I like the team. They’re great. I’m just not sure if we’ll be able to survive the city’s expectations.”

“I was so supposed to help with that,” I say with a chuckle.