Page 243 of Cross Check

She exchanges a few words with the assistant coaches then arranges the water bottles that are out of order. With her whiteboard tucked under her arm, she steps out of the box. Her walk to the locker room is slow, and she stops to wave to a group of girls who are holding signs that boast her name. When she gets to the tunnel, she pauses to face the arena. She squints, her eyes bouncing around like she’s searching for someone.

Me.

I sit forward in my seat and wave. There’s no way she’s going to see me, but then our gazes meet. I light up, and she smiles too.

“Who are you looking for?” Maverick asks, following my line of sight. “Why are you waving to Amelia? I didn’t know the two of you⁠—”

The next ten seconds happen in slow motion: Amelia offers me a tiny wave before she heads to the locker room. Maverick looks at me, his mouth hinged open and his eyes wide. Murphy bursts into tears when the lights dim, and I swallow.

“You’re not serious,” he hisses, rocking Murphy back and forth to soothe her. “Grant.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” I plead. “Nobody knows, and the stakes are too high for them to find out.”

“How long has this been going on? How have I not noticed anything? Oh my god. This is a big deal.” He stops to cover Murphy’s ears. “You’re playing with fucking fire.”

“Don’t give a shit. I want to burn.” I pause. “We didn’t plan for this to happen, but it did. I’m in too deep now, and I love her, man.”

“What the fuck are you going to do if the league finds out?”

“The league isn’t going to find out.”

“The league always finds out. You don’t think there’s someone who wants to catch you slipping so they can benefit from it?” Maverick groans. “I’m happy for you, but how do you expect to hide a relationship from the media for the next ten years?”

“The exact same way we’ve hid it so far,” I say. “None of you had a clue, and I play next to you every night.”

“I can’t stand here and lecture you about separating business and pleasure when I’m married to a woman who plays for our division rival, but you need to be careful, Grant. If this takes a wrong turn, you’re screwed. Fuck. The whole organization might be screwed.”

Panic flickers inside me, but I shove it away. I rub my jaw, glad to finally have this secret off my chest.

“We’re being careful. Even more so now that she’s in the spotlight as a head coach,” I say. “Promise me you won’t tell any of the guys. No one else can know.”

“Fine,” he mumbles. “But I don’t like that you’re lying.”

“I don’t either. If it were up to me, all of you would know.”

Maverick sighs. “Are you happy?”

“I didn’t think it was possible to be this happy,” I admit. “She’s it for me, Mav.”

“Then I’m happy for you.” He clasps my shoulder. “Watch your back and keep your head down.”

“Thank you. And thanks for the advice.”

The third period starts, and we settle back in our seats. In the suite next to ours, a group of guys hold up their beers.

“Dude,” the first one says. “What if we make the playoffs? That would be sick.”

“Don’t jinx us, Kevin,” the guy on his right says. “There’s so much time left.”

“Can we talk about the coach?” a third asks, and my spine stiffens, waiting for what they say next.

“She knows her shit,” the fourth says, and all three give a rousing sound of agreement. “She’s really fucking good.”

“Really fucking good!”

“I’m glad we hired her. The old shitbag we had would’ve kept us at the bottom of the league again.”

“Best coaching decision ever. She’s going to be a fucking legend.”