Coach's Cutie - Chapter 3: Three Girls, One Paddle
I'm obviously a very sexual person. Between my habit of reading online erotica and my own extremely active imagination, I spend a lot of time thinking about sex. But even I realize that sometimes there are things in life more important than sex, and right now is a good example. My boyfriend Greg just coached his high school basketball team to a thrilling one-point victory, and so I need to make sure I give him and his team their deserved praise.
But the truth is, what I really want to congratulate him on, is the fact that his adorable, little, blonde-haired bench player, the one he's apparently been obsessing over for awhile, seems to actually have a crush on him as well. But like I said, I'll save any discussion about young Madison for a little later.
Me (stepping down across the bleachers to reach Greg): "Hon, that was amazing! What a great game."
Greg (clearly on cloud nine): "Oh my god, I know! I can't believe we won."
Greg (still smiling, but under his breath): "Holy shit..."
As I reach the floor and step out onto the court next to Greg, I hesitate for a second before giving him a really awkward hug. I had initially planned on going in for a congratulatory kiss, but then panicked at the last second. Plenty of Greg's fellow teachers know we're dating, so our relationship isn't like a secret or anything, but I guess I got freaked out with all the students and parents around.
Greg (after receiving my weirdly platonic embrace): "Thanks so much for coming..."
Me: "Of course! So this seemed like a big win, huh?"
Greg (I've never seen him this amped up before): "Oh my god, it was. This team is definitely the favorite in our league this year, and we just beat 'em! I was not expecting that."
Me: "That's awesome. Congrats, Babe."
Greg: "Okay, hey Becca, I do have to run back and gather my stuff, but is it cool if I meet you out here in like 5 minutes?"
Me: "Yeah of course. Take your time."
While Greg heads back to the locker room, I take a seat and look around the gymnasium that's still in the process of emptying out. I see a few players from the Cardinals as well as a couple of their opponents milling around, but no sign of Madison. Speaking of hugs, I still can't believe that super tight squeeze she gave Greg right after they won! That was definitely not normal, and something I can't wait to ask him about. I'm also still curious as to why she looks so familiar, so I'll have to remember to ask him about that, too.
True to his word, Greg re-emerges about 5 minutes later, and we make our way out to the parking lot. We hadn't discussed any specific plans for after the game, including whose place we might end up going to, but with both of us having driven separately, we'll need to figure that out.
The one catch is, I always volunteer on Saturday mornings at an animal shelter near my condo, so I usually have a strong preference for sleeping at home on Fridays. So hopefully I can convince Greg to spend the night at my place? I definitely am looking forward to picking back up on our Madison discussion asap, especially with all the new tidbits of information from tonight!
As we leave the building and start walking into the parking lot, we both notice off to the side a couple of people having what seems like a pretty heated discussion. It's kind of dark out, but we get close enough to where we can see it's one of the opposing players from the green team, and someone who appears to be her father.
Greg (quietly informing me of what we're going to do): "Let's go make sure everything's okay."
Me (not that I have a say in the matter): "Sure, yeah..."
As we get even closer, we can tell that they are definitely having an argument. In fact, the dad seems downright livid and is just berating his daughter, like full on screaming at her.
I really don't like confrontation, so I immediately get hit with that unmistakable feeling of nervous butterflies in the pit of my stomach. The good thing is, Greg is the ultimate pacifist, so I'm not worried that he'll escalate things in any way. But I also know that he's going to do what needs to be done to make sure this poor girl is okay, so I honestly don't know what's about to happen here.
The Father (yelling at his daughter): "Bullshit. I know this had to do with Jackson. I know you were daydreaming about him or some shit!"
The Daughter (looking pretty hysterical): "What are you even talking about?!?!?"
Father: "You just don't make mistakes like that! That's how I know you weren't fucking focused!!"
Oh shit, I think this is the green team's star player?! The one who scored like all their points! Is the dad yelling at her because she messed up on that very last play of the game?? If that's what this is about, then what an enormous piece of shit he is. Although honestly, I can't imagine any explanation that would justify the way this asshole is treating his daughter right now, so he's probably a piece of shit no matter what.
Daughter (clenching her fists and pointing them at the ground): "Well I did this time!!! Ughhhh!!"
Father (noticing us approaching mid sentence): "I don't fucking be..."
Father (looking right at Greg): "Can I fucking help you? You lost??"
Greg (blatantly ignoring the father and instead addressing the daughter, who clearly has been crying): "Katherine, right?"
I guess her name is Katherine? She doesn't say anything but she looks up and makes eye contact with Greg.
Greg: "I just wanted to tell you what an incredible game you played tonight. You were hands down the best player on the court, and that's saying something."
Katherine's Dad (clearly not amused in the least that we interjected ourselves into this conversation): "Are you fucking kidding me? Why the fuck do you know my daughter's name? You some kind of sick, fucked up pervert?"
Oh god. This is exactly what I don't like. I hate this.
Greg (staying completely calm): "I know who your daughter is, because I'm the coach of the team that just played against her. And she is one amazing player. That's all."
I see Katherine perk up and look right at Greg. No matter what, I see why he had to do this. This is why Greg is Greg.
Katherine's Dad: "Why don't you let me worry about my own daughter, and you can focus on not getting your ass kicked. You got that, Fuckface?"
Okay Greg, you made your point, let's just go.
Greg (still cool as a cucumber): "Understood. You two have a good evening, and congrats again on one hell of a game."
Greg then takes my hand and turns to lead us away. Oh thank god. But holy cow, Greg's hand is trembling, as is mine.
Katherine's Dad (as we're walking away): "Get the fuck outta here, Epstein."
Neither one of us looks back, and in fact we walk quite briskly towards the other side of the parking lot where our two cars are.
Greg (once we're completely out of earshot of Katherine and her dad): "Sorry about that."
Me: "No, no... don't apologize. You were so kind. And so brave! ...to do that."
Greg (under his breath): "Oh... I don't know. Probably didn't make a difference."
Me: "Bullshit. That's not true. But what was that, that he called you at the end?"
Greg: "I think he called me Epstein. Like as in Jeffrey Epstein."
Oh ha. That reference totally went over my head. I think for a very brief second about making a joke about his crush on sweet, little Maddie, and how that's borderline Epstein-esque, but thankfully I reconsider before anything comes out of my mouth. This is not the time. What the hell is wrong with me?!?
Me: "But seriously, it was very noble for you to go over and check on that girl."
Greg (somberly): "Nah, I probably just made things worse."