Scoring The Coach ✔️

chapter eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

A couple of weeks had passed since Championships and all that happened in the wake of it. I knew my parents could tell I was in unusually high spirits, but they hadn't asked why yet. I wasn't sure when I was going to introduce them to Jared, worried that the "soccer coach" thing might put them off so soon after the season's end.

It was hard having this massive part of my life I couldn't tell them about. We'd always had a candid relationship. I talked to my mom about everything, but there was so much hesitancy in this.

I wasn't ashamed of Jared. I don't think I ever could be. The lack of transparency was driving me crazy.

Eventually, I reached a point in which I couldn't help it anymore.

One Saturday morning when we were sitting down at breakfast, the secret escaped before I could stop myself.

"I have a boyfriend," I blurted.

I don't know what I was expecting. In the movies, there's usually some sort of explosive response. Food gets spilled, messes get made, etc. That didn't happen here; my parents were eerily calm, and I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad one.

Mom looked at me, then at Dad. "I told you so."

He shrugged. "You did, but I'm not surprised."

I paused. "What?"

Mom laughed and continued eating her pancakes. "Laura, you were always home late from practice, you usually stay longer after school, and you seem so much happier lately than you did before. It's not surprising that you found someone. I was just wondering when you'd tell us."

"When do we get to meet him?" Dad chimed in.

"I don't know. Whenever, I guess," I said.

I looked down at my food, drowning my stack of pancakes in syrup. The last time we had pancakes and talked about my boyfriend, I was breaking up with him just minutes later. I hoped it wasn't an omen.

"He should come over for dinner tonight," Mom suggested. "I'm making lasagna."

There was an unmistakable note of hope in her tone. She definitely wanted to get to know Jared, and I wanted her to as well, but it wasn't so simple. There was going to be an awkward exchange somewhere in there, but I hoped the soccer season wouldn't ruin everything. I couldn't let it.

"That sounds like a plan," I said.

"I agree," Dad added. "That way I can threaten him from the comfort of my own home."

I blushed. "Dad—"

"He's kidding, Laura," my mother assured me. She pushed her blonde hair behind her ears and grinned. "I'm excited. He must be special. What's he like?"

I felt weird having the spotlight on me. Most of the time, our mealtime conversations drifted between a number of topics. It'd been a while since we've gotten this personal. I was a little embarrassed.

"He's great," I started. "Really great. He gets me. And I know that's such a cheesy thing to say, but I mean it. He listens and never judges. Everything he does for me is selfless. He's kind in a way that's so rare with people nowadays. He looks at me like I'm the center of the universe and always puts me first, even if he shouldn't. And I'm so... I'm so enamored with him I don't know how to handle it sometimes."

Mom watched me with a proud smile, and when I finished, she said, "You love him, don't you?"

Though I had yet to say the words to his face, I nodded. "Unequivocally."