Possessive Coach

But if I do that, I’m turning my back on him, and I won’t be able to live with myself.

I slowly stand up, numb to the world, grab my things, and leave the tutoring room in a haze of indecision.17DavidPractice goes smooth, although I do catch a few looks from Hardy. I bet he’s wondering if I’m going to try any more tricks to knock some sense into Erik. And truth be told, I’ve been considering it. TPing the asshole’s house isn’t nearly bad enough and not even close to what he deserves.

But I hold back. I’m being watched too carefully, and besides, I have more time to plan my revenge.

Because I haven’t forgotten, and I’m not going to forgive.

I stop off at this decent Mexican place on my way home for dinner and park down the block from my place. I get out of my truck, sling my bag over my back, and carry my takeout along the sidewalk, frowning down at the ground, thinking about what I’m going to do with this little situation.

As I approach my apartment, I slow and come to a stop.

It takes me half a second to recognize Chloe. She’s sitting on the stoop in front of my apartment building. I walk over, a little smile on my lips, happy to see her, but I come up short again as she lifts her face.

She has tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Chloe,” I say, running over. I kneel down in front of her. “What happened?”

“Can we talk inside?”

I nod, stand up, take her hand, and help her to her feet. I take her inside, get her up into my apartment, and slam the door behind me. I help her over to the couch and get her some tissues. She smiles and blows her nose. I put my stuff down and have to keep myself from raising my voice as my anger continues to build in my chest.

I know Erik did this. I know it’s his fault that she’s upset like this, I just can’t figure out exactly what he did. I want to hunt him down and break his legs, that fucking little shit, but first I need to take care of Chloe.

“What happened?” I ask again, my voice softer this time. I struggle to keep my anger out of this. I sit down next to her and take her hands in mine.

“Erik came to me after tutoring,” she says. “David, he… he has a video of us.”

I cock my head at her. “Of you and Erik?”

“No, I mean, of me and you and Sara. From that night.”

I stare at her for a long moment. “How?”

“Security camera outside the house. Apparently, Coach put it in? Something to do with a rival team?”

“Shit,” I whisper. I don’t know how I forgot about that. Some stupid team from upstate vandalized the football house my first year and Hardy was pissed about it. I didn’t realize he had cameras installed at the house though. That’s probably something I should’ve thought about before going through with our dumb little plan.

“Your face…” She trails off. “Sara and I had masks on, remember? But you didn’t.”

“You can see me?” I say.

She nods once. “Yeah. Really clear.”

“Fuck.” I lean back against the couch.

“That’s not all. He wants me to… he wants me to go to Coach and tell him what happened. He wants me to get you fired.”

I feel rage flare through me again. I have to get up and walk across my apartment, being careful not to smash anything on the way. I stop at the door and slam my fist against it once, twice. Pain flares in my knuckles but I can’t seem to care.

“Tell me exactly what he said,” I whisper, trying to keep calm and failing.

She walks me through it. She tells me the whole exchange, start to finish. The more she talks, the angrier I get. When she finishes, I can barely control my rage. I want to leave my apartment, find Erik, and beat him into a bloody pulp.

He’s just some brat fucking kid. He’s some bullshit quarterback, and he wants to get me fired before he’s out of control. Coach won’t see it either, he’ll just see his assistant coach harassing his star player. He’ll choose Erik over me, already said as much. Doesn’t matter what I do at this point, it seems as though I’m fucked either way.

“He can’t do this,” she says. “He can’t get away with it.”

“We fucked up,” I growl. “Going to his place was a huge mistake. I didn’t know about the cameras, but I still shouldn’t have…” I trail off, shaking my head. “And now he has this on me.”

“I can’t go to Hardy,” she says.

I turn to face her. I hate that Erik put her in this position, but that’s exactly what he wants. The little shit knows what he’s doing. He wants her to agonize over this, wants her to worry about it. He’s torturing her and getting revenge on me all in one plan. I have to admit, it’s a little devious, but that only makes me even angrier.