Emil nodded as well. “All right. I’ll deal with him.” Folding his hands on his desk, he took a deep breath and sat straighter. “But there is also this situation I need to deal with. Jack, I…” He shook his head. “You know I can’t keep a coach who’s been… involved with a player.”
The words “I know” were about to come out of my mouth, but Devon spoke first.
“What? You can’t fire him! He’s?—”
“I don’t want to, kid,” Emil said, firmly but apologetically. “But if I keep a coach on staff who’s already been involved with a player…” He shook his head. “That sets a precedent I can’t allow. One that will start rumors that the club allows predatory behavior from?—”
“Predatory?” Devon flew to his feet. “What the fuck? There was nothing predatory about?—”
“Devon.” I touched his arm. “He’s right.”
Devon whirled on me. “What? But there’s nothing predatory about?—”
“No, there isn’t.” I forced my voice to stay calm and even. “You know it. I know it. But the press and the public—they’re going to see it that way.”
His shoulders slumped, his face full of horror and defeat.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I already resigned anyway. This will just speed up the timeline.”
“But you… I don’t want you getting fired because of me.” His voice was small and plaintive. “Jack, we can’t…”
“I want to protect your career,” I said. “That’s the most important thing.”
“But what about yours?”
“I’ve had a very long and amazing career. If that ends now, I have no regrets.” I squeezed his arm. “Your career is just starting.”
He stared at me, still clearly unhappy with this.
“It’s okay,” I insisted. “If the only thing I come away with after this meeting is you, then I’ve got everything I need or want.”
Devon chewed his lip. Then he relaxed and nodded. “Okay. As long as it’s what you want.” He glared at Emil. “I still think firing him is bullshit, just for the record.”
Emil scowled. “I don’t have a lot of options here, son. I wish I did.”
“It’s fine,” I said, and gathered Devon in my arms.
Emil looked a little stunned as he watched Devon lean into me.
Lous just chuckled, shook his head, and murmured, “See? Not very subtle.”
“Oh, come on.” Devon freed himself from my arms and turned to Lous. “We weren’t doing shit like this out in the open.”
“No, you weren’t.” Lous grinned. “But I could tell.”
As Devon took his seat again, I asked the captain, “Out of curiosity, what gave us away?”
“Team breakfasts,” he said without hesitation. With a knowing smile, he said, “As soon as one of you walked in the room, it was like the sun came out. Maybe the other guys didn’t notice. I did.”
I stared at him. Then I laughed and shook my head. “And here I thought we were being slick.”
“Well, to be fair,” Emil said. “I didn’t notice. And it doesn’t sound like anyone except Lous and Hairs did.”
The mention of Hairs had everyone scowling.
“You’re going to deal with him, right?” Devon asked.
Emil nodded. “Absolutely. But I want a press conference with the two of you first. So we can get ahead of anything Hairs might want to leak.”