Page 35 of Coach Sully
“Mind if I join you?” Might be a good way to talk some of this tension out, but she’s definitely got to eat.
“I’m just going to make something at home. I’ve got some reports to go over, then I’m going to crash.” We hold each other’s gaze for a moment, and she lowers her voice. “We can’t be more than friends.”
We’ve been more than friends since that first night together.
I nod. “Understood. Have a good night, Kendra.”
“You too.”
Hours later, I lie in bed, flipping through the TV channels. I’m trying to focus on sports highlights, but it’s not doing it for me tonight. She didn’t look great, so I wonder if she’s sick. I open upthe messages on my phone and click her name. I should make sure she got home okay. Hopefully she ate something healthy instead of one of those bars.
My fingers hover over the keys when three little dots pop up at the bottom of the screen.She’s texting me, and damn if that doesn’t make me smile. I stretch out in bed while I wait for her message to come through.
Kendra
I think we need to put some distance between us. The women on the show are really great people. I think it’s important you find someone to take on a second date. I’m here because of the show. I appreciate your dinner invite tonight, but it’s not a good idea to see each other outside of work, even as friends. I don’t want to muddy the waters.
I think of the night we had lain in bed at the hotel. “If things were different…” she’d said. But I never asked if the feeling was mutual. I assumed. Have I been assuming this entire time?
If I wasn’t on this show, would we be together?
Kendra
If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen someday. But that time isn’t now. Please understand where I’m coming from. Our careers must take priority.
We aren’t done yet.
There’s still feelings there. I need her to know that. But her next text has me chucking my phone across the bed.
Kendra
We never started, Sully.
Fuck that.
Round two, over. Tonight, he went on a date with a lovely woman named Amy. We were staged at a hotel bar. Hotels are great because we can book a suite and film confessionals on-site. I’m in the room checking on equipment with camera operators, Lance and Derrick, and my production assistant, Rachel.
Rachel and Derrick are running out to grab the rest of us food. While we wait, Lance and I go through some of the recent footage on a laptop. “That was a great shot,” he says, capturing Amy batting her eyes at him. I swallow, then nod. I am so fucking emotional today, which means my period will show up within the next twenty-four hours.
“We need to have dual-camera coverage. The last date with Candace was a bitch to film, especially when Sully walked off. It’s too much to capture with one guy.”
“We were limited that night due to permits, but I totally agree. We should have at least two to three going forward.”
The shots are great. Captivating, even. So much that I can’t tear my eyes away from him smiling and joking with the woman. It’s only going to get worse. Both of our careers are riding on this show. It’s only hitting me harder today because my hormones are out of whack. I need to pull it together, especially because Sully should be showing up any minute to get his confessional filmed.
“I’ll have Rachel double-check our locations going forward,” I say. “You handled it really well, though. Nice job.”
“He stormed off, had to follow him.”
“Shit, I missed that.”Thanks, nausea. “Do you have any idea what he was mad about?”
“I think … you.”
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. “What?”
The knock on the door interrupts us. I suck in a deep breath, and Lance shrugs. He pushes off the edge of the hotel desk he’s been leaning on and opens the door. Sully walks in. I don’t know if I’ll get used to how massive he is walking through doorways. Or the smell of his cologne.
I paste on a smile.