Page 144 of Edging Coach
Devon glowered but didn’t protest. I squeezed his shoulder, and he touched my hand. We exchanged uneasy looks.
“I’ll handle him,” Emil said. “You two, be ready to talk to the press today.”
We both nodded.
Emil dismissed Lous and Devon, but kept me back. When we were alone, he let the mask drop and looked at me with exhausted, aggravated eyes. “You should’ve told me, Jack.”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want to jeopardize Devon’s career, or make you think I was biased about his performance.”
He sighed. “You didn’t hesitate to recommend him for the call-up.”
“And on paper, he’s objectively a better defenseman than Pells.” I paused, then added, “And we both know you’d already made the decision.”
Emil’s eyebrows rose.
“I knew you’d already called Devon in to see you. I knew that before I walked intoyour office.”
His lips parted. “You were with him when I messaged you both.”
I nodded.
He swore and wiped a hand over his face. “It’s still not going to look good. You know it won’t.”
“No. But you’ve already addressed the problem with me. Just don’t hurt Devon’s career over it.”
“I won’t. The coaches up there are already raving about him and threatening me with grievous harm if I don’t re-sign him.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Devon’s not going anywhere. Don’t you worry.”
“That’s all I care about.”
He studied me. “Are you sure about this? Giving up your chance to ever coach again for…” He tipped his head toward the chair Devon had been occupying. “He’s just a kid, Jack.”
“He’s young,” I allowed. “But he’s got a more mature head on his shoulders than I ever did. He’s good for me. All I can do is hope I’m good enough for him.”
Surprise flickered across the GM’s face, but he didn’t push the issue. He dismissed me so he could get on the horn with the PR office.
When I stepped out into the hall, I wasn’t surprised to see that while Lous was gone, Devon hadn’t left.
Without a word, I gathered him in my arms, and for a long moment, we just stood like that, holding each other like we had in Denver.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “That this got you fired.”
“Don’t be.” I stroked his hair and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “Like I said, I’d already resigned. This is just accelerating the process a bit.”
“Still. It shouldn’t be like that.”
“No, but I get it. On paper, it really does look like I took advantage of a younger player and an imbalanced powerdynamic.” Drawing back, I touched his face. “As long as you and I both know that’s not the case, then I don’t really care what anyone else thinks.”
“Even if it fucks your career?”
“Yes. Even then.”
He swallowed, glancing toward Emil’s office. “I feel bad for the Grizzlies. We’re leaving them up shit creek right when they were getting on the rails.”
“Nah. I’ve been pushing Amy into the head coach role more and more ever since I turned in my resignation. She’ll be able to take the reins.”
Devon blinked in surprise. “Oh. Shit. I didn’t even realize… I mean, she’s a great coach. I just didn’t know you were, like, planning ahead.”
“As much as I could, I was.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and herded him gently down the hall. “Everything will work out. In the end, I still have you. That’s all I care about.”
