He veered off to the showers, and I stared after him until Parker and Noah asked me about dinner. They knew I’d planned to pick up Nadia later, but I wasn’t in the mood for company. I showered and brooded over my poor performance in practice, but surprisingly, I wasn’t freaking out that my obsession with Nadia had distracted me again. In the end, I’d made a few mistakes over the last few weeks, but as a team, we’d never played better.

By the time I’d dressed and gathered my bag, the locker room was empty. I had about an hour before Nadia got off, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’d hung out at the community center until she finished.

The anticipation of arguing with Nadia about the game this week banished the lingering irritability from practice. I knew Pantsy would be on my side, but there was no telling whether her “help” would actually help. I’d probably wait until I got Nadia alone to bring it up, just in case.

The big metal locker room door clanged shut behind me, and I stopped short at the freshman loitering outside staring at his phone. The extent of my distraction became obvious when I couldn’t remember his name. I’d always made it a point to get to know everyone on the team. We didn’t win because of a handful of good players—every member contributed.

The newbie glanced up and nodded toward the offices. “Coach wants to see you.”

I thanked him, but he’d already started down the hallway in the opposite direction. Coach’s office was the last one on the right, a big open space with a view of the field. I slung my duffel over my shoulder and walked with my head high. I doubted anyone was watching, but I needed to look solid, not like my stomach was quivering.

Even if I was about to get my ass handed to me, I wanted the team to remain confident—and maybe I wanted to manifest some of that confidence myself. I knocked on the open door, and Coach waved me inside.

“Have a seat, D.”

I took a step in, then stopped. “Want me to close the door?”

He glanced into the hallway and shook his head. “No. This shouldn’t take too long.”

Sweet relief flooded my system at his absent tone. Maybe this wasn’t about my poor performance after all. I sank into the visitor chair and dropped my duffel at my feet. Hopefully, Coach wasn’t in the mood to chat. I didn’t want to keep Nadia waiting.