“Not really,” I say.

“I’m watching the Rams slaughter the Giants,” he explains. “They have this quarterback—”

“Yeah, I know about their quarterback,” I say curtly, cutting him off.

This feels like a sign that I shouldn’t even be here at all. I wonder what Tyler would think if he knew I was returning to the gym to beg for a job. He’d probably nod encouragingly with puppy-dog eyes, like, That’s great, Ave! and then go throw a winning pass or whatever. I clear my throat.

“I was hoping you’d be here tonight,” I begin. “I watched Worlds, I saw Hallie… and Ryan, she’s so close. She has so much potential, but she’s not quite solid enough. I know she can do better. You know it, too—that’s why you were looking for a new coach in the first place.”

“Worlds was tough for her,” he admits, looking away.

“Look, I don’t even know who you hired. It’s nothing personal. But watching her flounder like that on floor? It was painful.”

“And you think you can do better?” he asks.

I nod. “I really respect you, Ryan. You’re doing an amazing job with her. But she needs extra help on floor. Remember how quickly she picked up what I was teaching? What if we could do that every day? Just imagine how much we could accomplish together, you and me and her.”

My heart is racing. Everything rests on his reaction. Ryan leans forward onto the desk and rests his chin on his interlaced knuckles. For a moment, he doesn’t speak.

Then finally, he says, “It didn’t work out.”

“The other coach?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Svetlana Morozova. You know her?”

“The name rings a bell,” I say.

“Russian. She’s, like, sixty, super old-school. She and Hallie didn’t really click.”

“Oh.”

He lifts one dark eyebrow. “She likes you, though.”

“I like her, too. I get her. I mean, I think I do,” I admit.

“She kinda reminds me of you, way back when,” he says. “Super determined, ambitious, follows every rule.”

I laugh; I had no idea he knew me well enough to think of me in any particular way, much less like that. I could volley back a joke about how that didn’t last so long, but it feels too sad, given the reason I spiraled out of control.

“She sounds easy to coach, then,” I offer instead.

Ryan nods wordlessly. He holds my gaze for a beat longer than is comfortable. I want the job so badly.

“I can do it,” I blurt out. “I was in Hallie’s exact shoes seven years ago. I know what she’s going through. I know how to take her to the next level. Floor was my thing—it’s what I did better than almost anyone else in the world.”