Chapter 99

Both Coach and Matt were alert and up in a second.

“Everything’s fine,” Jake called out the kitchen. “No beans tonight, though.”

Matt rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen. “I got this,” he said over his shoulder.

Brian loitered behind the couch, not knowing what to do. He stared awkwardly anywhere than at his coach, then folded his hands around his waist and bawled on his heels. Coach sat relaxed on the couch, sipping on a beer and looking content and oblivious to Brian’s discomfort. “I heard you beat Olympic High,” Brian said eventually.

Coach placed the empty bottle on a coaster then folded his hands behind his head. “We beat them,” he corrected Brian.

Brian smiled then, feeling a bit more at ease. “It’s kinda stuffy in here,” Brian said. “Want to sit on the porch a while and let them sort out our grub?”

Coach got up followed him out the door and they settled on the porch swing. “Somehow I always pictured your uncle would have a house with a porch swing.”