Page 23 of The Chemistry Coach
Lover voiced his agreement.“We shoulddefinitelydo more.It seemed to work.We’re almost friends now.”
Connor moved his glare to Lover.The little shits weren’t subtle.They were right, though.They were on the right track.In practices they were more in sync.The magic Connor had with his previous linemates was starting to break through, little pieces at a time.“It wouldn’t hurt to have a few more sessions.”He crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and refused to look at his teammates.
The manager clapped once and rubbed his hands together.“Great!Then I guess I have good news and bad news instead of only bad news.”
Lover threw his head back and moaned like a little kid.“I hate when the good news comes with bad news.Why can’t it all be good news?”
“Because that’s not how life works.”Connor responded and shifted his attention to their coach.“What’s the good news?”
“You guys are going to meet with the group bonding coach at least three more times.”
“Hell yeah!I bet she’ll have so much fun stuff planned.”Hazy said, doing a mini celebration in his seat.“What’s the bad news though?”
Coach furrowed his brow, his face scrunched in confusion.“Wait.You’re actually excited?You’re not being sarcastic about it helping?”
Lover shook his head.“No.Daisy is cool.She’s helping.”
Connor had to agree.“No sarcasm.And she seems to prioritize the fun aspect of it.It’s not a chore.”
Still hung up on the bad part, Hazy twirled his fingers in a circle indicating they should move on with the conversation.“Yeah.Daisy is great.We’ll do more sessions.What’s the bad news?”
The manager waved away his concern.“Your next appointment with her is going to be an overnight trip, and it’s scheduled for the long weekend.You won’t get as much of a break.”
Connor had plans with Dylan.But this close to the deadline, performing poorly, and on an expiring contract, he needed to keep his mouth shut and do what he was told.It would hurt to cancel on Dylan, but it would be devastating to move away from him.
So when Hazy said, “I didn’t have plans anyway,” Connor nodded in agreement.
“No problem,” he mumbled and stood, ready to be done for the day.
That evening he brought pizza to Sarah’s house.This was the best part of his week.Every Friday he grabbed a pepperoni pizza from a different local pizzeria and spent the evening with Sarah and Dylan.Over several years they had tried every pizza joint within a fifteen-mile radius of both her place and Connor’s.Now they rotated between four different restaurants.One place had great New York-style pizza, another’s deep dish was incredible, and yet another had the best stuffed crust.And sometimes you wanted a good old chain restaurant.That night he carried a large deep-dish pizza into the apartment and set it on the counter.
When he’d opened the door, Dylan paused his game and followed him to the kitchen, eager to have a hug as soon as Connor’s hands were free.
“Uncle Bean!Are you going to play the kitchen game with me again?”
He hugged the small boy, cherishing every second.Time had flown by fast since Dylan was a baby, and the days of bear hugs and tickles were rapidly approaching their end.He wouldn’t miss a single moment if he could help it.Connor gave Dylan his best loopy grin.
“You bet I will.We have to eat dinner first, though.Do you think we can get your mom to play?”
Dylan shrugged and reached for the plates on the table, but Connor caught his hand before he could touch them.“Ah-ah.Go wash your hands first.”
The kitchen faucet washed away any grime on Dylan’s hands while Sarah greeted Connor with a hug.
“Hey!You brought the pizza!I’m starving.”She grabbed a plate from the stack and loaded it with pizza and garlic bread.
“Yeah, I had an early lunch today, so I needed to eat sooner.Glad it works for both of us.”
Connor helped Dylan load a plate with pizza from the center of the pie to avoid the crust.You would think the crust was made of spiders with how vehemently Dylan disliked it.When they couldn’t get the pizza cut into squares, Connor ate Dylan’s crust.
They sat in front of the TV and queued up a superhero movie.Connor couldn’t pay attention, though.He watched Dylan pick the pepperoni off his pizza and set them aside to eat at the end.It was silly, the amount of courage he had to work up to tell Dylan of his change in plans.Never, not once, had Connor ever canceled on Dylan.He always, always, always showed up.Thinking about disappointing him made Connor nauseous.This seven-year-old had no idea the power he held over Connor.
When they finished their dinner and movie Sarah directed Dylan to get ready for bed before they played a few rounds of games.Dylan hurried to his room.
Sarah gathered the dishes from the coffee table and set about loading the dishwasher.
“What’s got you so down today?”
Connor swallowed the lump forming in his throat.“I can’t take Dylan camping over the long weekend like I planned.”
