Stone Creek by Davis, Lainey (reading diary .TXT) 📕

I blush when he says this. I'm not going to deny he's right. The men on the coaching team and the "professional" stat guys at SCU seem to speak a different language than I do when it comes to knowing what the numbers say about what's going to happen down on the grass. Coach continues. "You didn't just quit at the end of the semester. You stormed out of the booth after the Kentucky game and emailed me that you were done."

I nod, dabbing a bit of dressing from my chin. "That game was upsetting," I say, remembering the sight of Talon going down and not getting up again. Of him rolling around on the field.

"What would you have said if your advisor would have asked you to talk during the briefing before that game?"

I swallow and meet his eye. What the hell, I think, and straighten my shoulders. "I would have told you not to run the ball against that cornerback from Kentucky. His rate of forcing the fumble is much higher than average, and he very rarely doesn't get the sack."

Coach, who had now finished his sandwich, wipes his hands and asks, "Do you think a good coach should always play it safe?"

I stifle a small laugh. "Well," I say, leaning forward, "statistically, yes. A good coach should…but the great coaches don't. I guess. The outliers."

He reaches in his pocket for his phone and I see him pull up his calendar app. "Why don't you come by my office next Wednesday morning and we'll see about getting you back into the for-credit internship for fall semester? I'll make sure Leon lets you talk at meetings and I'll personally review your analysis for your grade. Sound fair?"

I bite my lip and twirl the ice around in my empty cup. "I don't know," I say.

He laughs. "You know I'm friends with all the athletic directors in the big schools. You tell me where you want to do your fancy math doctorate and I'll get you funding as an analyst with the football team there."

This throws me back. I hadn't considered that I might make a career out of simply understanding football. Coach fishes in his pocket for some bills and puts the money on the table. He offers me a hand and as we walk toward the door, he says, "You think about it. I'll walk you home, meanwhile, and you can tell me about these rumors I hear where you're sleeping with my quarterback."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I'd started having lunch a few times a week with Alissa and CJ. I told them about my dinner with Coach Burns, and how he'd asked me what was going on with Talon. CJ, suddenly animated, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "That mopey son of a bitch is an idiot, Serena. You know he asks me about you like twice a day? What gives?"

I think about how I sobbed to Coach Burns that Talon and I had become friends and he had balked at the idea of anything more. Coach had confirmed what CJ had told Alissa, and what he is saying today: Talon is evidently as upset about our falling out as I am. "CJ, I don't understand. I felt like he and I were getting sort of close…and I wanted to take things to the next level, and he…freaked out."

CJ looks at Alissa and furrows his brow. "Next level like you wanted to move in with him?"

"What? No. Like I want him to have sex with me! Instead of just being friends." I immediately blush and Alissa laughs, curling herself up closer to CJ, which makes me blush harder because I am so aware of their intimacy.

He seems thoroughly confused. "OK," he says. "Talk to me like I'm five years old here. You're saying all those times you were at our place 'studying' with Claw, you were really, actually studying? You haven't been swabbing his knob all semester?"

"CJ!" Alissa swats him in the arm. "Look," she says. "Here's the situation. Serena is a virgin. Don't look at me like that, Serena. It's important information. She is Talon's research partner and he of course has been hitting on her for months, so she decided she's going to give it up to a guy who at least knows what he's doing." Both CJ and I are squirming uncomfortably as she talks, but she plows ahead. "Talon, it turns out, is a nice guy at heart and doesn't want to just be the douche who takes her virginity and never calls again. But he's also scared of commitment and doesn't want to date her."

CJ starts running his fingers through his hair, looking at Alissa like she's Oprah or something, and asks, "So why's he so down? No offense, Serena. You know I think you're cool as shit. I just don't get what the problem is here."

My eyes are wide, my breath shallow, and Alissa finally adds, "Well, Serena is clearly falling for Talon, man-whore of the universe. And Talon, in a total shock to himself, has fallen for Serena. I actually am reading about this sort of thing in my psych class. So, like, he usually puts on this act like he's Mr. Tough Ladies Man because he's scared to be in a relationship. Because then he is vulnerable to getting hurt, right? My opinion is he has no idea what to do with those confusing feelings, so he yelled at her and stormed off into a cave like a hibernating bear."

After Alissa finishes her analysis, I feel simultaneously relieved and terrified. CJ admits that he's never seen Talon try to get close to a girl before. "We all just really thought you guys were…I mean you slept over sometimes. Should I say something to him?"

"NO!" Alissa and I scream this at the same time, and then we