The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest

Author:Kristina Forest [Forest, Kristina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

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They were silent on the car ride home; there was just the sound of the windshield wipers whipping back and forth, pushing snow out of the way so that Xavier could see the road. He kept replaying the dinner in his mind. It had not gone the way he’d hoped. Tim Vogel was an ass. The previous assistant coach most likely left because he was tired of putting up with Tim’s shit. But Xavier wanted the assistant coach job badly. He had no choice but to grin and bear it. As they’d walked to their cars, Tim told Xavier he would call him later that week. If he didn’t call by Saturday, Xavier would follow up with him. Again.

“Can I ask you a question?” Violet’s voice broke through his gloomy train of thought.

“Sure.”

“Why do you want to work for him?”

“Tim?” He glanced at her.

“Yeah, he’s kind of an asshole. And he talks down to you. He talks down to everyone.”

Xavier sighed and put on his blinker as their exit came up. “He won’t be at Riley forever. I don’t want to work for him so much as the university.”

“But what about your current job?” she asked. “Teaching and coaching at the high school?”

“That’s temporary.”

“But I thought you liked it.” She shifted in her seat, angling to face him.

“That’s it right there,” he said. “I like it. It’s something I’m good at, but I don’t know. I think I’m meant for more.”

She didn’t say anything else, and he wondered what she was thinking. They pulled up to the house, and he walked closely behind her to make sure she didn’t slip on her crutches in the snow. When he opened the door and they shrugged out of their winter coats, Violet finally spoke again.

“You’re too good to be working under someone like that. You’d be compromising your integrity,” she said. “Can’t you find a different coaching job at another college?”

Now he was even more frustrated. “With what experience? I graduated from Riley and I played for Tim. He’s my in. What other university is going to hire me? I don’t have the collegiate experience. Riley is my foot in the door.”

“There are plenty of people who are hired these days for jobs where they lack the experience. But that’s not even your situation. You are a basketball coach. Why are you selling yourself short?”

He kicked off his shoes by the door and walked into the kitchen to store their to-go boxes in the fridge. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said.

“I can try if you explain it to me.” She sat on the arm of the couch and watched him, waiting for an answer.

He sucked in a sharp, agitated breath. “You left, Violet. You had your dream and it worked out for you. Mine didn’t, and I’m still trying to find what my new dream is. You hate being back home. Why can’t you understand that maybe I don’t want to be here either?”

“But your being here actually means something to people,” she said.

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