What To Do While You're Waiting

Season #1 – Episode #11

Disclaimer: This episode was created by Peter Berg and written by Kerry Ehrin, who also wrote Episode #4 – "Who's Your Daddy". Recognizable dialogue is hers. Italics are my flashbacks.

To all the Guest Reviewers: Thank you for your kind words. I love the feedback. The length is something that always gets away from me. I always want to update faster, but the length always makes that impossible.

Naguabo: I agree. I think the way Eric speaks to Matt at the end, offering to help him in any way was interesting since they were just getting to know each other. Plus, the love/hate he feels toward him because of his situation with Julie.

Natbenson: Thanks for the review.

ICanStopAnytime: I consistently see self-doubt in Eric Taylor. Through all his assertiveness, I do think he consistently questions every single action he takes. I'm glad you liked that part – to have him actually be proud of himself. He is such a humble character at times. Also, I wanted to give Tami some sort of background from that powerful line she spoke in this episode. Thanks as always for the feedback.

Eric was stressed. His whole first season as a head coach was going to come down to one game. One game that he had no control over. Buckley was going to play Arnett Meade and the outcome of that game was going to determine if he was going to take his team to the playoffs.

Eric hated that he let it get this close. If he did what he was supposed to do, and coached the way he should have coached these last few months, he would never have been in this predicament. He analyzed the whole season. The first loss with Matt playing quarterback was almost expected. The second loss because of the whole VooDoo situation didn't help matters. If he only knew then, that getting in that car with Buddy Garrity would put him in this situation today, he would have never done it. Hell, he didn't want to do it without the playoffs on the line.

But here he was, driving in his car listening to Sammy Meade analyze what was going to happen. Buckley had to beat Arnette Meade so the Panthers go could go to the playoffs. Eric was determined to be ready either way.

"We are not going to sit on our asses and wait to see if Buckley is going to beat Arnette Meade this Friday or not gentleman. We are going to stay focused and we are going to stay working. Some things you can control and some things you cannot. Time you cannot control. Time is our enemy. I do not want y'all drivin' yourselves crazy this week. What happens, happens! Ain't no spell or no bag of juju gonna change that. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna stay out here and work our asses off. If the good Lord and/or the Buckley defense decided we should get one more shot at this thing, well by-God we are going to be ready for it."

Eric would never admit it, but he loved talking to his boys like this. In the months leading up to Eric's draft into the NFL, when they dared to dream, Eric used to tell Tami that in his retirement he wanted to be a motivational speaker.

They were embarking on their senior year, and agents were starting to already contacting Eric. Their future looked set and at times, it seemed that nothing could get in their way. It was the weekend before classes started and Tami was visiting College Station. They had been apart for two weeks, which didn't seem like much, but after an entire summer together, it seemed like an eternity.

They were lying in bed, in Eric's off-campus apartment that he shared with a few of his teammates. They just finished making desperate love, which bordered, sloppy. It was Thursday night and they had nowhere to be, but in the safety of each other's embrace. He stared at the ceiling, while rhythmically brushing Tami's long strawberry blonde locks with his fingertips. She lay next to him, with his bed sheet pulled up over her breasts, resting her arm across his bared torso.

"What are you think about?" She asked breaking the silence.

"About classes and how I don't want them to start."

"One more year, babe."

"Yeah, one more year." He thought about how to word what else was on his mind. "One more year and then our lives are going to get so much easier."

"Eric…." Tami dared to stop him. She hated talking about the future when Eric tended to dream. She felt like they were jinxing themselves when they got carried away. They had tealed about this a few months back and Eric had not brought it up since. But Tami knew where he was going with a statement like that.

"Think about it, Tami. Right now, we are both taking a full class load, you are working part time job, I am playing football…"

"It's not that hard, Eric."

"But it's going to get so much easier. We will have our degrees, we will have cars that will have more than a fifty percent chance of starting, we will have money in the bank, we can buy a house, you won't have to work..."

She stopped him right there. "I want to work Eric. I worked hard for my degree. I don't have any urge not to put it to use."

"Ok." He didn't want to argue with her. He didn't want to tell her they would be starting all over, in a city that was likely not going to be anywhere near Texas. "Well, then, you can go to graduate school if you want. I know you talked about that."

Tami would be lying if she said that wasn't a dream of hers. She loved school and knew that with a graduate degree, that would open so many more doors to her future.

"Or I can knock you up as soon as I sign a contract and you can stay home and raise our child."

Tami gripped the top of the sheet sat up abruptly. "As soon as you sign a contract?" She asked hoping he wasn't serious. "Is that what you are expecting?"

Eric sat up too. "We talked about having kids one day, Tami. Has that changed? Do you not want to have kids?"

Tami thought about how beautiful their children would be. How handsome and determined their son would be or how beautiful and independent a daughter would be. She smiled, ever so slightly at that thought, but her mind drifted back to Eric's crazy suggestion. "I want to have kids someday, and I hope they are with you. You know that's a dream of mine. I just never thought about those dreams becoming a reality next year." She wanted to tell him she had much higher expectations for herself, for the two of them together, over the next couple of years.

"Well, how do you see the next couple of years going?" He tentatively asked.

"You know how nervous I get having this conversation."

"Why?" He said, easing back into a lying down position, pulling her with him. "It's a really strong possibility that we are going to be living very differently in a year or two."

"I don't want to jinx what you have worked so hard for."

He smiled, loving her for understanding his dreams. "What do you want for Tami over the next couple of years?"

She thought about it for moment, wanting to word it perfectly for him. It wasn't often they exposed themselves this deeply, talking about the future with no real commitment to insure her words. "I would love to go to graduate school, but I'm eager to get into the workforce. I want to counsel, maybe one day privately." She thought about what to say next without saying too much. "My dreams can line up with whatever city you end up in. I want to be a mother someday too Eric, but I'm not sure I want to be a stay-at-home mother. I'm sorry if that disappoints you."

"You can never disappoint me." He said, continuing to move his one hand through her hair, comforting her so the words flowed easier for her.

"I like to keep busy, Eric. I want…"

He interrupted her with his words and his sexy smile. "I can keep you plenty busy. I have a lot of needs."

She laughed, but turned the conversation back to a more serious tone. "Well, what do you see? After the NFL?" She didn't dare say "if you make it", because that would hurt him beyond belief.

"Well, if I do really well, and my name is out there and recognizable, it will be easy to achieve. "

She rolled her body to one side, placing a leg between his and draping her arm across his torso. "Yeah? What's that?"

"I feel like I could give motivational speeches. I always did well in public speaking. I can break things down and figure how to troubleshoot problems to the root. I feel like I am good at building up." He thought for a moment about that lifestyle. "That will be even easier than playing in the NFL."

The playoffs!

He felt so close. He just needed to keep his own focus and his own concentration on beating Buckley if they got that opportunity.

On the drive home early in the evening, Eric could not stop analyzing it in his head. He was talking out loud about every scenario. It's what he did. It's what made him great. Tami sat in the passenger seat, listening to him babble on and on about it, until she saw the stress lines and creases of his skin forming on his forehead. This could be good for him.

"Honey!" Tami interrupted him. He was driving her crazy. "Will you just think about something else? Let's talk about anything…."

"What do you want me to think about?" He snapped back.

"There are things going on in the world. You can think about little children…"

"Oh my heavens…."

"..in India."

"You know what? There is nothing else to think about." He pulled into their driveway, turned off the ignition and opened his door. "Nothing else to think about."

"You can think about how much you love me." She said as she opened the passenger side door and got out as well. "That's a good idea. Why don't you think about that?" She knew when Eric was like this, her best sexual charms could not sway him from thoughts. Of course, she would try later for both their sanity.

Eric walked toward the house, rubbing his eyes when he heard a man's voice behind him. "Coach Eric Taylor?"

"Yeah?" Eric said, looking at Tami and then at the man holding out an envelope. Eric walked toward him to see what it was. "What's this?"

"You've been served."

Eric took a look at what seemed to be some sort of legal document. "Served by who?"

Tami was right by Eric side, trying to determine what was going on. She looked back and forth between the man and the envelope.

"Jason Street's family."

"What?" Tami said, not keeping the surprise out of her voice. The look on Eric's face mirrored her voice.

She felt glued to that spot in their driveway, shock paralyzing the both of them. Tami put a hand on Eric's back, and ushered him into the house. He could barely make it there on his own. Eric started opening the envelope as he walked toward the chairs at the kitchen counter. Tami placed herself across from him so she can determine what the hell was going on.

The Street family? The family that at one time was part of their own? The family that hired Eric privately to train their son? The family that shared multiple meals with Tami and Julie as well as some holidays together? That family was serving him papers? That Street Family?

"Eric…" She broke the silence.

He looked up at her, shock and confusion brewing in his eyes. He didn't know what to think, other than that maybe he deserved this.

"Don't even think it." She said softly.

Eric started shaking his head slowly back and forth, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Nobody believed in that boy more than you." She wasn't even sure he was listening to her. "No one wanted that boy to succeed more than you."

"I did. He had the potential to be an NFL quarterback. I would have gotten him there. I should have gotten him there."

"What happened was not your fault. You did not tell him to try to make that tackle. You are not the reason he is in that wheelchair."

His fingertips loosened the grip he had on the papers and they fell to the countertop. He reached for his keys, not even hearing Tami's voice.

"Eric?"

"I'm going for a drive."

"Eric…"

"I just need some time to clear my head."

Tami watched him turn his back to her and head out the front door. She knew Eric and the worst thing she could have done at that moment is follow him. He needed his space. He needed time. She just worried where that car was going to take him and if that car was going to take him home.

She was already in bed when he came back through the door. Her eyes followed him as he entered their bedroom, watching him take a seat on the edge of their bed to remove his shoes. "I'm sorry. I just needed to take a moment."

"You okay?"

"Mmhmm."

She didn't say anything else at that moment. She wanted him to open up to her. After he changed and climbed into bed next to her, they both stared blankly at the ceiling searching for answers. How were they going to sleep tonight?

"I can't believe they would sue us." Tami started. "You raised Jason Street. You raised him on that football field. How could they possibly blame you for what happened?"

Eric had the same questions, but a long drive helped him come to this conclusion. "It's one of those things. You can't make it personal." Eric said rubbing his face. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "They were probably advised to do it by lawyers. It's what people do. That's what they do. We're covered by the school. It's not personal. You just got to look at it that way. "

"Hmm." Tami wasn't convinced, but she placed a reassuring hand on his chest.

"It's just what people do." He repeated. He just never thought people would do that to him.

Eric tried to shift his focus back to football. At practice the next day, he explained to his boys that although the determining game was tonight, they as a team had to be somewhere else. He knew they weren't going to be happy about it. Hell, he wasn't happy about it.

"The annual booster league fundraiser rodeo and fair." He told them. That was where they had to go.

"Ugh." They all groaned in unison.

"Shut up!" Eric didn't need them crying like a bunch of babies. "Shut up! I know y'all rather be sweating out game night by yourselves instead of being at the rodeo. So would I. But you know what? These women work hard. It's a good cause. So we're all gonna show our asses there with smiles on our faces."

It really was the last thing Eric wanted to do, but he had to set an example. That was the main part of his job.

After practice, Eric's mind got the best of him and decided like anything else in his life, he was going to take action. He found himself driving over to the pharmacy where Mitch Street worked. When something plagued him, Eric was not the type of man to dwell on it. He always took action. He never let it stew. Sometimes it worked in his favor and sometimes it only got him in more trouble.

Eric couldn't let go it go. Mo was supposed to be his friend and his teammate. The later, a bond that should carry with them forever. So when Tami told him Mo continually tried to get her back, he couldn't let it go. He knew he should. He knew he was better than Mo. He knew he won in the way of Tami Hayes. But Mo kept trying and trying after he knew Tami was with him. He told Tami he wanted to know every time Mo made his attempts, but he was starting to rethink that request.

Tami was honest. All it took was that one argument at her house for her to understand Eric's need for the constant truth. She was done hiding things from Eric. There was one advantage of Eric's full disclosure policy. He was learning to trust Tami and they were growing closer and closer together.

He didn't know what came over him, but he felt the sudden need to take action. Mo was staying at a hotel in College Station. He was playing for Oklahoma State the next day against Eric and the Aggies. A few weeks prior to Mo's arrival, Tami told Eric of one of Mo's latest attempts. He invited her to Oklahoma for a friendly visit. Tami didn't want to tell Eric, knowing he would be pissed, but knew honesty and trust went hand in hand.

"Why the hell is he inviting you there for?"

"I think you and I both know why."

"That guy can't take the hint. We have been together for months, Tami. Is he ever going to stop?"

Tami looked at him sympathetically, but she could see the anger rising within him. "It doesn't matter. Look at me." She said cupping his face. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter!" He raised his voice. "It's manipulative and disrespectful."

"It doesn't matter to me." She said softly.

"I want to kill him. If he was here right now, I would love to put my fist down his throat to shut him the hell up."

"Save it for the field. He's not worth getting in any trouble."

But Eric couldn't let it go. He couldn't save it for the field. He found himself in front of Mo's hotel door, not knowing if he was going to be able to control his temper. He knocked just once, placed his hands on his hips and waited. Mo swung the door open, greeting Eric with a cocky smile. "QB1, what do I owe the pleasure?"

Eric walked away from him, not wanting to have this conversation in front of Mo's teammates. Mo followed him down the hallway, the heavy hotel door shutting behind him. Eric stopped walking and spun around, his hands still on his hips. "Stop it with Tami!"

"Stop what?" Mo said with a sleazy smile.

"You know what! I know about all of it. I know about all your little requests. I know about all your invitations. Stop it! Take a hint and leave her alone."

"If she wanted me to leave her alone, she would have told me that herself."

Eric was taken aback by that comment. Was Tami flirting back and using Eric as an excuse more than a reason?

Mo was always a talker and Eric's silence gave him a little boost. "Don't you know Tami at all? She likes the attention, man. Always did. You must not be giving her what she needs."

"Shut the hell up, Mo."

But he kept going. "Knowing Tami and the parts of her that need my attention was never a problem for us." He said with a wink. Mo knew he was getting to him.

He could feel his eyes burning with anger as they widened and his jaw actually hurt from clenching it so tight. "Shut the fuck up, Mo." He seethed.

"She still like it on top, Eric?" Mo chuckled, knowing his nonchalance would aggravate Eric even more. "I tell ya, that girl gave the best blow job I've ever had."

Eric balled his hand into a fist and took a step forward, but Mo took a step back. He put his hands up defensively. "The truth hurt, Eric? I'll always be the one that had her first."

Eric took another step toward him.

"Be careful, Eric. You get caught fighting, you won't play tomorrow."

Eric knew he was right. He came to Mo. He instigated this meeting. He knew what it would mean for his future if he got suspended. He stretched out his fingers, thought about his next play and cracked a smile. "Maybe Mo. But I'll be her last." It took a lot of self-discipline, but he turned around and walked away from making a mistake that would have cost him more than his ego.

When Eric walked inside the pharmacy, he saw Mitch behind the counter. The second Mitch saw Eric coming in the store, Eric could see the fear in Mitch's eyes. Eric knew, right at that moment, that Mitch felt terrible for what he did.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Eric started.

"Eric, man. I'm so sorry."

"Look, I don't know who it was behind this. I know it's not you." How could it be Mitch? The man that asked Eric to put in the time with his son when he couldn't.

"I just didn't know what else to do." Mitch cowardly said.

"I understand. Listen, when I got served papers, I said I know this isn't coming from Mitch and Joanne. I know it's not."

"Expenses are astronomical, Coach."

"Look, I understand that you probably realize too that it's probably not a good idea to get yourself involved in this. That this is going to cause you that much more additional pain." Eric was going to say anything for them to drop this whole thing. "You know it's going to get you nowhere." Even, if he wasn't sure he one-hundred percent believed it.

"I'm not so sure that's the case." He snapped back.

"Hell, Mitch. What are you going to do? You're going to sue the school? What are you going to prove? That the school was negligent? And how the hell are you going to do that? I was there. You were there. Everyone was there." Eric kept his voice low, but this conversation was too much for Mitch to take.

"I can't talk to you about this."

"This was nobody's fault." Eric felt himself pleading with him.

"I cannot talk to YOU about this. You think this is tough for you? You go and try and lose your child's legs and losing your child's future and every penny you ever saved? Try that on for size. Then after that, try and find out where the hell you are going to come up with money to put up ramps and doorways all over your house…"

Eric wasn't listening anymore. He couldn't. He knew at that moment he made a mistake by coming here. There was no convincing Mitch and the relationship he had with Jason was going to be lost forever.

He went home and told Tami what happened. He was feeling so many different emotions.

"Why would you go there? What did you think you would accomplish?" Tami asked, feeling a bit of shock toward Eric and his actions.

"I thought I could change his mind. I thought if I explained it from my end…"

"Our end." She interrupted. "This is our problem Eric, not yours to bear alone."

"I thought if he could see it from OUR perspective…"

"Babe, you have to let the school handle this. We are not going to be able to fix this by ourselves." Tami was a bit irritated that he would go there without talking to her about it first. She knew what drove this mentality and it was frustration, anger and fear. "You think you are going to be able to fix this with sense and reason?"

"I don't know what the hell I thought I was going to accomplish."

"You can't go there again, Eric." She didn't want to lecture him, but he needed to understand the repercussion of what another visit would do. "You need to back away and stand on the sideline and let this play out on its own. Okay?"

He thought about what that actually meant. That meant no talking to Jason about it, no talking to the coaches about it and certainly not talking to Mitch and Joanne about it. "Okay." He finally answered.

Later that evening, Eric was in his recliner watching game tape as Tami sipped wine while reviewing a file from work. As of late, this had become their nightly ritual. Julie came through the front door, but Tami and Eric were so submerged in their work, they didn't notice the solemn look on Julie's face.

She surprised the both of them by the words that came out of her mouth. "I love you guys."

Eric was a bit surprised by this and turned his head away from his game tape to look at her. Tami couldn't keep the look of shock off her face. Julie continued, wanting to get it all out. "And you guys are the best parent's in the world. Good night."

As Julie retreated to her bedroom, Tami turned her shocked expression to Eric, who is smiling proudly back at her. "No, honey. Something terrible must have happened." Tami said, getting up and running after her. "Julie!" She called.

Eric reluctantly got up to meet Tami at Julie's bedroom door. "Come in the kitchen sweetheart. Let's talk about it." Tami wasn't sure if those words would work, but she didn't know else to approach her. Eric stayed quiet, completely trusting Tami to handle it.

Julie took Tami's lead and followed her to the kitchen island. She explained to them that Matt stood her up at the library and that when she showed up at his house, he was completely overwhelmed. "There's no adult looking out for him. I mean it's crazy. He is just by himself, doing the cooking and the cleaning, the shopping. He takes care of his grandma. Hs dad has been home for two weeks and there is still a table full of insurance forms for his grandma."

Eric gave Tami a 'I told you so' look. His daughter shouldn't be worried about helping her boyfriend take care of adult household matters. They purposely don't give her too much in their own household so she could get good grades and just be a kid. This is not what Eric wanted for his daughter.

Julie continued. "And he has school and work and football. I just…I feel like it's just gonna crush him."

Eric decided to speak, hoping to ease Julie's worries. "Nothing is going to crush Matt Saracen. He's like a little stink bug. Nothing is going to crush him. He's tough. He'll be fine." Eric did believe that to be true. Matt was a strong 16 year old kid, probably more mature than most kids his age. But he did not want Julie worrying like this about him. She was too young to be worrying like this.

"Well, I do think it is an awful lot for one sixteen year old to have to handle." Tami said taking Julie side. Her statement peeved him a bit. Why was she going against him? "I might be able to do something. I don't know. Have him see me at school."

"Okay. Thanks mom." Julie said, getting up and kissing her mom.

"Goodnight." Tami said as Eric just watched on.

"You're the best." Julie threw it in there, as a thank you to Tami.

"What do you mean 'she's the best'? What about me?" Eric called after her, when he got no thank you and no kiss for that matter. "Hey!"

After school the following day, Tami decided she was going to cook some meals for Matt. It seemed like one less thing Matt would have to do in the evenings for his family. She figured this was a good way to help without being pushy. She was at the stove, stirring the vegetables into the casserole when she heard Eric come through the front door.

Wordlessly, he approached her from behind, wrapping both his arms around her. Tami initially jumped at his touch, but immediately relaxed into his embrace.

"What are you doing?" He lightly brushed his lips against her ear.

"Making something for Matt and his family. It's the least I can do for that kid."

Eric held his embrace, his hands sliding down her arms to her hands. "Where's Jules?" He gently pulled the serving spoon out of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

"She's at dance but she'll be home soon. She's going to the rodeo with Matt and we're going to meet her there."

Eric thought about yesterday and how Tami handled Julie. Eric could easily admit how clueless he was sometimes, especially in comparison to his wife. "You know what? You're good with her. You're a good mom."

"Thanks." She simply replied.

"No. Tami, I mean it." He loosened his embrace and lightly rubbed her shoulders. "You are smart, sensitive and beautiful. It's where Julie gets it from."

She was a little surprised by his words, but loved how expressive he could be at the oddest of times. She spun around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"You're a wonderful mother, Tami. Julie is lucky to have you."

She leaned in and kissed him, feeling the heat generate from her core. He cupped her face, deepening the kiss. She opened her mouth and let his tongue search for hers. She broke the kiss wondering how far they could possibly take this. "How about wife? Am I a good Wife?"

He smiled that sexy smile she loved. He had a gorgeous smile. "You are an amazing wife." He kissed her again, spinning her around so now her back was up against the kitchen island. When her back made contact with the surface of the counter, his hardened groin made contact with her most intimate of areas. He moved his lips to her jawline, her neck and descended to her chest. "You are my hot, sexy, sexy wife."

She laughed, curling her fingers through the full head of hair she loved that he still had. She felt his hands move to where his lips were and she couldn't help but arch her back wanting more, but knowing it wasn't really possible. "Julie is going to be home any second." She said in between kisses.

Eric pretended like he didn't hear her and slipped his hand underneath her shirt. As he circled her nipple with his thumb, a moan escaped from her and he smiled through his kisses, loving he knew exactly what turned her on.

She grabbed the buckle of the belt and tugged at it. "We don't have time for this."

"Let's make time for this." Between the pending game and the lawsuit, Eric needed release and he needed to get that release from her.

He moved his hands away from her breast and squeezed her ass. She couldn't help but push her groin into his, wanting to feel him beneath her. "We have to go to the rodeo." Her words were saying one thing but her actions were saying another.

She undid his buckle and snapped open the button on his khakis. She slipped a hand into his boxers and grabbed him. "Oh God, Tami. You feel so good."

She only moved her hand once up and down when they heard the click of the front door. Tami pushed Eric off of her and he turned away from the hallway. He didn't want his daughter to see him like this. He needed a moment.

Tami watched as Julie just walked right by them, saying a quick "Hey" and not breaking her stride toward her bedroom. When Tami turned back to Eric, he had both his hands on the flat surface of the counter, trying to regain control over his breathing. "We could have kept going, babe. She didn't even acknowledge the two of us in here right now."

"We have to go to the rodeo." She said again.

When they arrived at the rodeo about an hour later, Eric parked the car but didn't get out right away. He put both hands on the steering wheel, resting his forehead on the back of his hand. As he hugged the steering wheel, he spoke to Tami, who was in the passenger seat. "I'm getting gray hair over this Arnette Meade game."

Tami affectionately put her hand on his head, combing her fingers through that thick head of hair.

"Getting gray hair over this lawsuit. I'm getting a lot of gray hair this week." She continued to lightly stroke the back of his head, offering some sense of comfort to him. "And I tell you if this job gets cut out from under me, there ain't going to be no more coaching…"

"That's not going to happen." She reassured him.

"No, that is what will happen."

"Don't forget how good you are at what you do."

"That's the problem. It's not up to me. And your little stunt before isn't helping." He couldn't remember the last time he was this tense.

"My little stunt? You started it."

When Eric continued to be silent, she could tell he was not in the mood for jokes. Tami thought about what to say next, the silence and the tension building. She tried to piece together the unsaid truth that they really don't have any control over anything – over this upcoming game, over the way the boosters will react, over his contract for next year. But before she gets anything out, he interrupts her. "I know. We got to go to the rodeo."

"I'm sorry. I know." She put on her cowboy hat and pulled at his jacket before he slipped out of the car. "I think you are going to look so damn sexy with gray hair."

"Yeah? He says surprised.

"Yeah." She reassured him and leaned to kiss him.

He returned her kiss, knowing he couldn't get too carried away. They are in their car, in a parking lot where tons of students, including their daughter were present.

But if there is one thing about Tami, she loved to tease him. She always wants him to want more. "So sexy." She murmured through their sweet kiss. She kissed him again, a little bit harder this time, letting him know that she loves him, wants him. Her one hand is still playing with his hair, but she can sense the stress emulating from his body. She decisively takes her other hand and puts it on his thigh and moves it upward, reaching for him to help him relax.

He moved his hand as quickly as he could, covering her hand with his own. He had to stop her. He smirked as he tried to get the words out. "What are you doing?"

"You need to relax."

"Here? Like this? I can't relax like this."

She moves her hand away and readjusts her hat. "Okay. You're call, Coach."

He gets out and moves around to her side of the car, planting a kiss on her cheek. "I appreciate it, but there is no way. Can we see how tonight goes and take you up on your offer later?"

"The offer might not still be standing later, sugar."

"Tami, the tease, Taylor. It really fits perfectly." He put a hand on the small of her back and guided her into what he hoped wouldn't be a long night.

The evening progressed and just when he was searching the crowds for Tami to leave, Eric locked eyes with Jason. It still surprised a part of him when he saw him in his wheelchair. He would never get used to that image. Eric didn't mean to stare. He knew the lawsuit was not Jason's idea.

Then he saw it. Eric could see the sorrow in Jason's eyes, knowing that all the years the spent together were not being thrown away. Jason did not want this. Jason did not blame him. Jason turned away, leaving Eric to stare at his fading form, feeling his own eyes start to water.

Suddenly, he was distracted by the loudspeaker, and just like that, everything changed. They were going to the playoffs. And right when he needed it, Tami appeared to comfort him for the loss of his relationship with Jason and to celebrate his first playoff appearance.

He took Tami home that night and released himself into her. He released himself and all that tension. There was nothing romantic about it, but there was sense of comfort in her arms, knowing she would always be there for him, no matter what.

When he woke the next morning, he felt better. He went into his office with a clear head to focus on what was next. Making the playoffs during his first season as head coach was unheard of, but he did it. He accomplished that. It wasn't often he was proud of himself, but he was excited for what was to come.

As he exited the field house, he saw Jason waiting for him. Eric didn't know what to say, so instead of filing the silence, he waited.

"Listen, I just came out here to let you know no matter what anyone says, no matter what happens with this whole lawsuit thing, just know that it was out of my hands." Jason always spoke with purpose. "I was against it. You'll always be my Coach."

Eric couldn't speak. Relief completely washed over him. It was a different type of relief than hearing that small victory over the loudspeaker. A different type of relief than when he came in Tami the previous night. Both felt incredible, but this was different. Jason was officially letting him off the hook. He raised Jason like a son and didn't want to disappoint him. To hear him say those words, giving him that reassurance was something he didn't know he needed.

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