𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 | roy kent

7 | GHOSTS

"Ok, I get that. Sunshine?"

Lottie, not wanting to upset her father, answered. "Rose Bath or Ocean Waves."

"What about you, Coach? You got a favorite bath bomb?" He turned to Beard.

"Crème brulee honey," he answered, unsure if he should have encouraged the madness.

"Honey? Is that an ingredient or somethin' you just called me?" Ted asked.

"Ingredient," he answered.

"Shoot. I was hopin' it was the other one. But that's a kind of fun idea. Maybe we start callin' each other little pet names. You know? Like 'honey' or 'babe', you know? It might be nice. What do you think, Coach?" Beard shrugged, but his expression gave away that he was not a fan of the idea. "Nate, will you do me a favor here? Will you just help Coach plan practice for today?"

"Absolutely. Yeah," Nate nodded.

"All right. Thank you, sweetie." Lottie couldn't help but giggle at the endearment. "Ok, I'll see y'all in a little bit." He then walked out.

Nate turned to Lottie and Beard with concern. "Is he all right?"

Lottie shook her head and Beard laughed at the insanity of the question, as if he had not just witnessed Ted's brain malfunction moments ago. "No."

Lottie sighed and went to follow her father. "I'm gonna go watch the press conference. Daddy is not in a good emotional state, but if he's honest about focusin' on work, then he should be all right."

"See ya, Lottie-pottie."

"Uncle Beard, that was the worst one yet."

"Sorry. Couldn't think of another one in time. I think we might have to start reusing past names."

"Please do."

⚽︎

Ted was hosting another press conference to talk about the winning match, so Lottie went on break and slipped into the room right as it began. She was happy to take a break so early in the morning. Waking up early was not her strong suit, and since she was not a coffee drinker, she couldn't get a strong enough dose of caffeine to help. She could try coke, she supposed, but she wasn't that desperate to gain energy.

"Sarah, why don't you lead us off?" Ted called on a reporter in the front row, beginning the conference.

"So, Coach Lasso. You finally won your first match. How's it feel?" Sarah asked, standing up from her seat.

"Well, Sarah, I believe you can outscore your opponent and still lose. Just like you can score less than them and win. But last week, we definitely won, which is pretty darn fun," he grinned. "All right, next question. Trent Crimm, The Independent." Lottie smiled as their favorite reporter – now that she had gotten to know him fairly well and he wasn't bashing her father as much in the press – stood up.

"Trent Crimm, The Independent," he announced himself, continuing with the formality. "Is it safe to assume that Jamie Tartt will be back on the pitch next match?" Lottie was interested in the answer as well.

"Well, you know what they say when you assume, Trent? You make an arse outta you and me," he joked poorly. "And that right there is another example of how our English and y'all's English sometimes does not jivy, innit?" That got a few laughs at least.

"But are you honestly gonna keep your best player on the bench?" Trent pressed.

Ted shrugged. "Well, that depends on Jamie," he replied. "He knows what we need from him. Let's keep it goin', yeah? Kip, come on."