Coach Owen walked in silence beside Julian, their footsteps steady on the pavement outside the restaurant.
The dusk air carried a faint chill, the kind that sharpened thoughts rather than dulled them.
Streetlights buzzed faintly as they flickered awake, stretching long shadows across the sidewalk. The silence between them wasn't empty—it was waiting.
Julian finally broke it.
"Well, Coach… it's like this."
The words spilled as he explained about David Mateo—the agent, the offer, the possibility of Europe. And what it meant: leaving Lincoln.
When he finished, the weight of it hung in the air.
"So you want to leave," Coach Owen said, his tone unreadable.
Julian's jaw flexed. His eyes dropped to the ground. "I don't know. I want to. To reach the world stage. But at the same time… it feels wrong. Leaving Lincoln now would be like betraying them." His voice dropped lower, rougher. "And I know what betrayal feels like."
