The ones who hear him give him funny looks and I duck my head when some of their baffled gazes flick to me for answers.
I mostly keep my mouth shut during practice, even though Marcus pushes me into running scrimmage rotations. I put Corinne on left wing hoping she’ll stop glaring at me. It doesn’t work.
“You need a ride home?” Marcus asks me at the end of practice, as everyone else is dragging their soggy bodies into the locker room.
“Sure, thanks.”
“I need to lock up the cage, if you’re good with waiting a few,” he says.
“No problem,” I say, going to my bag and pulling out my calculus homework. “I’ll just be over here.”
I sit on the bleachers and work on homework while Marcus drops onto a starting block and looks over the lineup we decided on. My teammates straggle through the gate in small groups. Corinne and Melanie are the last two out of the locker room. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Corinne tugs Melanie to her by the arm and says something in her ear. Then they split, Melanie heading for the gate and Corinne coming over to me. I pretend not to notice her, hoping she’ll just keep moving.
“Hey, Addie,” she says, forcing me to look up.
“Good practice,” I say, because it seems like the captainly thing to do.
“I just wanted to tell you congrats. Sorry about being such a bitch earlier.”
“Oh…” So not what I expected. “Okay, well… thanks.”
“There’s a party Saturday at Melanie’s, you know, in case you want to come or whatever.”
I sit here staring, not quite sure what’s happening. “Why would I come?”
She shrugs, like she invites me to parties every day. “So we could hang out, or whatever.”
“I’ll think about it,” I lie, my mind racing through all sorts of gruesome Carrie scenarios.
“Good.” She turns for Marcus and gives me a wave over her shoulder.
He looks up when she reaches him. She leans in and says something too low for me to hear. Marcus responds by standing and making some space between them. But when he replies, he keeps his voice low, and I can’t make out anything he says. They talk for a few more minutes, then Corinne turns for the gate. And I don’t miss her smile. She glances over shoulder and waves at the gate, and Marcus lifts a hand in return.
I duck my head into my book when Corinne’s glance turns my direction and pretend the cold stab of jealousy didn’t just gut me. My mind is turning faster than I can keep up as I try to sort out what that was. Was I out of my mind to think Marcus only spent “quality time” with me? Maybe he takes all his players out individually for burgers or pizza.
“You ready?” he says and wrenches me from my agony. When I look up, the pool deck is deserted.
“What was that?” I ask, unable to help myself.
He looks around. “What?”
“With Corinne?”
When he realizes what I’m talking about, he rolls his eyes. “She invited me to a party Saturday.”
“Are you going?” I ask.
He looks at me like I’ve just sprouted a second head. “Seriously?”
And now I feel like a moron for being jealous. I pack up my books and head to the gate. “Let’s go.”
“So, I didn’t see any major mutiny. I think even Corinne’s on board with the captain choice,” he says as we cross to the faculty lot.
“Because she invited me to a party? That makes her on board?”
He shrugs my sarcasm off. “She doesn’t need to be on board. You’ve earned the spot. I wouldn’t have put this on you if I didn’t know you could handle it, Addie.”
“Well, maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do.”
He blows out a laugh. “You’ve been talking to my sister, haven’t you?”
I just look at him, confused. “You lost me.”
“She’s always saying that to me.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and watches the sidewalk unroll in front of us. “But, in this case, I know I’m right. I made the right choice.”
“If you say so.”
We reach his truck and his eyes flick uneasily around the parking lot before he unlocks it for us. As we pull out of the lot, I wait for his hand to stray onto the center console, or maybe all the way to me, just so I know I wasn’t imagining the connection I felt last night. But he keeps both hands glued to the wheel and his eyes pinned to the road ahead. When he glides up to the curb in front of my house, I see the blinds part.
Dad’s home, which should be a huge relief, but I feel a tendril of dread creep through my stomach, knowing he might have seen me out here with Marcus.
“Thanks for the ride,” I say, shouldering open my door.
He glances at me and I realize his light complexion is a little paler than usual. “No problem.”
“Everything’s okay?” I ask, my brow creasing with the growing sense of unease.
He nods. “I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
I shut the door and he pulls away. I watch from the sidewalk until his tail lights disappear around the corner.