Her expression softens. “You really should have gotten it this year,” she says. “They’re not going to bypass you twice.”
I smile. “Not after their last choice screwed them over.”
She steps closer and gives me her full-on bedroom eyes. “I know this probably makes me a glutton for punishment, but…would you want to get together tonight to celebrate?”
I feel my face quirk before I can stop it. “Nothing’s really changed, Deanna. I don’t want to jerk you around anymore. It’s probably better if we just stick with the friend thing, okay?”
“It was worth a shot,” she says with a shrug, then moves past me up the hall. “See ya around,” she adds over her shoulder in full drawl, so maybe she’s over it.
I head into the staff room to grab my paycheck from my mailbox. On the way to the pool, I pull it out of the envelope, hoping the number on it has somehow miraculously multiplied. No luck. Since I put my entire gym check toward Addie’s hospital bill, I’ve got to stretch this…which is going to be tough since my gas tank’s nearly empty.
When I get to the pool, I swim my laps and am pulling myself out of the water just at the final bell. My team straggles in and Corinne saunters my direction. Her flirting has gotten progressively bolder this week, and I’m a little nervous about what’s triggered the change. Principal Monroe said there were rumors, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Corinne was behind them, but I’m not really in a position to make accusations at the moment. So I’ve done my best to dodge her advances and to pretend Addie is just anyone else at practice. Anyone watching us would never know I’m dying inside every time I look at her.
And, despite all my efforts, I look at her a lot.
Up until the moment I saw Addie on the sidewalk in front of Sam Hill after our game last night, I’d done okay pretending the kiss on Monday never happened. Business as usual. But after last night, I’m not sure how to keep pretending. Every fiber of my being sings for her.
“Hey, Marcus,” Corinne purrs.
She lifts a hand to touch my arm and I sidestep to reach for my clipboard. “I’m moving you back to left wing.”
I glance at her in time to see her wipe the scowl off her face. “Because Addie’s coming back?”
“No. Because I need you on left wing.”
“Maybe we could talk about Saturday? You’re going to make Melanie’s party, right?”
“I’m not going to Melanie’s party.” I didn’t totally succeed in keeping the repulsion out of my voice.
“Why?” she asks, all doe-eyed innocence.
“For starters, I’m really not interested in losing my job at the moment.”
“Over me,” she says, folding her arms over her chest. “But the rules are different for Addie?”
An earthquake rocks the ground under my feet and I nearly go down. I want to ask what she’s heard, but even that would only be ammunition. “Of course not.”
“So…you were at her house last night helping her with, what? Homework?”
I hope I don’t look as stunned as I feel. “Why would you think I was at her house?”
She gives a coy shrug. “Just a hunch. Plus…” She turns her phone for me to see. “Melanie took this.”
On the screen is a picture of my truck parked in front of Addie’s house.
Fuck.
“I stopped by to find out why she wasn’t at the game.”
Her eyebrows raise. “So, just checking why the captain of your team blew us off?”
“That’s between me and Addie, Corinne. This conversation’s over. I suggest you head to the locker room and change out.”
“If that’s how you want to play this,” she says, slipping her phone into her pocket and turning for the locker room. “But it would be a shame if that picture went viral.”
Her teammates gather by the pool and start setting up the goals, but at two thirty, even Corinne is suited up and ready for practice and there’s still no sign of Addie.
I hate that she doesn’t have a cell phone, but if money is as tight as it seems, I’m not surprised. It’s near the end of practice when she finally arrives. Instead of changing, she sits on the bleachers and watches the last few minutes of scrimmage.
I finish up and send the team to the locker room, then go to Addie. “Hey,” I say, my voice low. “Everything okay?”
She nods. “I got a job.”
My stomach bottoms out. “Where?”
“When you found me at Sam Hill last night, I was there to ask if they needed any help. Vicky called me today. She needs a prep cook, so I’ll be working Tuesday through Saturday from four to eight.”
I feel blood rise to my face. If I called Vicky, I know she would tell Addie it was a mistake, that she doesn’t need her after all. But I can’t do that to Addie.
“So, that’s it? You’re quitting?”
Her lips press into a line as she lowers her lashes. “I don’t have a choice.” Her gaze lifts to mine. “For a lot of reasons.”