Page 285 of Hide and Keep

“Cheer,” I correct automatically.

“You can coach cheer.”

I think about that for a moment, trying to visualize me coaching my own team. I taught Crue pretty well.

“Have you ever considered coaching wrestling?” He wasn’t a bad teacher either.

“No.”

“Why not? You’d be good at it.”

“Nobody around here wants me coaching their kids.”

“Nobody around here knows who you really are,” I argue with twice as much passion as before.

“They know the name and the headlines.”

Yeah. That’s all people know of me, too.

We lie in silence for a long time, Crue’s hands on my hair and shoulder, mine on his abs and chest.

“How much did my father pay you?”

“Ever.”

“What? It’s not like I didn’t know he was paying you. I was literally your job.”

“Not like that.”

“I know. I know. But how much?”

“Fifty thousand…plus another five as a bonus for making it past the first day with you.”

I can’t help it, I chuckle.

“You fucking terror,” Crue says, zero condemnation in his tone, only admiration.

“Is fifty-five thousand a lot?” Obviously, it’s not for my father, but for Crue, it might be.

“More than I earned all of last year.”

Wow. Crue was really undermining himself before working at Munreaux Manor.

“So then you’re doing it? Leaving Sea Haven?”

“That was the plan when I thought I’d have a million dollars.”

“But fifty-five thousand is still enough, isn’t it? You can move somewhere with that much. Right?” I don’t know how much living expenses cost. I don’t know how much anything costs. Technically, I don’t even know how much my daily matcha lemonades cost because I purposely overtipped on every order.

“That money could be used on something more important.”

“What’s more important than your dream?”

“My dad’s back has been bugging him for years. His insurance doesn’t cover the kind of surgery he needs and he’s in pain every day.”

“How much is the surgery?”

“Around fifty-K.”

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