Page 46 of Friends with Benefits

Theo’s eyes sting. “I appreciate that.”

He swallows the emotion before any tears fall, Jacob’s voice a loop in his head.

Weak.

Weak.

Weak.

“Enjoy the rest of your lunch, Theo.” Ms. Connors stands and heads toward the door, but pauses and pivots to face him before she exits. “Out of curiosity… do you play pickleball?”

Theo doesn’t sport.

He does, however, read the monthly staff newsletter.

“I dabble,” he lies.

“We’re down a team for next weekend’s tournament,” Ms. Connors says, referring to the faculty pickleball league sheruns. “Louisa is out. Sprained ankle. Such a shame. We can’t run a tournament with eleven teams.”

“That’s too bad.”

“It is.”

Theo doesn’t know what else to say, so he takes a bite of his sandwich…

“Does your wife also dabble?”

… and promptly chokes on it, coughing up a piece of crust that went down his windpipe.Wife. Theo’s smartwatch alerts him of his elevated heart rate. Ms. Connors waits for the coughing fit to end. Waits for an answer. Theo hopes she perceives his nod as enthusiastic amid his active choking. Evelyn will probably be pissed. She dabbles in pickleball as much as Theo does.

But.

An invitation to Ms. Connors’s pickleball tournament? Itmatters. Juniper got one last year… and now her kids are going to the zoo.

“She does,” he confirms once the coughing fit subsides.

“Remind me of her name?”

He doesn’t recall telling Ms. Connors her name. “Evie.”

“Would you and Evie have any interest in being our twelfth team?”

“I’d have to check with her, of course—”

“Excellent! You’re a lifesaver.”

“I’m—”

“Also, I’ve been thinking about your class’s field trip. Maybe you’re right about Kidspace. Let’s chat next week?”

Then Ms. Connors is gone, heelsclick, click, clicking down the hallway before Theo has a chance to respond. Minutes later, she sends over the roster that’s made up of eleven staffmembers and their spouses. Without quite meaning to, Theo committed himself and Evelyn to the Foothill Elementary Faculty Pickleball Tournament. He needs to buy… rackets? Paddles? Also, it’s not lost on him that every member of the pickleball league is married. It can’t be a coincidence that Ms. Connors only invited Theo because he’s married now, too. But as a cis white man, he isn’t exactly the demographic to scream discrimination. So he’s participating in a pickleball tournament in exchange for… a field trip? Maybe?

Is this extortion?

It’s not…notextortion.

Fuck.

Theo needs to learn how to play pickleball.

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