Page 28 of The Save

"Good game.” Shar ruffled his hair.

Axel plopped down next to Crystal and snagged a handful of peanuts. "You three are officially good luck. You’re not allowed to skip any more games." He turned to me. “And you. You’re now required to meet with Coach Wilson before every game, eh?”

I laughed and took the beer Rory poured for me. “I can do that.”

“Cheers.” Rory held up his glass, and the others hustled to fill theirs and clink.

We ordered wings, nachos, and eventually switched to drinking Diet Cokes and lemon water. Everyone was laughing. Teasing. Celebrating. Axel started in on telling us about his aunt or great aunt or someone he was related to who was letting us stay in their house for the weekend after Canada West.

As exciting as that was, I couldn’t stop scanning the door. It was twenty minutes later, and I was halfway through a bite of buffalo chicken, when the door swung open and Chase walked in.

My chest lifted—immediate and involuntary—only to slam down like a brick two seconds later. Because sweeping in behind him, her arm linked with his, was Melody Sanchez.

Chapter

Eleven

"What's wrong, Maddie?"Crystal reached over me to grab a wing.

"Oh. Nothing." I scooped my curls back from my face and stared intently at the bowl of ranch dressing.

"Uh-huh." Crystal dipped her wing, then leaned in. "It has nothing to do with the fact that Coach Wilson just walked in. With a hot brunette wearing a motorcycle jacket."

I didn't even pretend this time. Instead, I curled into her and hissed, "It's the girl he used to date in high school."

Crystal's eyes widened as she used both hands to eat her wing in the style of old cartoon characters eating corn on the cob. When she was finished, she set down the picked-clean bone and wiped her fingers with a napkin. "Shut up. You know her?"

I nodded, keeping my voice low so we wouldn't attract the attention of the rest of the team. "I hated her for all of grade nine."

Crystal made a cradle with her hands and dropped her chin into it. "Tell me more."

"She didn't deserve my hatred. It’s just that I was a little?—”

“Obsessed with Chase? Yes. I’m aware."

I groaned and curled into myself. "I don't know. I had this weird secret world I was living in. The one where Chase paid attention to me and noticed me, but it only existed outside of school when we were at home doing math at the island, which really only happened once or twice a week. But it felt like those moments were bigger than everything else combined. And even if he didn't so much as look at me in the hallway at school, it didn't matter. It felt like it was our secret code, like we had something that nobody else knew about. And then he left, and I realized there wasno secret world. It was just me. Alone. Fantasizing about a nonexistent relationship with Chase Wilson."

I froze and glanced around the table. I said that louder than intended, but it didn't seem like anybody noticed.

Crystal turned my face back to hers. "He recognized you here, didn't he?"

I nodded with a slow exhale. "He knew who I was. Big whoop." But there was that moment in his office when our hands touched. That had happened before. One time in the kitchen when I'd reached for my glass of water to fill it up, he took it from me.

"You're helping me with my homework, Maddie. At least let me get you some water."

That one line made my whole week.

A pit opened up in my stomach.Another puzzle piece?

Chase hadn't asked me to his office because he wanted to spend time with me. He asked me there because he needed something from me. That was exactly why he‘d spent time with me in high school, too, wasn’t it? He wanted help with math?

No, back then he'd never explicitly asked me to do it, but I’d been more than a willing participant. On Tuesday, he asked for my help, and I, like an idiot, dropped everything and followed him like a lost puppy to his office.

And now here we were again. Him celebrating the B+ on his math test and showing up with Melody Sanchez on his arm.

I squeezed Crystal’s hand. "I think I'm going to head home. Can you get a ride with Rob and Shar?" Crystal frowned, but I didn't give her a chance to convince me to stay. I reached over and squeezed Sharla’s shoulder. "Hey. Can Crystal go home with you guys? I need to run."

She nodded and disentangled herself from Rob to give me a hug. "Have a good night, Maddie."

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