Page 18 of Not that Impressed
He holds his hands up. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
What is he even still doing here? “I thought everyone was gone.”
“I wanted to make sure you guys were okay. I feel fine, but Charlie has always said I have a stomach of steel.”
“I don’t think it’s food poisoning. I feel fine too.” It’s weird to have a normal conversation with him. I’m pretty sure every other interaction we’ve had has been barbed. Maybe it’s the quietness of the house and the softness of the lighting that has us easing up on each other.
“Charlie said he was fine when he went to bed.” Will says it matter-of-factly in that hard voice I’m used to from him. Is this just how he communicates with people? It could be that I’ve misjudged at least one or two statements from him when he might not have meant them in the rude way I interpreted them. I’m not ready to let him off the hook though. He might be looking out for Charlie right now, and he could be gearing up to tell me that I should take Janelle home before she gets him sick.
“I can stay if you guys need a ride or something,” he offers, and the clipped way he says it seems to support my theory that this is just the way he talks—to the point and without warmth. I’ve learned to play to a camera, to charm people, or to be indifferent when I don’t want the world knowing my reaction. Will might have a measure of that fame too, but he hasn’t had to acquire the same people skills I have. And maybe that’s why people assumed his short, harsh denials last year of being involved with Coach Wilson’s wife meant he was guilty.
I trusted the official story from the Pumas—that nothing happened—because I know Linda Wilson. She would absolutely never. But even then, it was easy to see why people didn’t quite buy it from Will. He doesn’t play a part for anyone. He’s not likable on screen. Yeah, he curates his image as much as anyone,but I think it might help explain his aloof personality. Show what a hard worker he is, how driven, how he has to focus on his goals and hopefully people will excuse his “zero apologies for who I am” attitude.
That image didn’t work when it was time to sell him to anyone ready to gleefully believe the perfect guy had made a big mistake.
“Janelle’s car is here,” I remind him that I have a way to get us home when I need to. He nods. “But,” I say, “If you want to help, you could move it to my parent’s house? I was going to later, but if I don’t have to leave Janelle, I’d feel better.”
Will furrows his brow and scowls. “Move her car?”
It’s no surprise that he thinks this is a task beneath someone like him. “Sorry,” I snap. “You said or something and I thought?—”
He holds up his hand to stop me, and I tense even more at him shutting me down. “I don’t understand why.”
I deflate. “The camera crew shows up at my parents’ house early on filming days. I don’t want a shot of Janelle’s car when it will be obvious it was here overnight. And they will notice.” Victoria has already been asking Janelle about Charlie.
He nods tightly, which I’m noticing is a trademark of his. He studies me, the way he did at dinner, searching every inch of my face. I don’t know what he’s looking for, but it makes heat prickle along my neck.
It’s making me realize IwantWill to see me for who I really am.
Why?
The way Charlie praised him at dinner comes to mind—how Will might have been responsible for getting Charlie a shot at Clemson. Maybe he can be judgmental and insensitive, but for the people he cares about? There’s more.
“Yeah, I can move her car.” He holds out his hands for the keys, and I pat my pockets, realizing I don’t have them. I put up a finger and quietly go back down the hall, open the door assilently as possible, retrieve them from Janelle’s bag, and then take them to Will.
“Thanks,” I tell him when I drop the keys into his outstretched hand.
He takes them without saying anything. I raise my eyebrow at his back as he leaves. Okay…
I frown as I watch out the window for the headlights. I can’t read him at all, and I don’t know what to make of him.
I head back down the hall to Charlie’s guestroom, not waiting for Will to come back. There was a tension in the air between us, and I’m not sure it was hatred anymore. It’s late. And maybe the dark, moody lighting in the house tricked me into seeing him differently, because Will Pemberton does not like me and I don’t like him. I’m not going to risk falling into some stupid spell of the night with him and regret it.
CHAPTER 9
WILL
It should not be this hard to focus on watching game film. It never has been for me.
I can’t stop thinking about Ellie.
I press pause on the Blues-Rays game from last week that I’ve been trying to watch. We’ve gone over film as a team, but I’m not going to be the best defensive player in the league without an A-plus effort and some extra credit.
I can’t focus on the Rays offense like I’ve been trying to. We play them in three days. I want to figure out all the ways I can sack Dash and get at least three or four big plays this game. In the past, most teams have overlooked the Rays, but they’ve built a solid team the last couple years. This game will be just as tough as playing our rivals, the Blues, in a few weeks. I want to be prepared for all the tricks the Rays offense has up its sleeve, but that’s hard when every few minutes I realize I’m pondering over my conversation with Ellie at Charlie’s last night. More of my judgments of her and her family’s TV show fell away when she pointed out that I do the same thing with the public image I present. No, I don’t share all the nitty-gritty things. I’m not in the same position as her. But she’s not wrong that I’ve chosenhowto present my story. That I’ve left out parts, maybe subconsciously,to prove to the world that I deserve to be a pro football player. That I didn’t buy my way in—which is what she insinuated. I didn’t like thinking about it that way, but that’s not exactly a lie either.
Ellie challenges me in a way people haven’t for a while. Yeah, my coaches and my teammates demand a lot from me on the field. Nobody calls me out like her. Forces me to think about things in ways I might not like.
She’s getting under my skin.
