Page 28 of Not that Impressed
“Maybe he doesn’t know.”
“Maybe,” Janelle says, but she sounds skeptical.
The flap on the envelope isn’t sealed. I lift it and take out the letter. It’s plain notebook paper, ripped from a top-bound spiral notebook and even has the uneven edges still at the top. Will’s handwriting fills the front and back of the page. It’s careful and neat. The spacing on everything is so even, it looks like it could have been typed in his handwriting, and that feels so like Will even though I don’t even know him that well.
“I’m sure there’s an explanation. Maybe it’s in there.” Janellegestures to the letter. She pats me softly on the leg. “I’m going to go lay down for a bit, but please don’t hesitate to call for me if you need anything. Or if you find out the real story.”
“Maybe.” I stare at the letter some more, taking a sip of my tea as she gets up to leave. Finally I dive in.
Ellie,
Hopefully Janelle has explained that this is not me asking you out again. Just in case, I’ll promise again: This is not me asking you out again. You were super clear what you thought about that. And I know it’s weird to write a letter, but with your concussion, I thought this was the best way to get the information across.
I know you don’t have any reason to trust what I’m about to say about my side of the story that Hollis told you. I called my cousin Anna to make sure she was okay with me telling you this, and she said you’re also welcome to call her to confirm what I’m saying. Anna is the woman Grayson is talking about in whatever story he told you.
I can almost hear the tight way Will would say “story” here if he were talking to me, and it puts me on edge. Except … if the woman Grayson was referring to is Will’s cousin and she’ll confirm anything Will says? That means they both deserve the benefit of the doubt. Especially Anna. But maybe Anna is just like Will—entitled, thoughtless, and covering up for something that was her fault too.
I continue reading, anxious to find out what went down.
Hollis met Anna at one of the Pumas service projects last year. She liked him, but Anna’s shy and reserved around guys. Hollis was … aggressive. Anytime Anna said no, it was a challenge to him. He gaslit her, accusing her of playing hard to get and saying that if she wasn’t interested, she would ghost him like all the other snobby girls. (Ellie, believe me. I wouldn’t make this up. I have the receipts, screenshots of the texts in case Anna needs them. You can see them if you want.) Then, at a party for the team when we won the east division, he went too far, cornering Anna in an empty room. I won’t go into all the details. That’s not what this letter is about. Know that it could’ve been worse and it wasn’t, but it was bad enough.
I clench my jaw and then release it as a spike of pain shoots through the back of my head. I don’t know how to feel, knowing that Will called her to check in before he told me this, or the idea that if she’d been uncomfortable with him telling me, he would have gone on letting me believe whatever Grayson told me is the truth about the situation.
It also proves there’s no way Will would make this up.
Why would Grayson feed me a story that’s easily disproved? I misjudged both men. It was so easy to dislike Will and so easy to like Grayson.
I don’t exactly want to keep reading. Anna’s story is the kind that infuriates me. That happens too often and nobody will do anything about it. It’s also one of those things I can’t look away from now.
Anna refused to report him. These kinds of situations with football players always make big headlines, and we’ve both seen how the women are talked about when they do report. How they’re ruining some poor guy’s life. I don’t blame her.
This is the part where I did play the part of Will Pemberton, entitled football player, future MVP, and one of the biggest reasons the Pumas have a championship ring.
I have an approving smile as I think about him marching off somewhere on a mission to avenge Anna. And maybe some of the warmth from the night he returned Janelle’s car comes back. One of the things I’ve been trying not to remember about yesterday is the way he so easily swept me up into his arms,how solid his chest was, and how gently he held me and then set me down in his car. How quickly he rushed to take care of me even when I’d made it clear I didn’t like him. I press a hand to one of my heated cheeks.
I went straight to the GM. He has a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of situations with the players, and I laid it all out. Yes, Hollis got fired. And yes, when other teams call to ask why, Forester tells them what happened without giving them Anna’s name. It’s why no one else has signed him, and it’s actually restored some of my faith in this league. I know I can trust you with this information, and I hope it at least explains my actions around Hollis.
I’m sorry for the misunderstanding between us, and I hope you recover quickly.
Will
Whoa.
I set the letter in my lap. I just had Janelle text Grayson that I’d call him soon. Ugh. I never want to talk to him again.
And Will. I have to rework all my opinions of Will. He’s arrogant. He’s grumpy. He’s…
He might be a really good guy.
“Ellie?” Janelle’s voice snaps me from the reverie.
“I thought you were laying down,” I say.
She shrugs. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what might be in that letter. Hoping it explains about him and Grayson.”
“It does,” I confirm with a cringe.
I don’t even want to repeat what Grayson did to Will’s cousin. I might puke if I do. Grayson better hope he never crosses one of my family members because I wouldn’t stop with getting him fired. I hand Janelle the letter, and I know which parts she’s reading from the gasps and murmurs of sympathy as she does.
