Page 107 of Striking Heat
“As if you haven’t taken enough,” she says snidely. “You’re the captain, and now you get articles written about you. You take all of the shots without passing to your wings, and then you get special treatment when you sleep with the man who is writing the article about you.”
“That’s not what happened. I was picked by Cromwell for the captain spot and for the article. I had nothing to do with that,” I defend myself to her, although I’m not sure that it’s going to do anything for me at this point.
“Oh, so Cromwell is the one you’re blowing. That makes so much more sense. So, is Danny Taylor just for fun? Or did you figure out that his dad is that NFL guy and there’s money there.”
I step back from the table, unsure what to say. I wasn’t aware the girls were feeling this way about the article or my captain spot.
“I thought we were a team,” I say. “I talked a lot about the team in the article, and he spoke to so many of you.” My voice trails off and I look over at my friends for help.
Cami comes over and takes my plate to the table, but she doesn’t say a word.
“I’m sorry,” I tell Marci. “I’m sorry if you think things have been unfair. I don’t want them to be that way. I only agreed to the article because they said it would be a good thing for the team.” I point to August and Coach Watts, who are standing at the edge of the team room. “I didn’t mean for it to cause division. I was onlytrying to help.” My eyes tear up, and I repeat, “I was only trying to help.”
“Well, it seems like you only helped yourself,” she says before walking away from me.
I turn and see the girls are all staring at me like they’re waiting for more. “I didn’t mean to fall in love, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll give him up. This team, this game, is more important than him.” I say the words, but I hate myself for doing it. I would give him up if I had to; I just don’t want to.
“No one expects that from you,” Hendrix says, speaking up. “Let’s remember something here, ladies. Mac isn’t the enemy. It’s our job to come together and support her. She’s family. You may not always agree with family and what they do, but you have to stand beside them. That’s our job. Nothing more, nothing less. This judgment shit needs to end, got it? Get your shit together and let it go.” She sits back down.
Tears prick my eyes as I grab a Gatorade and head to my table with my friends and teammates. Kelsey is sitting there with us. I’m not sure how she feels. Does she agree with Marci? I just give her a sheepish smile.
“They’ll all be fine,” she says to me, patting me on the back.
“I hope so. I didn’t mean…” I realize no one is really listening to me, so I just let my next words die on my tongue.
That’s the way the rest of the dinner goes. I stay quiet and just eat. The girls are talking about the game tomorrow and about some of the players we need to watch out for. I decide not to add anything. I figure I’ve done and said enough. I let Cassie and Henny take the lead.
When I finally go to leave, Andie grabs my arm. “Chin up, Mac.”
I just nod and leave the team room and stadium.
Cindy stops me on the way out. “Make sure that if anyone asks any questions about you and Danny, I’m there. We want to contain this, okay?” She pleads with me with her eyes.
“Yeah, okay. got it,” I reply and continue to walk.
I wait until I get home to cry. I guess I didn’t get out of this without any burns like I thought I did. Here I thought Danny took the brunt of it. He just took the blowback right away, while mine was waiting for me. And who knows when it will get better. Looking at a few of the articles that were written about me and Danny online, I decide that it might be a little longer until things are back to whatever normal we can have. If it ever happens.
Chapter Forty-Two
~DANNY~
The last few days have been a little crazy. There have been so many articles written about the kiss that some bloggers saw me give Mac outside of the diner. It’s kind of become our place, and Sal waits on us. I like it there. Or at least I did, until it became the place where my name got splashed all over the papers. I wait for my father to give me a call, but that doesn’t happen. Instead, he has someone call me—his publicist, Jessica.
“Hello, Jessica,” I say, recognizing her number on my caller ID from all the other times she’s had to call me for my father. “What do I owe the pleasure?”
“Your dad asked that I check in and see if you were doing alright. There has been some press, and he’s worried about you,” she explains.
“Is he worried about me or his name?” I ask her snidely.
She sighs into the phone. “I just need to know if you need anything. I’m told you dropped your firm, so you have no one to help you. He wanted to make sure I helped you if it came to that.”
I nod, even though she can’t see it. I’m trying to find the right words here because I know it’s not her fault. I know my father,the great Garret Taylor, is just making sure this blowback won’t hit him too hard. It’s not really about me.
“Tell Garret that I’m fine. I won’t speak to anyone. I know the drill. And I think most of the heat will be on her.”
“Are you still planning on going to her games?” she asks.
I scoff into the phone. “I want to support her. She’s had a rough day. The players are even starting to turn on her.”
