Page 10 of Winging it with My Ex
“A PR manager’s dream come true?” Hadley deadpans.
Vivi looks up. “Hey, I’m your best friend before I’m a PR manager.” I’ll give her that. Vivi would bring a shovel and an alibi without asking Hadley a single question.
That seems to satisfy Hotter-Than-Hot Hadley. “All you had to do was fall in the pond solo, and none of this would be happening. I don’t need news vans in front of my school. I have kids to protect, you jerk.”
“I was falling. I didn’t mean to pull you with me. I promise.”
Her face falls almost too quickly to catch, but I do. “You promised a lot of things you didn’t deliver on,” she nearly whispers.
A lump rises in my throat.
With those words, she’s ground my heart on a cactus, and it’s got a million cuts. I can’t say anything to refute it. I made promises to both of us that I couldn’t keep.
“So what are you going to do to fix it? Go on one of these shows and tell them, under no uncertain terms, are we back together, dating, or anything else? And we never will be?”
“Uh…” Vivi says. “We were hoping…”
Hadley’s eyes go wide. “Nope. Hope isn’t floating here. Whatever scheme you’ve devised needs to be un-devised.”
“But we need this,” Vivi’s voice is soft. “The team is in trouble, Hadley.”
Hadley’s eyebrows wrinkle. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s been said about the team being in trouble.”
If Vivi keeps this up, she’ll be due an Oscar by the time this meeting’s over.
The team is good. More than good. I mean, they could afford to hire me. Not to brag.
Vivi said it would have the most impact if we just said nothing. So, we just stand there in silence.
Finally, Coach Kessler says, “That’s because we’ve managed to keep it out of the public, but we need something that will give the team attention.”
That last part is true. Coach does want the team to get more attention. It means more ticket sales, the Briarwood economy gets a boost, and everyone benefits—that’s if it doesn’t completely blow up once Hadley finds out that they’re helping me.
Knowing my luck, I’m on the Hellmouth, it’s the Buffy series finale, and my life is about to explode. Yes, I watched that show. It was Hadley’s favorite, and again, I loved her. A lot. A lot, lot.
Hadley takes a step back. “I’m still not doing whatever it is that has you three looking at me like I’m a key ingredient of whatever recipe you’re cooking up.”
“We just want you to pretend?—”
Hadley loses it. As in, she’s speaking at the sound of light, and in a pitch that I think only dogs can hear her.
I want to tell her the truth. That I didn’t leave just because I was young and stupid—but because my life was a mess… I partied when I left, did things I regret, all while my dad was in rehab, which I was paying for. Once he got out, I went to AA meetings with him and straightened my life up. Things were good. My dad was clean for nine years. He started his own business. Everything was going okay, I thought.
Vivi stands and gives a timeout. “You two.” She points to me and Coach. “Out. I need to talk to my best friend.”
Hadley clamps her lips together and crosses her arms over her chest, and I realize right then that it would be easier to baptize a herd of cats than to talk my ex-girlfriend into doing anything that involves me.
I think Vivi’s plan is great in theory, but in action, I’ve just been sent to the sin bin for the rest of the season.
I slump into a chair, rubbing my thumb over the worn photo in my wallet—Mom, Dad, and me at my first high school hockey game. Before everything fell apart. Before I made the hardest choice of my life.
“You okay, kid?” Coach’s hand lands on my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I tuck the photo away. “Just hoping for a second chance I probably don’t deserve.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “Those are the only kind worth fighting for.”
seven
