Page 93 of The Fake
“Look at these tanks.” Emily holds up a yellow sleeveless shirt with blue horizontal stripes. “It looks like a bumblebee costume.”
“Ooooh.” Sydney yanks it out of her hands. “I love it.”
Emily rolls her eyes. “Of course, you do.”
Over the next hour, we condense twenty boxes to eight and sweep out the closet. Tomorrow the plan is to wipe down shelves and organize and label the boxes. All things considered, not a terrible way to spend an afternoon.
“You guys wanna grab Chinese and watchNew Girl?” Sydney asks, and I want to hug her for trying to act like things are totally normal.
“I can’t. My parents are in town. Heads up, they’re probably going to want to stop by and see the place.”
“Must hide dildo. Got it.” Emily smiles. “Bri?”
She shakes her head. “No thanks, I’m going to stick around and work on some drills.”
Emily groans. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. My whole body hurts.”
She and Sydney look like they’re waiting for me to walk out with them. I wave them off.
When it’s just me and Bri, she gives me the stiffest smile ever and heads toward her locker. I follow behind her and wait while she rummages inside and pulls out her phone and headphones. She catches me out of her peripheral and raises both eyebrows. She still doesn’t speak though.
“I’m sorry and thank you. I really appreciate what you did.”
She nods and brushes past me.
“Wait.”
She pauses without turning around.
“Can I do some drills with you? We could work on some passing.”
“Look, you don’t need to do this.” She turns and motions between us. “Make nice or whatever. I didn’t do it for you.”
“Okay.”
She crosses her arms at her waist. “The best thing for the team is having you on it, as much as it pains me to admit it. Plus, I knew even you weren’t dumb enough to bring drugs to an away game like party favors.”
I stay silent but hold my ground and finally she relents. “Fine, but we’re doing blocking drills not passing.”
I hide my smile. “Whatever you want.”
* * *
My mom laughs as I hug her. “You smell like a locker room, but I’ve missed my baby too much to care.”
“I’m sorry.” I pull back to check for damage, but she looks perfect as usual. “I didn’t have time to shower. Bri and I were working on some partner drills.” I turn to my dad and throw my arms around him. “I missed you guys so much.”
My dad motions to the hostess to let him know we’re ready to be seated, and we’re led to a table in the middle of the restaurant of the same Italian place we came for the team dinner. The waiter takes our drink order and we settle in.
“Despite needing a shower,” my mom says with a teasing smirk. “You look good.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
My dad plays with the wine menu, not looking it over but holding it and tapping it lightly against the table. “Your mom said you weren’t allowed to play Saturday. Sounds like your coach is an idiot. You’re the best player they’ve got.”
So this is it… jumping right into it. My chest squeezes, and my face warms. “It was a misunderstanding. Coach did what she thought was right.”
He scowls.
