Page 61 of Tempting the Player
“I don’t want to deal with telling this story again. I just want to sleep.” He throws an arm over his face.
“I’ll cover with Archer and Brogan, but at least talk to Knox. He was stressed that he couldn’t get to you faster.” I realize as I say it that it’s true. Knox has taken the brunt of the parenting when it comes to Flynn, and with that comes responsibility and pressure that I didn’t consider.
“Yeah, all right,” he agrees.
I scoot to the edge of the bed and stand. “Oh, and the other thing Mom did when I got into that fight was ground me for a week.”
He groans, then mutters, “Knew that was coming.”
By the time I cross his room, open the door and am closing it behind me, he already has the music blasting.
Knox stands from where he’s sitting on the arm of the couch. A protective fierceness in his eyes flashes as he walks toward me.
“He’s fine,” I say.
“What the hell happened? Jane said he got into a fight with some kid in the cafeteria.”
“I’ll let him tell you, but yeah, that’s basically it. He was defending a girl.”
Knox’s serious expression finally morphs back into the playfulness he shows the rest of the world. “I should have known it was over a girl.” He lets out a short chuckle. “Did he get suspended?”
“Yeah, three days.”
“Fuck, that sucks.”
“Yeah. The principal also mentioned his grades aren’t the best. He’s barely passing all his core classes.”
“Barely passing is passing,” Knox says. “Is he benched for the game this weekend?”
“No,” I say. “And they’re letting him attend practices after school.”
“Good. It’s the last regular game of the season before the conference tournament,” he adds, then crooks one arm behind his back to squeeze his neck. “How the hell are we going to get him to practice every day?”
“Shit. I didn’t think of that.”
“I’m working all week and I don’t think I can get anyone to cover. This attic job is hot and dirty, and nobody wants it.”
Now that he mentions it, he is covered in dirt pretty much from head to toe.
“I’ll figure it out.”
Knox doesn’t look convinced.
“I’ll figure something out. All right?”
He nods, takes a step toward Flynn’s room, and then looks back to glance at Jane and then me. “Did you take Ivy Greene to pick him up?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“I would have killed to see that. Pro football player Hendrick Holland and Hollywood star Ivy Greene walk into Valley High School...” He stops and grins. “It’s probably already hit TMZ.”
He succeeds in making me laugh. “Shut the fuck up. No one but the woman at the front desk and the principal saw either of us. And stop saying my name like that.”
“What? That is your name, isn’t it?” With that he knocks on Flynn’s door and then disappears inside.
I continue into the living room where Jane is hanging out with Archer and Brogan. The latter are playing video games while Jane sits at the end of the same couch with her laptop open in front of her. She looks up when I take a seat across from them.
“Hey.” She aims a small smile at me.
