Page 114 of Stealing for Keeps
“Better,” I say.
“What time is it?” he asks.
“We’re late,” Vaughn says, opening my bedroom door, but instead of stepping out, he comes to a halt and mutters a curse under his breath that has both me and Austin craning our necks to figure out what’s going on.
The door swings open, and Coach Collins steps in, surveying the room with a scowl. He looks like he was the one who was up all night. His hair is sticking up, and his five-o’clock shadow is more pronounced.
My mom stands behind him.Oh no.
“Son,” he says to Vaughn in a hard, clipped tone. “Keller. You both missed practice.”
Austin’s eyes widen.
“Oh shit,” he says under his breath.
“Yeah, oh shit,” Coach says dryly. “The bus leaves in an hour, and if either of you aren’t on it, you’re cut from my team. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Austin says.
“Dad, I—”
“Not now.” His dad closes his eyes briefly and shakes his head. “Do you understand?”
They both nod their agreement.
“I got the flu,” I tell him, feeling like I’m the one in trouble. Coach C is scary when he’s mad.
“I hope you feel better, Claire,” he says, then looks at Vaughn. “You can find your own way home. I’m sorry forthe interruption this morning, Ms. Crawford,” Coach says. “We’re all just leaving.”
“Claire, what were you thinking?” my mom hisses. She looks so disappointed in me, but it’s become such a common reaction that it’s hard to continue to be upset about it.
“I wasn’t,” I admit. “I got sick.”
“We’ll talk about this later.” She huffs, then smiles at Coach. “Let me walk you out.”
I can hear her apologizing and assuring him that she has no idea what I was thinking having boys in my room all night. I fall back into bed, too tired to care.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Austin
The bus ride is quiet. I’m tired, and my head is not on soccer, but I’m on my feet ready to go as soon as we pull up to the curb outside the school. Vaughn and I rush the door at the same time. The hard set of his jaw is as good an indication as any that the few words we exchanged last night didn’t fix the situation.
I let him go first and fall into step behind him. We change and prepare to take the field for warm-ups. Coach hasn’t spoken to anyone. He doesn’t even come into the locker room for our pregame pep talk. I’m glad. I don’t know if I can handle the disappointed look in his eye that he gave me this morning.
I shouldn’t have missed practice, but I’d do it all over again to be there for Claire when she needed me. Besides, it was just a walk-through to go over a few last-minute reminders for today’s game. Rowan gave me the rundown, and it doesn’t sound like I missed much.
I don’t know if the rest of the team who weren’t at my house last night know what’s going on with me andVaughn, but everyone gives me space as I try to push out everything else and focus.
When the whistle blows indicating the end of warm-ups, we jog over to the sideline for final words from Coach. I’m ready to play. The field is the one place I’ve always been able to block it all out, and I want that today more than ever.
I’m not sorry about Claire, not about falling for her and not about taking care of her last night, but now it’s time to get to work. This opportunity is everything, and if that means putting my differences with Vaughn aside, that’s what I’m going to do. When I glance over and catch his eye, I think he feels the same. I know what soccer means to him too. We may not have a lot of common ground right now, but we both want to win today.
“All right, Knights,” Coach says, ducking his head down so we can hear him over the crowd for the game. We’re playing Ralley today. They have a good turnout of fans to cheer them on, and lots of Frost Lake families made the trip as well. “Ralley is looking sharp. They’ll come out strong and try to control the pace. Keep your heads. Make them play at our tempo.” He looks around the circle, and we all nod along, letting his words soak in and fill us with hope and determination. “Eli and Eddie, you’re taking Vaughn and Austin’s spots today.”
Wait, what? My head snaps up, and an icy dread trickles down my spine.
“You can’t do this,” Vaughn says. “You need us.”
