Page 71 of What Are the Chances
I could feel Will watching me, but I refused to look his way.
“I work part-time,” I lied. “I couldn’t commit to coming to all of the games.”
“That’s a shame,” Richard remarked. “I spoke to Coach Hall and–”
My heartrate skyrocketed. “You spoke to Coach Hall about me?”
“Yes,” Richard went on, not picking up on my alarm. “And he agreed to bring you on for the remainder of the season. I won’t be able to substitute your entire assessment, but I’ll talk to your course counsellor about negotiating a change to your overall grade.”
I was doing my best to focus on what Richard was saying, but it was getting harder and harder. If I’d wanted to put myself through the torture of being in close quarters with the players and coach, I would’ve applied to begin with.
“Even if you start with the games you can make, the experience will be great for you. And if all goes well, I’d happily write you a letter of recommendation at the end of the season.”
The opportunity was more than any student in my class could hope for. Almost everyone I knew had applied for the program and only two had been successful.
“Can I think about it?” I asked weakly.
Richard looked a little taken aback, but he nodded. “You’ve got my email. Our next game is on Wednesday night.” He clapped Will on the shoulder. His good shoulder luckily. “I’ll catch you both later.”
Once he was gone, silence fell over the room. I’d really enjoyed working on the hockey injuries. It was certainly an area I was eager to explore further, and if I could work with a college team, it would be a jumpstart when applying for jobs after graduation. But it was more complicated than that. It always had been when it came to Phil-U’s hockey team.
“Dover?”
I blinked back to the present. I’d almost forgotten Will was still here.
Distracted, I shook my head. “Sorry. You’re good to head off.”
Will didn’t move. “Where did you go just then?”
I honestly wanted to tell him. I used to love talking to Will. He’d always been my favourite person to talk through my day with, or text when random things happened, or use as a sounding board to make decisions. But I couldn’t talk to him about this. There was someone else I needed to have this conversation with, and the thought of picking up my phone to call my dad made me anxious.
“Nowhere.”
After holding my gaze for a moment longer, Will got to his feet. “I’ll see you Wednesday?”
He was looking at me in question, as though he was giving me an out. He was right in his message earlier. I needed this as much as he did. If I didn’t have a class soon, I would’ve been tempted to kickstart our arrangement right now. Though that ruined the clause I’d given myself.Only on game days.To help him. To help the team.
I raised my eyes to meet his. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
You need a plan b
WILL
I’d just stepped out of my last lecture for the day when my phone began to ring. Stepping aside and out of the way of foot traffic, I checked the incoming call.
“Hey, dad.”
“William.”
My dad was the only person on the planet who used my full name. More than half the team assumed Will wasn’t an abbreviation for anything else. I never went by William. I was even enrolled at Phil-U as Will.
“I had time between meetings and thought I would check in. How’s school?”
“Fine. I just left a lecture.”
“For the accounting elective?”
