This woman. I wonder if she realizes how good her words make me feel. I’ve always heard such amazing things about the girls and Cade, but I love it most when she says these things about me.
“And Karla,” she teases. “She’s even better than you.”
Finally, the laugh she’s working hard to get out of me tumbles out.
Feeling oddly confident, I lean over and pull her into my lap. With a yelp, she wraps her arms around me as I shift our bodies downward until my head is propped up by the arm rest and her head is on my chest.
Mallory Edwards is in my arms and I’m in heaven.
“Is this okay?” I ask, trying to slow my heartbeat.
“Yeah. Totally fine.” She clears her throat, sounding totally not fine. “How mad would you be if I told you this was all part of some elaborate prank right now?”
I bury my face in her hair and smile as she presses play on the television. “Furious.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Even the most solidteams have issues. Which explains why I’m two hours away from Clear Lake in the middle of nowhere with mine.
After a fight between two freshmen during practice, Coach Sumner shipped us off for the long weekend to his vacation home. No ifs, ands, or buts. Coach doesn’t do drama, and as captain, it’s my job to make sure there’s none before we head home Sunday afternoon.
I’ve got three days to get this team together.
My teammates lounge on the beige, shaggy carpet, their eyes scanning the colorful three-day itinerary I made. Every event I chose for this weekend has been selected to encourage team bonding and communication, which is good because the two reasons we’re here are shooting daggers at each other from opposite sides of the room.
Adri’s hand shoots up like we’re in a classroom. “Why are we waking up at six tomorrow morning? I sleep until noon on Fridays. You’re taking away my beauty sleep on this wonderful, long weekend, Cap.”
I pop a cracker into my mouth. “It’s calledsunriseyoga. Not afternoon yoga. Coffee and tea will be ready before, and breakfast will be served right after. And yes, I got the peppermint coffee creamer you’re obsessed with.”
“I knew you loved me,” Adri says. She jabs a finger in Shay’s direction. If looks could kill, Shay would be on death row. “What are you going to do about this one?”
Everyone shivers, remembering how cranky Shay is in the morning.
“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with her. I brought a spray bottle and my foam sword, so don’t mess with me, Shaylene,” I warn her, and her murderous expression fades.
The other night when I stopped by Cade’s to pick up his speaker, Kenneth and Cade were busy chasing each other around the house and beating the hell out of each other with foam swords. Neither noticed me standing at the door, watching them for over five minutes. The photo I took of Kenneth sitting on Cade’s back still makes me laugh.
Shay and I bought our own this morning.
“Why would you pair me withherfor the three-legged race?” Gemma, reason number one we’re here, yells.
Ivy, reason number two, rolls her eyes. “Stop acting dense. We’re here because your feelings got hurt about not starting in the last scrimmage.”
Ah, so this is the reason why we were banished by Coach Sumner. Damn him for making me babysit.
“You two, stop it,” I say. “Everybody except for Gemma and Ivy, out. Feel free to explore the property. Don’t forget your phones and a flashlight, and I mean arealflashlight. Not just the one on your phone. Grab one from the bucket by the door, and remember we are in the middle of the woods. No broken ankles. No falling in the creek. Come back by six for dinner.”
My teammates scatter quickly. It’s clear they’d like to avoid drama.
Once we’re alone in the house, I put on my captain hat. “You guys do realize that we’re all spending our long weekend in the middle of nowhere because of you two, right?”
They nod. “Sorry, Mally.”
“No need to apologize for that. I’ll never complain about team time, but I need you guys to work this out. You have an opportunity to move forward this weekend. While you might be competitors in a way, you’re also teammates. I’m not saying you need to be besties, but teammates have a special bond too.” I walk to the cooler and grab a water bottle. Gemma and Ivy both start to speak, and I shake my head. “Take the weekend to figure it out. If my bonding activities don’t work, then we can talk. But I would advise you fix this soon, because if Coach has to get involved, it won’t be pretty.”
Without another word, I exit the living room. Instead of walking to the bedroom to finish unpacking, I press my back against the wall and wait.
After an agonizing silence, Gemma finally speaks. “If you make us lose the three-legged race, I’m going to hate you forever.”
