No scandals. No attention. That was all he needed. Shit. The anger hardened his shoulders and his jaw, and apparently, his gaze too, because Fox looked more and more confused.
“Do you have a crush on Penelope Clark too, or why is it bothering you so much?”
He snorted. He had never had acrushin his life. “We’re about to go to the playoffs. We don’t need the media circus,” he replied darkly, and it was at least part of the truth.
“You’re right,” Fox muttered, narrowing his eyes. “But stop putting so much pressure on yourself. It wasn’t your fault last year that we…”
“Of course it was.”
His friend sighed. “Yeah, okay, but it was a shitty time,” he said gently. “You couldn’t think straight, and no one can blame you for that.”
Yes. And it was the only reason he had pushed Anna into the cloakroom in the first place. He hadn’t been thinking straight. But that was six months ago – things were different. He should have known better.
His cell phone rang. It was on the treadmill display with a single word flashing.
“ ‘Her’ is calling,” Fox read, raising his eyebrows. “Who isher?”
“None of your business.” Moreau’s jaw cracked as he pulled the phone out.
Fox shook his head, grinning. “You always say you’re not mysterious, but when I see something like that…”
“It’s not mysterious!”
“Then answer the phone.” Fox looked at him challengingly.
Fuck. But what choice did he have? Nobody knew about Anna. And he certainly wouldn’t give his best friend the chance to put two and two together.
So he picked up. “Hm?”
“Hey,” came a hesitant female voice that he had heard moaning more often than speaking. “How…how are you?”
He didn’t answer, but clenched his hand.
Anna cleared her throat. “Yeah, well. Um. Tell me…are you watching TV right now, by chance?”
He gritted his teeth. Guilt made her voice hoarse, as if she were about to come. “Hm,” he said.
“Oh.” Silence. “So…you know?”
He remained silent because most of the time, words weren’t even necessary.
“Shit.”
Yep.
“I thought the press conference was tomorrow. I was preparing for the exam and forgot, I…” She swallowed audibly. “I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”
“Aha.”
“You’re not alone, are you?”
“No.”
“But you’re angry.”
He refrained from saying yes.
She sighed heavily. “Can we talk about it? I wanted to warn you, really.”
