I smile, but I don’t feel it.
“With my grandma gone, I felt lost, so I put everything into cheerleading. My dream was to be the first male cheerleader to perform at an NFL game. Juju made me change colleges, and she came with me. We were the dream team.”
“Why do I feel like this story doesn’t have a happy ending?” he asks. His voice is gentle and soothing. I want to lean into it and let it lull me to sleep so I don’t have to remember the bad times.
“I’m here with you, aren’t I?” I ask, running my hand up his chest, smiling as his breath hitches under my touch. “That’s as happy an ending as I could ever wish for.”
“Curtis.”
I’m not sure if he’s saying my name as a warning to stop teasing him or bullshitting him.
“I had an injury eighteen months ago. The kind you don’t recover from if you want to be a professional cheerleader.”
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
I shrug. “Nothing to be done. I decided on a fresh start in Connecticut. I traveled a while before I settled on a place. I saw the advertisement to work as a barista at Spilled Beans in Chester Falls. When Indy, my boss, found out I could bake, he hired me on the spot. I love working there.”
“But you live in Windsor, right?”
I elbow him lightly. “Want to stalk me, Coach?”
He chuckles.
“Yeah. I couldn’t afford anything in Chester Falls, so I had to look farther out. It worked out well in Windsor because I overheard a few high school students mentioning cheerleading when I was out grabbing a coffee. I talked to them and then went over to the principal to ask if they were interested in starting a cheerleading program.”
Riley stares at me with a look of pure awe.
“Just like that. You went to the principal, pitched a program, and that was it?”
“Did you forget the part where I mentioned I’m adorable? I’m also irresistible.”
His brows furrow. “You and Principal—”
“What?” I stand from his lap and walk as far away from him as I can. “You think I’d sleep with someone to get a job?”
“No, of course not. Curtis.”
“Really? Because that’s what it sounded like to me. For your information, I was the best male cheerleader on my team. I was being fast-tracked for a special program at UK, until Harley…” I run to the bathroom and lock myself in. I can handle anyone making assumptions about me, but not Riley…not him.
Remembering what happened still makes me feel raw inside. Like I’m bleeding and someone keeps squeezing lemon juice on it.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll always be here for you,” Harley says.
“I’ll never cheer again.” Tears stream down my face as I lie on the hospital bed. “I’ll never dance. I’ll never be…me.”
“Hey, shh.” He kisses my forehead. “Don’t say those things. You don’t know. Maybe the doctors can help. Let me go outside and see if I can speak to someone, okay? I think Juju is on the way.”
“Thank you, Harley.”
“Anything for you, baby.”
Juju comes running inside the room. Her face pale and worried.
“Curtis. Please open the door.”
I don’t answer. I’m hurt by what he insinuated and angry that I’ve lowered my defenses to the point those words got to me. Words I’ve heard before and learned to ignore.
“Fight back with kindness, Bubble.”My grandma used to say. “Show them what you can do, and they can’t argue with the evidence.”
