“Good thinking,” I admit, nodding.
He smiles and I’m confident it’s flirty.
“We put together the flyers and stuff for your approval,” Winston says, nodding to the folder in front of me. “We also have a few ideas in there for the community fundraiser that we can invite the other teams to participate in.”
“Which are you leaning toward?” I ask.
“Well,” he starts, glancing at Eli. “Even though the timing isn’t going to benefit us this year, we thought a big bash at the end of the year that revolves around a potluck. Between all the teams and athletic staff, if everyone brings a single dish, that’s more than two hundred dishes. We think the teams should eat free, but we’d charge everyone else. Depending on how many people commit to bringing a dish, we could even open it up to the town. We’d set a minimum entrance fee of somethingreasonable, like $15 or something, but encourage donations for more.”
A part of me wants to argue that we won’t need the fundraising efforts next year because Hansley will be gone and therefore, we’ll get our budget back. However, I think that might be considered bad form, so I keep those thoughts to myself.
Instead, I nod.
“We have some time to work it out,” Eli says.
“Sounds good. You’ve done a lot of work when you shouldn’t have to. I appreciate it,” I tell them.
“We’ve been having fun with this,” Winston admits, shrugging. “It almost feels like taking a break from all the studying and workouts to do something creative and mindless.”
My poor, sweet boys. So brave of them to try to convince me they’re having fun. “Thank you, boys.”
With smiles, they get up and head for the door. Peyton lingers and I sit up.
“Peyton. Think you can open the window for me?” I ask, pointing to the one that’s being stubborn.
He beams and comes back into the office. I watch as he seemingly effortlessly lifts the window, and I give him a demure look when he turns to me. Pretty sure I loosened it for him. I tap my nails on the desk. “Thank you.”
“No problem, Coach,” he says and heads for the door. He pauses just inside with his hand on the handle. “It’s really kind of a bummer that staff can’t bid on the dates with athletes,” he admits, offering me a cheeky smile before leaving.
I roll my eyes but can’t keep the smile from my face. He’s a good kid. A fantastic football player.
Once I’m alone in my office, I get back to my feet and look out the window. Hansley’s gone. The picnic table they’d been at now has a handful of students.
Frowning, I go back to my desk and open my laptop. I watch absently as the email notifications pop up. I hate email. Worst invention ever. Thankfully, my inbox is now down to twenty-eight unread messages, which are just those that have accumulated since my work-study student left on Friday. She’ll be back later this afternoon.
Just as I’m turning away, one catches my attention.
HOCKEY TEAM RECEIVES ANOTHER CORPORATE SPONSOR—GO RDU HORNS!
Narrowing my eyes, I do something I haven’t done in years. I click on the email. Ew. I already feel gross. But my scowl picks up more when I read the contents of the email.
Congratulations, Horns, for your acquisition of another corporate sponsor—MTE Bank. We’re so proud of you!
As you know, our hockey team has geared up this year to reshape their presence at the school. With MTE’s very generous contribution, this brings the Horn’s new sponsors up to eleven! This one comes from defenseman Braxton Malls, who has been working with the bank in their efforts every winter to amass books to promote literacy in youth.
Thank you for your support, MTE Bank!
If you’d like to take a look at how our hockey team is building their presence in the community and on campus, check out their page on our website.
The Horns are also looking to redesign their logo! If you’re interested in participating and submitting your idea, click here.
I can’t help myself; I click the link to their webpage.
It’s filled with things. And sure enough, running along the top in a continuous stream are the logos of their sponsors.
The page is filled with pictures, stories, and event listings. I hate everything about it. It’s so cluttered and filled with crap. You have to scroll all the way to the bottom to even see the headshots of the coaches and the players!
Out of curiosity, I poke around until I find the football team’s page. There’s a stationary wallpaper of sponsors at the top, which I’m very happy to see that we have a whole bunch. Then there are the three players who were drafted last year to the NFL. Then comes our schedule. Below that are the headshots of me and my coaches, then our team.
