“Thank you,” I whisper, squeezing her hand.
“Any time.” Her eyes twinkle. “Speaking of Lourdes, here she comes.”
I glance up at my stepmother, who’s coming down the steps holding Lindy’s hand. Lindy breaks away the moment she sees me and rushes over to hug me. I catch a strange look from Lourdes but my focus is on my sister.
“Where did you go?” she demands. “You left after the pageant.”
“I wanted to do some shopping,” I lie, hugging her.
I introduce her and Lourdes to Billie, and I see the two women sizing each other up. There’s no doubt in my mind they know who the other one is in relation to Rome, but they’re both polite. A few of the other wives and girlfriends flew out for this game, so there are a lot of people we know around.
Luckily, the seats Dad got for us are several rows behind the seats Bodi got for Billie and me. I feel a tiny bit guilty about making dad waste money on a seat I’m not using, but Billie framed it as having a friend who had to back out of coming at the last minute.
Now I just have to work up the nerve to tell Lourdes I’m not going home with them tomorrow but driving back to L.A. with Billie for another game.
And quality time with the boyfriend very few people know I have.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Bodi
Losing the first game of the regular season is always a bummer. It was close, 2-1, with West scoring the only goal, but I got the assist so I don’t feel too bad. I just wish we could have pulled out a win.
And Coach Morrison is pissed.
He closed the locker room door after the game and let us have it. It was a little disconcerting to see that much rage after the very first game. We’re a new team, only a handful of us have played together before, and there are a few rookies on the team still finding their footing. The worst part, in my opinion, was how he went after Vik. Like he singlehandedly lost the game for us.
I’ve never seen a tirade quite like it.
So, we’re all quiet as we head back to the showers.
Vik doesn’t seem overly upset—probably because he only understood half of the things Coach said—but the team as a whole is subdued as we shower and dress in our street clothes. Billie is waiting to see me, so I hurry out to the area where guestsare allowed to wait. We’re not the home team so there isn’t any kind of lounge but that’s okay. I’m dying to hear what she thinks of Jayne and get a glimpse of Jayne too.
“Hey!” Billie runs forward and launches herself into my arms. “I missed you so much!”
“Me too.” I hug her tightly. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” Her eyes twinkle as she whispers, “And your girlfriend is a delight.”
Relief washes over me.
I figured they would get along but now that I know for sure, I can breathe. It would be a nightmare if Billie didn’t like her.
“You like her?”
“A lot. She’s smart and funny and she really seems to care about you, Bodi. I hope you’re not planning to screw this up.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence!” I say, shaking my head even though I know she’s kidding.
“We really had a good time during the game.”
“I hope we can spend more time together in L.A.”
“We came up with a plan.” She pauses. “Rome is looking forward to seeing you too.”
I chuckle. “You sure?”
