“A private jet?” I raise both eyebrows. “The agency has a jet?”
“It’s not mine. There’s been a… a certain gentleman who’s been trying to get my attention for years. I was busy with other things, but after seeing you and Riley…” Renea’s eyes dart to me and then away.
“I’m happy for you, Renea.” I grin excitedly. The pain pills are starting to kick in and it makes me want to run a lap for the joy of it.
“Well, we should get going,” Renea says. She gives me a wave and heads to the door.
Chris edges past me with his suitcase. “May you and Riley’s love continue to inspire more people like this.” He laughs. “I’ll text you from the jet.”
“Chris, before you go, I wanted to mention something.”
My best friend sets his suitcases on the ground.
I lower my voice. “Riley told me the reason she quit her job and moved to Lucky Falls. And before you ask, I can’t tell you what it is, but I will say that she intentionally kept things vague for a reason. She doesn’t want your family making a big deal out of it and digging up the past.”
I give him a look that says ‘do you catch my drift’?
“It might be too late for that. Uncle Will said he was already hearing weird rumors about Riley making a mistake. Apparently, the AMT world is a small community.”
“It’s very important that you talk him down from investigating deeper, Chris. Riley doesn’t want the matter tampered with.”
“Got it.” He salutes. “I’ll physically restrain him if I have to. Tell Riley not to give this a second thought.”
I believe he’ll try his best. Riley is as important to Chris as she is to me.
Actually, I might care about Riley a tad more than her brother does, but that’s the competitive spirit in me wanting to win.
Chris and I bump shoulders and tap each other on the back in our classic greeting and then he’s out the door.
Alone in the house, I pull my jeans up to reveal more of the scars covered by myDeath Notetattoo. The leg isn’t visibly inflamed or anything, so I figure that I’m fine for now.
“Just get me through the month.” I talk to my leg as if it understands me. And who knows? They say talking to plants makes them grow, so why wouldn’t talking to my leg give it good vibes?
At this point, I’m desperate.
“The pick is tomorrow, and after that is league qualifiers. Just get me through the qualifiers and I’ll take you to the doctor and get you fixed up then.”
My leg doesn’t respond, obviously.
But if it did, it would probably call me a liar.
Because we both know that I’m not going back to the doctor. I narrowly escaped their harsh diagnosis once.
I won’t get so lucky again.
Chapter Fifty-Two
RILEY
Every seat in the conference room is filled.
Surprisingly, only half of the occupants are family members and friends of the potential Lucky Strikers. The rest of the room overflows with camera crew and journalists.
On the podium, I see a dozen different microphones boasting news station logos.
“Does Lucky Falls usually get this much coverage?” I ask.
Rebel, April, Cordelia and I decided to arrive together, and all the ladies look equally stunned by the frenzy of reporters.
