He stepped closer, leaves crunching underfoot. He was near enough now that I could smell him. I kept waiting to be hit by some off-putting aroma, like stale beer or a suffocatingly intense cologne. Instead, Parker’s scent was subtle, familiar. It was the smell of fresh laundry and sun-warmed cotton. I decided to breathe through my mouth.
“So, today didn’t go well…” he started.
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Seth and Jansen were trying to do my job for me in the third period, and I know it was because of whateveryousaid to them. All they did was get in my way.”
“You looked like you needed the help.”
“Well, thatdidn’thelp.”
“What else was I supposed to do?”
“How about you trust me?” I shook my head. “I don’t need protecting. I get enough of that from my dad.”
He straightened his back and a serious look entered his eyes. I knew he must regret asking me to join the team. But I was the one who had been let down—and not just because of what he’d done in the game today.
Parker had convinced me to try out, smuggled me in, gave my dad no choice but to pick me and then, in the middle ofour first game, decided I couldn’t hack it. Now he was blaming me. Screw this.
I started moving back toward the house, but when I brushed past him, I felt his hand on my arm.
“I do,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“I trust you.”
There was something so sincere in his expression, it took me a moment to regroup. My voice held a little less edge as I replied, “Then why did you send your little sidekicks to stand guard at my side during the final period?”
Parker paused, a frown crossing his features. He usually spat out the first thing that came to mind, and I couldn’t work out what was different right now.
“I wasn’t thinking,” he said. “Is that what you want to hear?”
He hesitated, and I realized I was holding my breath as I waited for him to continue.
“Before the game, when you told me how scared you were, I didn’t blame you.” He suddenly realized his hand was still resting gently on my arm and he pulled it back. “I harassed you into joining the team. And then you only got one practice. I didn’t want you to have such a bad experience that you decided to quit after one game.” He was looking at the ground, but then his blue eyes darted up and locked with mine. “I need you.”
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.
“We,” he quickly corrected himself, shaking his head. “The team, I mean. You’re good, Mackenzie. Really good. We’ve got no chance without you. I messed up today, and I’m sorry, butwe’ve still got two more games.”
His eyes were soft and his expression unguarded. Like he meant every word he said.
“Well, I don’t see the next two games being any better. I’m not getting the coaching I need at practice, and even if I was, I’m never going to succeed when my own teammates are undermining me. Thanks to you, everyone now thinks I need Jansen’s oversized ass to save shots for me.”
He blew out a long breath as he ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine.”
“Okay, fine, what?”
“You’ve made your point.” His lips started curving with the return of his famous mischievous smile. “I’ll make it up to you.”
I already didn’t like where this was going. “What? How?”
“I’ll help you.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Isn’t that the reason we’re in this mess in the first place?”
