“The way coach is fawning over him? A week. Maybe two. I heard him talking to Mr. Isaac about getting out of here earlier. He and his wife are going to buy an RV and see America. He doesn’t want to be here, which means we’re stuck with Hove.”
“Did Jacob say anything to you?”
Tate released the bag and dropped on a weights bench close to where I was sitting. “He didn’t need to. A look was all it took. You know what he’s like. It was the way he’d look at me when I’d ask him to throw the ball with me.”
“T, I know you’re frustrated—”
“I’m fucking beyond frustrated.”
“Language.”
Tate turned and looked at me with exasperation. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously. At least until after your college interviews next year. Heathens need not apply. As for Jacob, steer clear as much as you can, do your best on the field and if he fucks with you—”
“Come to you or Drew. Yeah, you said already.” He ground his jaw, his leg jumping as his foot tapped against the mat.
“It’s not going to be easy.”
“No shit. The worst part of it all is that everyone is welcoming him back like some unsung hero. He walks around that place like he owns it. The douchebag even winked at some of the girls like he was some Hollywood pretty boy. The team thinks this is an amazing turn of events and the principal couldn’t say enough about how lucky we were to have him.”
I made a gagging motion, and the first sign of humor appeared on Tate’s face in the form of his lips twitching at the edges.
“He always was good at selling to a crowd.”
“He should sell some cars then.”
I lifted a leg and kicked Tate in the knee playfully. I hated seeing him so down and pissed off about something he loved to do. I hoped to hell that the situation wouldn’t taint his love of the game. I hoped even more that Jacob would see what an asset Tate was to the team and not mess with him every chance he got. The group of people I would fight for had grown in the past year, but Tatewasmy blood, and I would make sure he was happy. I would make sure he had every available path to seeing his dream come true.
“We’re gonna get through this.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to make sure this works somehow.”
“I know you will.”
I nodded, satisfied with his reaction and the calm that was slowly crawling back over him.
“You also need to apologize to Libby.”
“Fuck,” he dragged the word out and put up his hand as I opened my mouth to admonish him. “I know… language.”
“Thank you.”
We sat in silence for a while. I stared at the bag, wondering at its magical qualities to give men their power of thought back, and I was almost certain Tate was having a one-sided conversation with Libby in his head. The girl was crazy about him, even if she refused to admit that fact to herself. She’d just fallen for him when his hormones were going stupid and his brain was struggling to keep up with the growth of his body. She had the patience of a saint, but even that would only last so long.
“Ayda?” I glanced up and saw Kenny slipping in through the door, his hands pushed into his back pocket as his glance moved between Tate and me. “Tate.”
“Brows,” Tate mumbled, his hands clasping and hanging together between his legs.
Tate really wanted to talk now, and I knew when it was my cue to leave. With my hands on my knees, I pushed up and gave Kenny a smile of thanks.
“Don’t forget to do your homework,” I said over my shoulder and pushed out of the building, blinking in the bright February sun.
When the black dots in my vision were blinked into submission, the yard rolled out ahead of me, and at the otherend, leaning against the porch rail of The Hut, I spotted Drew. Picking up my pace, I skipped to a stop in front of him, my forehead landing on his shoulder with a painless thud.
“The rest of this school year is gonna suck,” I said, dragging out the last syllable.
