Page 84 of Keep Me

When we come down after our highs, we snuggle in bed together and as we drift closer and closer to sleep, one thought dominates my mind.

I love this girl.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Camille

Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.

I repeat the mantra to myself as I walk down the hallway toward Coach Warren’s office before the game today. He emailed me early this morning and told me we needed to meet, and I’ve been stressed ever since.

Did he somehow find out about what happened in the locker room? Did Travis say something or did we miss a copy?

The anxious thoughts don’t stop. In fact, they triple when I sit across from him.

“Camille, thanks for coming to see me. I know you are usually busy filming the team, but we need to talk.” His gruff voice fills the quiet space of his office.

We need to talk, are the worst four words I’ve heard in the English language. No matter what the context is, they make me feel like I’ve done something wrong.

“Of course. What did you want to talk about?” I ask, appearing calm and confident. If there’s one thing I appreciate about my upbringing, it’s all of the skills I was taught, one of them being to hide my true emotions when in an important situation.

“What you’ve done for the team is fantastic, absolutely wonderful. I haven’t said it enough, and I apologize for that. The school’s page about our team is a hit online and we have you to thank for that.” He peers down at me through his glasses, his normally cold eyes shining with warmth.

I smile, feeling myself relax a bit. “Just doing my job.”

The team’s page is doing extremely well, gaining thousands of followers everyday. We broke one million last week, when previously they only had around ten thousand followers.

He grins. “Well, now it looks like this really could be your job. I had the pleasure of speaking to the Detroit Panthers’ owner, Mark Suby, today. He wanted to know what I thought of our social media manager who’s garnering hits left and right.”

My mouth pops open as complete shock hits me. What did he just say?

I lean forward, skeptical to believe it. “Is this a joke?”

“Ms. Blanchette, I’m not a man who jokes,” he says with utter seriousness as he too leans forward. “They wanted me to pass on their contact information in hopes that you all may discuss the prospect of working with them after graduation.”

I think I might pass out from the way my heart starts beating erratically while the strongest rush of happiness washes over me. My dream job, and with my brother’s team—wait a second. Did he orchestrate this?

“Camille?” Coach Warren prods, staring at me with trepidation.

“Sorry, that was a lot to take in. Of course I would love to further speak with them about this opportunity. Thank you.” I beam while ignoring the need my legs feel to kick like an overly-excited toddler.

“Excellent, I will forward you their information. I’m sure you’ll do great things for their team, but for now, focus on ours. We got a game to play.” He raps his knuckles on the desk and stands.

“Yes, go Coyotes!” I cheer, walking out of his office on the highest cloud I’ve ever been on. Before I take off on that cloud, I need to make sure this isn’t a result of my brother putting in a good word. If it is, I will not be happy with him.

I’m about to pull out my phone and do exactly that, but Idris’s name fills my screen.

“Hello?” I ask, instantly on edge.

“Everything’s fine. That’s not why I’m calling. I want you to know the offer from Detroit is legit. You both have different last names and you also both stay out of the media. He doesn’t tell anyone about you to respect your privacy, so there’s no connection there. You did this all on your own, got it, kid?”

“How do you know that?” I inquire, not at all surprised he snooped in on my conversation.

“If they knew Q was your brother, they would’ve gone through him to hire you. Hell of a lot easier. I promise that you earned this all on your own. I’m proud of you, Cami.” His voice chokes with emotion, making my eyes instantly pool with tears.

Idris is the closest thing I have to a father figure, and hearing that means everything to me. “Thank you, Idris,” I whisper as happy tears overflow and release down my cheeks.

I wish I could tell Ryker, but he’s getting ready for the game. It’ll have to wait until after the game. He mentioned that the Panthers were one of the teams looking to sign him, and if fairytales do exist and the universe is a thing, then, universe, please let this be one.

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