Page 114 of Against The Rules

“No. She didn’t. We’re good. It’s just,” I trail off, uncertain of how to tell him what I’m feeling. “I’m worried about her.”

“Why?” He unscrews the lid of a sports drink, chugging the electric blue liquid inside.

“Remember my roommate freshman year?”

He glances sidelong at me, surprised. “The wrestler?”

“Yeah.”

“He had an eating disorder, right?”

There it is. The words I haven’t wanted to say to Savannah, the words that mean she needs help, and needs more than I can give her. “Yeah.”

“You think she’s sick?” My brother always understands more than I give him credit for.

“I don’t know. I’m worried though.” Just saying it out loud to him makes it feel more real, and my anxiety deepens. “I don’t know if it’s a full-blown disorder or if she’s… struggling, you know?”

“Wouldn’t the cheer team help her?”

“I don’t think this one would,” I say. “It seems like the woman who runs it is a total—”

“KIDS!” Jacob yells at me, not for the first time today.

“A total female dog,” I finish.

He glares at me, then sighs. “What’re you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I can do. It’s like watching my roommate all over again.” I rub my bicep, then blow the whistle around my neck.

“Push-ups!” Jacob orders. “Drop and give me twenty, then twenty burpees, then I want sprints from sideline to sideline.”

The kids groan, but they all drop to the ground, performing some of the saddest push-ups I’ve seen in a long time.

“You think we’re being too hard on them?” Jacob asks.

“Nah,” I say. A kid jumps up, barely making it to the trash can in time to puke. “Maybe,” I amend.

I blow the whistle again. “Water break! And from now on today, don’t listen to my brother.”

The rest of the group laughs, plopping down by their water bottles as Jacob makes a beeline for the barfing kid.

Better him than me.

I push my hair off my forehead, making my way to the group to try and give them some pointers… that is, until a thought brings me up short.

It’s slightly unconventional, but isn’t that what Daniel said I should do? Make her feel special? Let her know she’s cared for?

I glance over to the end zone the chaotic kindergartners are running around, and Kelsey is staring at Daniel like he hung the moon. The two of them definitely have it figured out.

I have a feeling Daniel’s advice is good.

I can’t be at Savannah’s house every day to make sure she’s taking care of herself, but I can make sure someone else is. She didn’t seem to love the idea of moving in with me—yet—but she didn’t say shit about me hiring her a personal chef.

Of course, I never asked her, but that’s a small detail.

“Hydrate,” I tell the kids. “I gotta make a phone call.”

“To your girlfriend?” one of the boys asks.

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