Page 91 of Out of Bounds

"We’re doing that tomorrow."

"Nope, I’m doing it today."

She didn’t know I was waiting for Coach Lawson and for this damn meeting to be over. I sighed. "Kassie, I have a—"

"I saidI’mdoing it. You don’t like the social media crap," Kassie pointed out, slipping her backpack on her shoulder. "It’s not like you’re going to miss out on anything. And I’m sure it’ll go by faster without you asking what an algorithm is." Her eyes darted away from me as soon as she looked up and her voice softened. "I’ll see you later."

In the hallway, I was stuck to the floor, unable to move while Kassie made long strides across the hallway, heading off towards Cleo’s War Room. One of the stupidest parts of the fake relationship was having to approve of all of the social media crap. Kassie knew how much I hated it.

And she volunteered to do it.

Who else did that for me?

I took a bite of the sandwich. Fuck, that was amazing. The runny egg, the everything bagel, the crunch of the bacon. I chewed slowly, watching as Kassie reached the end of the hallway.

"Thank you," I said, and my words echoed down the hall. Kassie glanced back with an embarrassed grin, waving me away before she disappeared. I took another bite, watching the empty hallway for long seconds.

"Cross." Coach Lawson walked up and gestured for me to close the door.

I rewrapped the sandwich and followed after him, taking the only remaining seat, the one in the middle of the action, surrounded by the rest of the professionals.

Kassie bought me a sandwich.

A grin crossed my face at the thought. Kassie bought me a sandwich and an hour free where I could get something else done between my physiotherapy appointment and my gym slot.

"We’re going to go step by step," Coach Lawson commanded at the head of the room and everyone started using the tablets on the tables. I couldn’t hope to use one of those. I’d probably break something.

While they discussed the thirty-seven-yard pass in the first quarter, I slipped out my phone. I had a new notification, Kassie reposted something about a Florida apartment.

My good mood from the sandwich evaporated. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. It wasn’t like Kassie was moving to the moon.

And she can visit me.

The new idea brought me back up again and I grinned, double-tapping back to her art account. She had a new animation of the Romans mascot, jumping on the field.

My girlfriend’s so talented.

I scrolled down to the older videos until one of the offense coaches interrupted me. "Ryan, we’re looking to reshape our wide receiver training. What’re you thinking?"

"I’ve already talked to them about it," I answered automatically, glancing up from my phone. "We’re open to evolving our training to match that demand."

A couple of them nodded together and turned back to their tablets when my phone buzzed.

KASSIE:what are you doing???

I frowned, gazing over the meeting, chalked full of the best of the best working to bring my team to victory. Coach Lawson started a video on the projector, to point out flaws in our defense, but I hunkered down, texting out a response.

RYAN:MEETING

KASSIE:must be important stuff

"What do we think about calling in…uh…" Coach Lawson fumbled for the name. "Who’s that lady who works with the Florida coordinator? Cross, who is it?"

"Anita Rhodeson," I answered.

"That’s right. Cleo, can you call her? I want her here before KYU."

I returned to my phone with a frown.

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