Page 28 of Play for Keeps

Laughing, Avery toasted her again. “True. Too true.”

Millie took another sip of her drink, tapping her nail against the side of her glass. “I’m bored with equal pay. Let’s save some for the next time Kate’s contract is up for renewal.”

“Domestic violence? Maternity leave?” Avery visibly perked, her already bright eyes gleaming with the zeal of a crusader ready to rush into battle. “Genital mutilation?”

Thankfully, Kate arrived in time to intercept the conversational grenade. “Not today, thanks.” The queen of women’s collegiate basketball dropped a gym bag beside the table then a kiss hello on each of their cheeks. “Danny says I’m perfect just the way I am.”

Millie pointed an accusing finger at the willowy brunette as she settled on the high stool. “He steals his lines from Colin Firth.”

“I don’t care where he gets his dialogue. It worked.” Lifting her hand, Kate signaled to the older gentleman behind the bar. Less than a minute passed before a frosty mug of beer appeared at her elbow. Hoisting the glass in a wordless toast, she took a deep gulp before setting the heavy mug down with an exaggerated, “Ahh.”

“Refreshing?” Avery asked with a pointed look.

“I worked up a thirst,” Kate replied.

Millie nudged the heavy gym bag with the toe of her shoe. “Dragging your anvil around again?”

“Never know when I’ll need to fire some iron.” Kate took another drink, then twisted the handle of the mug from one hand to the other. “I wonder how Danny’d look in a wet white shirt.”

“If you hose him down when you get home, we want pictures,” Millie instructed.

“I was thinking of making him go for a swim in the campus pond. If we’re doing Firth, I want it done right.”

“I’d love to do Firth,” Avery said with a wistful sigh.

“Speaking of doing Firth, when is Coach Handsome coming back?” Kate asked with an oh-so-innocent lift of her eyebrows.

Millie dropped her straws back into the hurricane glass and gaped at her friend, astounded by the lack of subtlety from a woman known for her finesse. “What? How is that…” She sputtered to a stop, then narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of the sly smile curving Kate’s lips. “Nice segue.”

The smile morphed into a grin, and Avery let loose with a giggle-like noise she immediately covered with a snort.

“I thought it was a real attention-grabber,” Kate said, preening on her stool. “Must be about time, right?”

The six-week mark had passed the previous Thursday. Classes had started, and Ty’s assistants were holding conditioning workouts. To Millie, they looked suspiciously like full practices. But she couldn’t tell him about them, because she’d stopped taking his calls. Then, when she finally broke down and tried to reach him, she went directly to voicemail. Apparently, Ty was done taking it on the chin, and she couldn’t really blame him.

Still, she hadn’t expected him to go completely radio silent. No talking, no texting, not even any responses to business-related emails. Like he was punishing her for their telephonic transgressions. Or the lack of finesse in her gamesmanship. Either way, she was the one in the doghouse, and she hadn’t a clue when to expect him back on campus.

Taking a stab at studied nonchalance, Millie reached for her purse and pulled a tube of lip gloss from the inner pocket.

“Errrrrrgh!” Avery made an obnoxious nasal sound reminiscent of a scoreboard buzzer.

Millie froze, her gaze darting from one friend to another, her fingers clutching the tube like a lifeline. “What the hell?”

“The lipstick defense won’t work.” Kate reached over and snatched the gloss from her hand. “And don’t even bother with your phone. I’m onto the bit where you email yourself from one account to another to make it buzz.”

Avery gave her a slow, pitying shake of her frizzy head. “Almost as bad as the bit where a woman sends herself flowers to make herself look desirable.” Millie glared, but Avery simply shrugged the pointed look off. “I saw someone do that in a movie. Or maybe it was a rerun ofCheers.”

Seeing her opening, Millie dove through. “I loved that show. Sam was hot, but I think I would have done Woody instead. The name, you know.”

“Of course.” Kate nodded. “So, are you going to spill, or do I need to get Gloria Steinem”—she gestured to Avery—“to remind you the solidarity of sisterhood is the only thing that separates us from the animals?”

“I thought we were superior due to our ability to accessorize,” Millie quipped, lunging for another pop culture lifeboat in hopes of distracting her friends from this line of questioning. “Did I tell you about the handbag I scored? Kate Spade. Well, a fake Spade, because university salary and all.”

She tossed in an airy wave of her hand but quickly tucked it back into her lap when she saw the women across from her were as entrenched as CNN reporters. Sucking in a breath, she exhaled in a huff strong enough to stir the stack of paper napkins tucked into the condiment caddy on the table. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leveled a stern stare on one, then the other before owning up. “No, I don’t know when he’s coming back.”

Kate grinned like a cat covered in canary feathers as she sat up even taller on her stool. “I do.”

Millie squinted at the woman who, up until three minutes before, she would have called her best friend. And she kept her narrowed gaze locked on her on the off chance her laser-like focus might cut through the barroom gloom and extract the data directly from Kate’s brain. When the mind meld failed, she cocked a brow and reclaimed her daiquiri.

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