Page 73 of Hate the Game
I waited for the panic to hit and when it didn’t I just shrugged. “Come on. Let’s find her first and then figure out what to say.”
Of course, it was never that easy with Savannah.
***Savannah***
Istared at the picture on my phone as a distraction. Coach Carrington had a picture of Marla on his wall. They were both so much younger but it was impossible not to see that it was Marla. The only thing that had helped me from falling into a pit of self-pity and hate was focusing on how to get out of my article, or at least the negative angle. I wrote and rewrote a dozen emails to Marla that I never sent but the thing I kept coming back to was the picture.
The smallest amount of research had told me that Coach Carrington had changed offices several times over the last few years. That meant he’d rehung the photo of him and Marla over and over again. It clearly meant something to him. Why else would he keep it up?
Blaire watched me hover over my laptop every night and just shook her head at me. She talked a big game about how I worked too hard and didn’t play enough but she didn’t realize she worked just as hard. Her work just looked different. Living with her, even for just a week, had shown me that she didn’t finish the day anything less than exhausted. Her feet ached, her back hurt,and she couldn’t even see straight some nights. But because the things that wore her out were baking and art, she didn’t seem to count it as work. I was sure that was a gift straight from her father.
I’d stayed hidden for a week. I convinced my professors I had a horrible stomach flu because admitting to explosive diarrhea was somehow less embarrassing that facing The Apex Three. Blaire ran interference for me. When the guys popped by her room, she yelled at them to go away. She finally threatened Jax that she was going to block his number if he called once more. I would’ve felt awful for it if she didn’t seem to take so much joy in fighting with him.
My time of hiding was over, though. My last email from Marla had been all about how she was arriving on campus first thing the next morning and she expected me at her side immediately. I got the impression that she wasn’t willing to face Coach Carrington alone. It was just as well because I wasn’t willing to face his son alone. Or Cole. Or Ryder. We could be cowards together.
She was going to sit in on the photo session with The Apex Three. The magazine wanted to get proofs for the article and Marla wanted to watch to make sure everything was perfect. There were also going to be shots of the whole team so I was hoping to blend into the background as much as possible. Then I was going to scurry back into my hidey hole before I had to face the consequences of my actions.
I just knew the guys wanted to talk to me to tell me how disgusting I was. Maybe they deserved to say what they needed to say but I wasn’t ready to hear the hatred in their voices. I couldn’t even open the messages they’d all sent me because I didn’t want to face their ire. I knew I’d messed up. I’d messed up royally. The moment I faced their anger, though, it was all over.I wouldn’t be able to pretend like things were okay to get myself to sleep anymore.
I was sick to my stomach the morning of the photo session. After only leaving Blaire’s room for showers and pee breaks the outside world felt too bright and loud. I was painfully nervous and dreading the entire day.
It didn’t help that as soon as I joined Marla she started lecturing me about my lack of progress and how much I was risking if I didn’t get serious. She seemed even more high-strung than usual and as I sat and listened to her I couldn’t help noticing just how much she was touching her hair and checking her reflection in her compact. She’d powdered her nose four times and touched up her lipstick just as many times. Her energy was feeding into mine and I worried that my lie about explosive diarrhea wouldn’t be a lie for long.
When I couldn’t take it for a second more I pulled up the photo of Coach Carrington’s wall and set it down between us. “I saw this in Coach Carrington’s office.”
Her face paled and then flushed red when she realized what she was looking at. “This was in his office?”
I nodded. “Hanging up with a bunch of other pictures that looked important to him.”
She shook her head and stood up. “He must’ve known you were going to be in there to see it. He suspects I’m trying to sabotage him, after all.”
“You think he hung that photo up on the offchance I might come into his office and snoop?” I shook my head and tapped the screen. “I was never supposed to be in his office. This picture hangs proudly in the middle of the wall. Why? Why would he still have your picture hanging up in his office?”
“I don’t know! It doesn’t make any sense.” She spun around and jabbed her finger at me. “Are you working with him? Is this some kind of double sabotage?”
I was too stressed to be accused of things that morning. “Do you hear yourself? First he accused me of being a sex worker sent to distract his son and now you’re accusing me of being some kind of double agent meant to takeyoudown? Be for real.”
She looked at her watch and swore. “You’re right. I just don’t get it. And now I have to go face him. Shit. Come on. Let’s go get this over with.”
It almost felt like we were both walking to the gallows. She glanced over at me once we were in the car she’d rented to get around. I looked back at her, unsure of what she was feeling or thinking.
“That picture was really in his office?”
“It was. He’s changed offices several times, Marla, and that picture is still on the wall.”
We drove in silence to the stadium but the tension was loud in the car. I was freaking out, wondering how the guys were going to react to seeing me. Had they already told the rest of the team? Was I going to walk into a situation where everyone thought I was a horrible person?
Coach Carrington was standing outside the stadium when Marla parked, his posture oddly light as he openly flirted with Barbie. I felt Marla stiffen beside me and didn’t have to glance over to see that she was glaring at him.
“I should run him over. It would serve him right.”
“I’ll just get out first and then you can decide what you want to do.” I was mostly joking. If anyone was going to get run over, I hoped it was me. Then I could avoid the shitshow I was walking into.
***Savannah***
“That sonofabitch.” Marla had mumbled that exact sentiment about Coach Carrington no less than a dozen times since the photo shoot started.
I did my best to stay in the background but it wasn’t easy with the way Marla and Coach Carrington kept going at each other. It didn’t help that the stupid man was acting like Barbie hung the moon. Barbie was eating up the attention without noticing the looks Coach sent Marla every few seconds. It was pitiful.
