Page 8 of Charm Me Not

“That’s half,” I countered, handing the cash and the contract back to her. “All or nothing.”

“It’s all I had on me this morning. And I knew if I didn’t get it to you now, I would probably chicken out. Please, Una, you know I’m good for it,” she begged, reaching for my hand. I pulled away before she could touch me. “Call it… a family discount?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, unfazed by her comment. “No.”

The frown that appeared on her face annoyed me. If she thought she could get what she wanted because of our ex-relationship, she was wrong.

“Okay. Fine. Thanks for—”

“Wait,” I interrupted her. Raising a hand to my head, I rubbed at my temples. This girl was going to give me a headache. I thought about the chain—if somehow her mom found out, then my dad would find out, then I would be in trouble for being ‘uncooperative.’

“Fine. Give me the money. And the contract. The rest is owed at the end.”

Aria grinned and nodded, agreeing with the terms. “Thank you, Una. Really, I’m grateful for the help.”

After I counted the cash again, I slipped it into my pocket and reached for the door.

“I’llconsiderit and see what I can do. No promises. I’m not a matchmaker.”

“I appreciate the consideration,” Aria echoed just before the door shut.

I let out a huge breath as I walked away, rolling my head to crack my neck and release some of the tension. There was absolutely no way I would allow my best friend to hook up with a Fairview princess like Aria.

She wasn’t horrible—really, she was almost so sweet it made my teeth hurt—but she was still one of them. Not one of us.

Looking at the time, I realized I barely had time to run to my locker before heading to class. Just before I turned down another hallway, I paused, looking over my shoulder as an odd sensation passed through me.

Charlie. Closing his own locker and staring right back at me. I couldn’t get a good read on his expression, so I threw him one of my own.

Anger, mixed with annoyance.

My specialty.

Chapter 4

Charlie

Coach blew hiswhistle, giving us five more minutes of stretching before we started drills. We all groaned, knowing how much the drills were going to kill today. Practice yesterday had been a flop, the scrimmage we were supposed to work on falling apart by the minute.

“What are we doing about the Una situation?” Navin asked, reaching over to stretch his right leg.

I whipped my head around to look at him. “What ‘situation’ are you talking about?”

“Wait, is what the Fairy Godmother saidtrue?” Triston’s jaw dropped.

“Have you ever known the Fairy Godmother to post lies? Gossip, yes, but not lies,” Navin answered. “Besides, we heard it up close and personal. She called Coach AndersenDadthe other day. Then said something I think was an insult to Charlie, but I’m not exactly sure. Maybe it was directed at all of us?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if it was an insult or not either. I chose to take it as a compliment, since she called me pretty and all. But, knowing the little I did about Una Nielsen, it probably wasn’t meant to be nice.

When I stopped to talk to her a few days ago, she didn’t seem all that keen to chat. She also didn’t seem to care that we knew about Coach being her dad, so why should we care either? If it didn’t bother her, it shouldn’t bother us.

“Can we talk about soccer and not parents?” Chad asked, deepening into a leg stretch that made me wince just looking at him.

We all turned toward him slowly. “Chad…” I drew out. “Did you know about thisbeforeyesterday?”

He shrugged and reached for his left foot. “You are all so dense sometimes. Yeah, I knew. Most of the Teller kids do. Why is it such a big deal to you?”

“Because Coach Andersen isawesomeand was a D1 player in college. How did he end up with a daughter likeUna?” Triston spat out.

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