Page 62 of Role Model

Harris turned his head to look behind him and saw Troy walking up the aisle toward him. Troy waved Bood’s revelry aside and sat in the empty seat next to Harris. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Harris said. “You must feel pretty good right now. Two goals.”

Troy nodded solemnly, like he was thinking about whether or not scoring two goals was good. “Yeah,” he finally decided. “It was a good game.”

So everyone was in a party mood except, of course, Troy Barrett.

Who was sitting with Harris. Watching him work.

“Lots to do?” Troy asked.

“I’m afraid so. No one ever thinks of the poor social media guy.”

“That’s not true,” Troy said, then looked like he immediately regretted it. “I mean, sorry. For making you work harder.”

“No you’re not.”

The barest suggestion of a smile from Troy. “Not really, no.”

The plane lurched suddenly, which caused a lot of the guys on board to yelp in alarm, and then laugh. It also caused Bood to fall down in the aisle, which made everyone laugh harder. Harris craned his neck to see if Bood was okay, and when he turned back, he saw that Troy had placed a steadying hand on his laptop.

“Thanks,” Harris said. Troy pulled his hand away quickly, like he hadn’t realized he had accidentally done something thoughtful.

Harris closed the laptop. “I can finish this at the hotel later anyway. We must be getting close to landing.”

Troy, still wearing most of the suit he’d left the arena in, was fiddling with the end of his necktie. “You were right,” he said quietly.

“Usually. But what about?”

“This team. It’s a good group.”

Harris elbowed him. “I told you!”

Troy’s lips curved up a bit. “I’m not a great judge of character. I always pick the wrong people to be friends with. Or trust. I, um.” He rolled the end of his tie up into a tight cylinder, and then released it. “I want to fit in here. With this team. I like them, and I think for once I’m not wrong about wanting them to like me.”

“They do like you,” Harris said. “And so do I.”

Troy’s blue eyes were full of anguish, which was a weird way to react to that statement. Harris tried not to take it personally.

“I like you, too,” Troy finally said. He glanced around them nervously, then dropped his voice even lower. “Harris, I—”

There was a loud bang, and then the plane lurched again, more violently this time.

“Jesus! What the fuck?” Troy yelled at the same time everyone else on the plane yelled a variation of the same thing.

And then the plane dropped.

It was an awful, sickening sensation, made worse by the screams that filled the cabin. Harris didn’t scream because he couldn’t find the breath to do it. They were going to die. They were all going to die, tumbling through the dark somewhere over Florida.

Harris closed his eyes and hoped they crashed far away from any other people.

The plane shuddered and leveled out, with another stomach-lurching swoop. There was total silence on the plane as everyone waited for whatever was about to happen.

A voice came over the speakers. “We’ve lost an engine, but still have control over the aircraft. We have been cleared for an emergency landing in Tampa, but expect it to be a rough descent. Please stand by for further instructions from your flight attendant.”

He heard Troy suck in a breath beside him, then Harris realized that his own hand was being held in Troy’s tight grip. Harris squeezed back and said, as calmly as he could manage, “It’s going to be okay.”

There were panicked cries all around them, and Harris hated that he knew who was making each one. He knew these guys so well and loved them like family, and he didn’t want them to be scared.

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