Beauty and the Baller(81)

“My face turned red. My hands flailed. My glass spilled, and my salad tumbled to the floor. Lettuce and carrots and cheese on my pants. People stared. I mean, it got quiet as a church in the Roadhouse. I grabbed my throat; then Skeeter jumped out of his seat. I’m sputtering, and my stomach is jumping from all the coughing, and I think I just might hurl—or pee—then he tries to do the Heimlich on me, and I’m gasping, trying to tell him that it’s not food lodged in my throat, just fucking water! Finally, I get free and dart for the restroom, where I pee forever and get my breath back. I stayed in there for twenty minutes, hoping he’d just leave without me, but oh no, he comes looking for me, like, knocks on the door and then comes in, and there I am, crying on the toilet! And that’s how it bloody went!”

I burst out laughing.

“I know.” She shakes her head. “I can joke now, but it was the worst first date ever. I’m sure it’s our last. He hasn’t texted, and I refuse to reach out. That man will have to come to me.”

The door flies open, revealing a tall, handsome, auburn-haired carnivore.

“You’re vaping?!” Skeeter calls out. “I told you how terrible that is for you!”

“Shut the door!” Sonia says. “I lost my lungs at the Roadhouse anyway!”

He clicks it closed, then snatches the e-cig out of her hands, holding it over her head. “These things will kill you!”

She shoots to her feet, a flush rising on her cheeks. “Meat will kill you, you big wanker!”

Skeeter glares at her, throws the e-cigarette to the ground, and then takes her in his arms and lays one on her. She hesitates, her arms bouncing; then she moans as her hands curl up around his neck—

And that’s my cue.

I slip out of the closet and shut the door.



“Hello, darling,” I say as I enter the staff lounge and sit down next to Ronan. The darling has stuck, and truthfully, I dig it. I brush my lips over his cheek.

He gives me a smile. “How was class?”

“Good.” I unwrap my sandwich. “We’re doing art or music for the poetry unit. I’m doing it along with them.”

“Which one?” He puts his hand on my knee under the table, drawing circles there.

“‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost. I’m painting a forest with a forked road. I really love it.”

“Ah, a poem about the choices we make,” he says, a hesitant look on his face. “Good one.”

“Hmm, yes.” In class I’d realized the poem was a metaphor for us. A decision from him is coming, either to stay or to go.

My fingers toy with the star around my neck. There’s no point in worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet. Just like I told him, we’re taking it one day at a time.

So why do I feel as if something awful is coming?





Chapter 24


NOVA

Excitement fills the gym a few days later. The cheerleaders finish their dance routine to “Another One Bites the Dust,” maroon-and-gold plaid skirts swishing as they run off the court. The crowd claps, standing on their feet and whooping. Several students hold up signs. GO, FIGHT, WIN, BOBCATS! Then FREE LAMBERT!

Sabine sits on one of the bottom rows among students, her eyes trained on the entrance of the concession area, where I’m with the players and coaches.

Bruno adjusts his brown fedora. “Do I look lit, Ms. Morgan?”

“Of course. You all do!” I put my eyes on each of the players. There’s about twenty of them dressed in suits, the seams loosened by Sabine and me and Sonia. Not everyone wanted to do the dance. Those players are waiting on the other side of the gym in their uniforms. They’ll run out in the middle of the song and pump the crowd up.

“One minute till we go!” Caleb shouts as he stands next to the sound system.

Toby, Milo, and Bruno line up at the entrance.

I glance over, and Ronan is on his cell, his face animated as he talks to someone.

“Wait a second,” I tell Caleb and turn to go to Ronan.

“He doesn’t care about us,” Melinda says as she slides in next to me. “He’s itching to leave, and you know it. He’s going to go somewhere better, and then you won’t have your darling anymore.”

You can’t argue with a scorned woman or whatever she thinks she is, but I know how to handle her. Be direct. No mercy . . . “Fuck off, Melinda.”

“So rude,” she snips behind my back as I hurry off.

“Sounds good! I can’t wait to see you.” Ronan clicks off his cell and turns. “They ready?”

I study his face, wondering who he was talking to. I nod. “Yep.”

I wave at Caleb to start the music.

We watch from the sideline under the basketball goal as the players swagger out on the court. They get into a line formation, then dance, shaking their butts and doing the lasso. In unison, they fall to the floor and do push-ups as the crowd cheers. They hop up, popping and doing the robot. Hats and sunglasses fly off and scatter on the floor. The end of the song approaches, and the suits burst open. Jackets and pants fly off and are swung around their heads, then tossed to the ground. The people in the stands jump to their feet as the guys dance the last part in their uniforms, then move to the stands, slapping hands.