Big Chicas Don't Cry(34)

“Oh. Hey,” I said when I turned around to face him.

“Were you watching the game?”

“Just the last few minutes. Congratulations on the win. See you tomorrow.”

I had taken a few more steps when he jumped in front of me. “You got a hot date or something?”

What? Why would he say that?

“Excuse me?”

“You seem to be in a rush, that’s all. I was hoping we could talk about the fiesta committee.”

“Yeah, now is not a good time. I have to get home.”

“Okay. How about we get together some day after school to talk about some ideas? Sister Catherine pulled me aside right before the game and basically warned me that we needed to impress the committee.”

Ah, so Sister Catherine was applying the pressure on him as well. Of course. He was probably panicking because he had forgotten all about it. And just like in the eighth grade, he expected me to save the day.

“I’ll let you know. I’m pretty busy this week,” I told him and started walking again.

But Tony wouldn’t let me go. “Then next week,” he said after catching up to me again. This time he just kept walking beside me.

“I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.”

“Did I do something to piss you off?” he asked.

We’d reached my car, so I stopped and turned to face him. “Why do you say that?”

He shrugged. “Because you seem to have no problem chatting or being friendly with the rest of the teachers in this school. But all I get when you see me is a polite ‘hello’ or ‘see you tomorrow.’ And now I’m trying to reach out so we both don’t look like idiots at the committee meeting, and it’s like you can’t even be bothered.”

Guilt shamed me into looking at the ground instead of him.

He’s right. You’re judging the man based on the past and gossip. You know better.

I met his gaze. “I’m sorry if I’ve come across that way. It takes me a while to warm up to new people.”

“New? You’ve known me since forever.” He smiled, and it put me at ease.

“Um, not really. But you’re right about us needing to be prepared for the meeting. How about we meet up on Monday? I don’t have tutoring on Mondays.”

“That works. But can it be later, like around six? I have practice.”

I thought about his possible girlfriend.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose on your personal life.”

“I’m sure. Monday is perfect. All right, I better get back in case any of the parents still need to talk to me.”

“Okay.”

I was about to open my car door when Tony called out again. “Oh, and Gracie? See you tomorrow.”





Chapter Eighteen


ERICA


My beer bottle was empty and I needed to do something about it.

I wandered through the sea of bodies that had crammed into Deanna and Mark’s small living room, determined not to stop until I’d reached the assortment of beer choices chilling in buckets outside.

I was debating whether I’d do another hefeweizen or move to Coronas for the rest of the night when a plaid-covered chest appeared out of nowhere and blocked my path.

The red-and-gray pattern was instantly recognizable. After all, I’d seen it practically the entire day. I looked up to meet Adrian’s bespectacled face.

After our talk in the conference room, our working relationship had improved. Somewhat. He was still an arrogant know-it-all. But now he actually seemed to be trying to be more—human. He made sure to tell everyone “good morning” when he came into the newsroom and every so often would release a “good job” to one of us reporters.

I didn’t quit the team after all. I was big enough to admit (only to myself) that he was a pretty good soccer player. We’d won every game since he’d joined, so who was I to ruin something if it was working? I’d decided I could live with seeing him every Sunday outside of work.

And, I guess, a Friday night here and there too.

“Hey there. Guess you were able to make it after all,” I told him.

“Hi, Erica. And yes. Steve only needed to copyedit one more story, so I figured it would be okay for me to leave,” he answered as he surveyed the crowd. “I didn’t expect this many people.”

The urge to snicker was strong. It was a party, for God’s sake. What the hell did he expect? A candlelit dinner for four? But I tried to contain the sarcasm for both of our sakes.

“Deanna likes to go all out when she throws parties. She even invites their neighbors so they don’t complain about the noise.”

He nodded as if he was the kind of person who went around judging other people’s entertaining decisions. “Smart. But why do it on a Friday night?”

Guess he was that kind of person. “Deanna is on call tomorrow,” I explained, growing impatient that he was still standing between me and a very good buzz. “She didn’t want to chance having to leave in the middle of her boyfriend’s thirtieth birthday party.”

“Oh.”

When he didn’t move out of my way or continue the conversation further, I offered, “If you want a drink, they’re outside.”

Without waiting for an answer, I walked around him and headed for the backyard. It didn’t take him too long to follow me.