Teardrop Shot(48)

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure.” Coach Winston urged Reese outside. “Hallway.” His eyes flashed.

Reese nodded, turning, his hand going to my hip and moving me ahead of him. Once outside, Coach said, “Upstairs. Your friend too.”

I was in trouble. By Winston Duty.

The old Charlie came to life, just a little. She did a little somersault inside me.

We went upstairs, moving into one of the sitting rooms. Once inside, Reese’s coach shut the door and shook his head. “Hell. That guy.”

“Is he for real?” Reese asked. “He wants my fucking autograph, so his son gets jealous?”

“This place was recommended by a buddy of mine, but now I don’t know.”

“Keith is usually kept away from campers. Owen, he’s the guy that’s been in the kitchen this whole time? His job is usually handling campers. He’s better at it.”

Both looked at me.

Reese asked, “Why’s he in the kitchen then?”

“Keith wanted to keep the staff at a minimum. It’s protocol if celebrities are here, and you guys are special. Keith thinks he’s a big basketball guy. He’d strut around like a rooster if more pro teams came here.”

The two shared a look.

Yeah. I doubted that was going to happen.

“That’s too bad,” Coach Winston said. “I’ve talked with Owen a few times about meals for the team. He seems like a good man.”

I nodded. “He is.”

Reese gave me a small smile. “You mind giving us a minute?”

“Actually, I want to talk to both of you.” He turned to Reese first. “She’s been sleeping in your cabin?”

Reese explained about my cabin, about the fish smell, and about how my other option would be a janitor’s closet. When he finished, the room was silent.

“Seriously?”

Reese nodded. “Are you really shocked after just hearing what he said?”

“This guy.” Winston shook his head. “Fuck.” He looked at me. “What about your friend? The motivational speaker guy? Where does he stay?”

“He’ll stay in an extra room, but it’s on the guys floor. Keith would never let me stay in a room with players on the same floor. He assumes I’d try to have sex with every single one of them.”

His eyes got even bigger, his eyebrows even higher. “Are you joking?”

“I wish. He has a history of suggesting things like that.”

He rubbed a hand over his jaw, stepping back. “This guy should not be the head of this camp. If I had known he was like this, we never would’ve come here.” His eyes rested on Reese. “If the tabloids find out about her? About her staying in your cabin?”

“They won’t.”

“None of the staff will say anything,” I said. “The few who know are good friends. Plus, we’ve all signed an NDA. That basically says we can’t say anything about anything that happened here during the time you guys were here. We can’t even say you guys were here in the first place.”

Reese’s coach continued rubbing his jaw. “Do the guys know?”

Reese nodded. “A few. They won’t say anything.”

A warning flashed in his coach’s gaze. “If an incident happens? If we have to let someone go from the team? You know things can get dirty.”

Reese grimaced, but he didn’t respond.

“Goddamn.” His coach shook his head again, gesturing to me. “She has to stay somewhere else.”

“Where? You know what that guy is like. He’ll put her in the janitor’s closet.” Reese cocked his head to the side. “Your place? You’re rooming with the other coaches.”

“We have an extra bed. You can stay with us. Leave her your cabin—”

I shook my head. “No. No way. I’m not putting a camper out of his own cabin. Juan already moved out because of me. I will figure it out. I promise.”

“Where?” Reese demanded, both of them almost glaring at me.

“I’ll—I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out. Even if I have to drive to town for a hotel, I’ll do that. Or I can have Grant put a bed in Owen’s office. That’s easy. I’ll do that.”

Both of them were cursing.

“Owen offered me the guest bedroom in their house. It’s three nights. I can stay there. It’s no problem.”

No way in hell was I putting Owen out. If they had invited me as a guest, if I was here as a visitor, not staff, if Keith wasn’t such a dick and I knew he was banking on Owen and Hadley always offering up their guest bedroom—if any of those situations had been the case, I would’ve stayed there, but that wasn’t how things were. But I was no longer Reese’s problem. I knew that much too.

I would figure it out, even if I had to sleep in my car. It was camp. Maybe it was time I finally camped out? Problem solved. I could embrace my inner frozen tundra because end of October nights could get hella cold, but it wasn’t their problem to fix.

“I promise,” I said, a completely fake smile on my face.

They seemed to buy it, both nodding.

Phew.

And Reese said I couldn’t lie.





“You are really bad at lying.”