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“Are you sure?” Maven asks. “I don’t want to interrupt anything important.”
“You’re not. Trust me.”
“What are you worried about?” She accepts my invitation and plops into the seat next to me. Her thigh knocks against mine as she gets settled, and I pull my leg away to give her more room. “Which cleats to wear at practice? Which hair flip of yours is best?”
I don’t bother to cover up my grin. “You saw that article?”
“I think all of America saw that article. They picked a really nice photo of you. Your football pants look exceptionally white.”
“Thanks, Maven. You really know how to make someone feel special.”
“If it’s not the hair flips, what’s got you down in the dumps?”
“It’s my daughter, June. With the season starting soon, I need someone to watch her, and we’re coming up short on options.”
Maven shifts in the chair and stares at me, and I fidget under her attention. It’s different from how Shawn was looking at me. Her gaze is softer. More understanding. Like she’s the kind of person who would go to the ends of the earth to try and find a solution to my problems, even though she probably doesn’t have any answers.
“This might be obvious, but why not hire a babysitter?” she asks.
“They keep trying to sleep with me,” I say, embarrassed, and Maven lets out a cackling laugh. It echoes around us and explodes in the center of my chest like a firework. “What’s so funny?”
“You think highly of yourself. Who says they want to sleep with you?”
“They were in my bed.”
“Maybe they were tired.”
“They werenakedin my bed.”
“Oh.” She hides the edges of her smile with a cough into her fist. “You think they’d try to be a little less obvious. Walking around in a towel or sunbathing topless are way more conspicuous than just jumping under your sheets.”
“No subtlety, whatsoever, and zero points for creativity.” I gesture to her bags in a heap on the floor. “What’s your crisis? Anything we can help with? Is it how much shit you’re carrying around?”
“I am carrying around a lot of shit, aren’t I? Don’t worry about me. This is your time, and I’m overstepping. I should get going.”
“Stay.” I reach out and touch her elbow before pulling my fingers away and sitting on my hands. “Really. It’s fine. There’s no solution to my problem yet, so we might as well use this time to help out someone else.”
Maven looks at me, and her eyes search my face. I’m not sure what she’s looking for, but I hope she finds it.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“I’m positive. I need a good deed for the day, and this can be it.”
“My roommate moved out to live with her boyfriend, which means my rent is going to double when our lease renews next month. I’ve tried to find a studio apartment, but with the semester starting soon, everything is already snatched up. My job with the Titans pays well, but I’m going to need more income if I want to have a roof over my head.”
“I’ll pay your rent,” Shawn says. “Problem solved.”
“I appreciate the offer, Shawn, but I want to do this on my own.” Maven sighs and rubs her forehead. “I’ll figure it out.”
“If it means you’re not going to be eating dinner, Mae, I’m going to help you pay your rent,” he argues, and it feels like I’m interrupting something. A family conversation I’m not sure I should be present for.
“I can do it,” she says, and there’s a fierceness in her tone that wasn’t there before. “I’ve thought about doing private coaching sessions with local athletes for some extra money, but I need to figure out the logistics.”
“Coaching?” I ask, interested. “What do you play?”
“Played,” Maven says softly, and her pride is gone. Her shoulders hunch forward with the word. It’s barely noticeable,but I can see the shift in her demeanor. The corners of her mouth turn down, and she folds in on herself. “Soccer.”
“No shit. I practiced kicking with some of the soccer girls in college. They were awesome.”
