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“I’ll be honest, Bam. I’m surprised you care so much.”
I chuckle, the irritation leaking out of me just as fast as it came. “Yeah, well…so am I. Trust me.”
“I think it’s great that you want to help him.” Rush pushes off of his desk and rounds to the other side. “But you’re going to need to come up with something different that doesn’t fuck with my lineup.”
I snort. “Got it.”
Clearly, I need to head back to the drawing board when it comes to this kid. Like my dad said, I’m out of ideas, not options.
I give Rush a wave and head out of his office then stroll slowly down the hallway toward the parking lot, letting my mind roll listlessly over some of the different things I might be able to do to reach Justin: talk to his mom…force him to coach a practice…but who really knows what might work?
When I hear my name called out from behind me, I stop, turning to find Gabi walking in my direction. All thoughts of Justin go right out the window.
“Heading home to get ready for tonight?” I ask with a grin, eyeing the box she has in her hands as she approaches me.
“Maybe.”
“Do you have a costume?”
Her grin is wolfish. “Obviously.”
I chuckle as we walk together toward the lot.
“Any hints? Or do you still keep it a secret until the final reveal?”
“Secret, of course. I don’t want anyone copying my look.”
Gabi loves Halloween. Makes sense considering her black cat energy.
“How was practice?” she asks as we push out into the parking lot.
“Apart from the kid that keeps driving me insane?” I grin. “Pretty good.”
“Ah, your mini-Bishop still causing problems?”
I scoff, though I can see the bit of teasing flaring in her eyes. “Come on, I might have been a little cocky, but I wasn’t that bad.”
Her eyes narrow a smidge. “I seem to remember someone stomping around my front yard because his coach got in his face.” Her nose and cheeks scrunch up and her voice goes deep as she imitates Coach G. “If you spent more time conditioning and less time making out with your new girlfriend, maybe you’d be able to keep up with the rest of the team during drills.”
I wrinkle my nose, trying not to smile.
“And what did you say back to him?” she continues. “I can’t remember, something about, if he spent more time coaching his team and less time…”
“Less time bitching, maybe he’d have a trophy to show for it. You know, I’m not a fan of everyone pointing out what a cocky little shit I was in high school.”
Gabi pokes me in the chest. “We were all miniature know-it-alls. Remember when Mrs. Garland tried to get me to switch from exclusively working with charcoal pencils to using compressed charcoal? I told her not everyone needs to use every supply in the box to make their art look good.”
My shoulders shake as I laugh, unsurprised at the reminder of Gabi’s spitfire attitude. She used to say her life mascot was a house cat because they demand exactly what they want and are generally unimpressed by everyone, and she resonated with that.
“So I’ll see you at Spooktacular?” I ask.
She nods then glances at her watch. “I’m starting to get worried about getting dressed and set up by 7.”
“Hey, I have extra hands if you need them.”
Gabi considers me for a long moment before she responds. “Actually, if you’re willing, that would be amazing.”
I smirk. “For you, I’m always willing.”
