Jagger opens the door, and I go inside, which is adorned with pictures of Penelope and Hazel and even a wedding photo from Penelope and Decker’s courthouse wedding.They’re dressed in traditional wedding apparel.And here I thought Hadley and I would go in jeans or shorts, nothing fancy since no one has to know.
Decker’s wedding was about love.Ours is about favors.
It’s not the wedding I ever envisioned for myself, but maybe no one has to know about us getting married.
“Sit.”Jagger nods at the couch.He doesn’t sit with me, instead leaning against the edge of Ripley’s desk with his arms crossed.
I get comfortable on the uncomfortable couch.“I’m not sure why you’re here.”
“I like to check in with my players.”Something in his face says that’s not the whole reason he’s here right now.
I sigh and squeeze my eyes shut.“Who told you?”
“You think I don’t have connections?”
I look at the wall where Ripley has the lineup written on his dry-erase board.Shit, he moved me up in the lineup, fuck yeah.
“Focus.”He snaps his fingers in the air.
I narrow my eyes.My teammates wouldn’t have sold me out, so who did?“What?”
He crosses the room and sits in the chair adjacent to me.“So I heard a rumor about you?—”
Fuck, here we go.He really does know.
“It’s not what you think,” I say.
“It’s not?Here I was hoping my source wasn’t right.They were?”
“Nothing was official before last night.Before that, it wasn’t certain.”
“Shit, East.”He stands and runs his hand through his hair, pacing the room.
I’ve never seen Jagger pace.Usually he has it together.He thinks this is bad and will affect my career.Fuck, I messed up this time.
“Do you have any idea how bad this is going to look?How do you see this working out?”
I shrug.“I’ve got a plan.It will be fine.”
He leans on the edge of Ripley’s desk again, his hands anchored on either side of his hips, his knuckles practically ghostly white.“A plan?”His perfectly waxed eyebrows lift.“Tell me.”
“Well, I made a deal with a friend, and she’s going to handle it while I’m in season.”
His eyebrows go from arched to furrowed, and he tilts his head.
“It’ll be fine.”
A beat of silence falls in the room.
He must be surprised I’ve already done the problem-solving of how I manage a season while having a son to take care of.
“I mean, others have done it before me,” I add, since three of my teammates, Hayes especially, are making the family thing work while playing.
“Not successfully.”
“That’s insulting.”I’m upset on my friends’ behalf that Jagger thinks they aren’t doing a good job at parenting.
He holds up his hands.“What’re the odds of keeping this under wraps?”
