I arch a brow at Ainsley. “Are we?”
She hikes a nonchalant shoulder, when I know she’s anything but nonchalant when it comes to betting on herself.
“I did win today.” I grin like the Cheshire cat.
“Shots fired,” Nicky says, clapping and garnering everyone’s attention. “We have lacrosse legends in the house today.”
The restaurant patrons cheer.
“Congratulations to the JV girls on their first win,” I say.
Everyone raises their drinks, and our teams clink our soda cups together before taking a sip.
“Your pizza is on the house today,” Nicky says.
Ainsley shoots him a wink. “Thanks, Nick.”
“We should each go around the table and say what our favorite part of the games were today,” Natalie says.
I smile. “I love that.”
She smirks. “I loved when Coach Ainsley told off Maddie’s mom.”
Laughter erupts around the table.
Ainsley shakes her head. “I didn’ttell her off. Don’t be so dramatic.”
Maddie waves her hand. “Please, you can tell my mom off any time. She’s so embarrassing.”
Shreeya clears her throat and lifts her hand. “My favorite part was when Tori stopped that ball in the second quarter.”
Tori pushes out of her chair and stands to take a bow.
As the girls continue to speak, I glance across the table at Ainsley. With her head perched in her hand, elbow on the table, she’s looking at the girls, but she isn’t really listening. Her mind is somewhere else, no doubt replaying her team’s loss and all the ways she wants to fix it before the next game.
“It’s just one game.”
Her eyes flick down to the untouched pizza in her plate. “Must be nice, having parents clap for you instead of questioning every move you make.”
I heave a sigh, and sit back against the chair. “No matter what I say, you’re going to chew my head off anyway, but I’ll say it anyway: I think you’ll catch more flies with honey when it comes to the parents.”
Her nose scrunches. “Isn’t the saying,you’ll catch more bees with honey?”
“It’s flies. Bees make honey, why would I want to catch them with it?”
“And why would you want to catch flies?”
“To get them out of the house, I don’t know. I didn’t come up with the damn saying.”
She chuckles. “You’re so easy to rile.”
“Says the one who wakes up riled before the day even starts.” I lean both elbows onto the table. “Tell me, do you turn on the news as soon as you get out of bed in the morning, or do you fall asleep with agitating music on? What is it that makes you in such a grumpy mood?”
She leans forward and plants her arms on the table to match me. “It’s knowing I’m going to see your stupid face at my job every single day for the foreseeable future.”
“I don’t think you think my face is stupid.”
“That’s because you’re full of yourself.”
