Page 96 of On His Team

Nobody is looking at us.

Gianna pulls her hands away. “Sorry.”

“Why?”

Her eyes flick to mine.

I step aside.

She gets her plate.

Thursday is travel. We leave after lunch. The bus ride to the airport is mostly quiet. Guys sleep. Stanley spends twenty minutes trying to convince Percy that a neck pillow makes him look vulnerable.

Percy keeps his eyes closed and says, “I am asleep.”

Stanley continues talking to him anyway.

I put my headphones in. My phone buzzes before we board.

Gianna: Don’t suck.

Me: Good luck with your motivational speaking career.

Gianna: Ives says I have natural leadership qualities.

Me: Ives has never heard you talk to Stanley.

Gianna: That’s where the leadership is strongest.

I grin.

Me: Yeah.

Gianna: Seriously though. Good luck.

Me: Thanks.

I type something else, delete it, and board the plane.

Friday doesn’t go the way we want. We play well enough to win and don’t, which absolutely sucks. Ohio State scores late in regulation to force overtime and ends it before we can.

4-3.

I have an assist, but it doesn’t matter. The room afterward is quiet, but it isn’t Michigan State quiet. That was disbelief. This is anger. Nobody looks broken. We’re pissed.

Coach walks in and says one word. “Tomorrow.”

On the bus back to the hotel, I take my phone out.

Gianna has already texted.

Gianna: That was bullshit.

I smile despite myself.

Me: Which part?

Gianna: The ending.