Page 63 of Catching Sparkles

After hiding the evidence of all cobbler-related crimes and asking us if we wanted drinks or snacks, Megan sat across from us at the table.

“Where is Tony, anyway?” I wondered. “He’s not helping you set up for everything?”

“I let him go off fishing this morning,” she said, sighing. “He’s been busting his ass working extra hours already, and the school year’s barely started.”

“Already?” Josie echoed.

“There’s been scheduling issues for, like, two freaking years over the damn football team. So everyone ends up being jostled around for whoever has to cover.”

“What do you mean, cover?” I asked.

“They can’t find a permanent coach,” she explained. “No one wants to do it. I mean, I don’t blame them. Who would want to be a high school football coach in a place like this?”

“Hey, the Cardinals were good when we were in school,” I argued, furrowing my brows together. Rhys had been the quarterback in his senior year, when I’d been a freshman, and they’d won some kind of big championship. “What about that guy? What was his name? Coach Whitman,” I remembered.

“He’s retired,” she said dryly. “He was already getting up there in years when we were in school, in case you don’t remember.”

“Oh, yeah,” I agreed, pursing my lips.

But when the mental image of Rhys at the picnic popped into my head, the patient way he’d directed the kids while they’d played, I let out a little gasp. We’d watched dozens of games together now, and he was always griping about bad plays and poor decision-making on the coach’s part. He knew the rules maybe a little too well. I was pretty sure coaching had never crossed his mind, but I knew that having a job even adjacent to playing football would absolutely thrill him.

“What?” Josie asked, surprised by my shocked sound.

“Ah, nothing,” I said quickly, shaking my head. With how often Rhys and I had been sneaking around together lately, saying anything to remind anyone that the two of us even knew each other felt like too much of a risk. Definitely safer to play it cool. “I just couldn’t remember if I left my hair straightener on when I left the house. But, you know what? It has a safety shut-off function, so it’s fine.”

“You’ve been so weird lately, Keke.”

She and Benji had already accused me a couple times of seeing someone. Benji especially was way too aware of my habits, and the mere fact that I’d been online gaming with him less seemed to be enough of a clue for him. For that reason, I’d been making more of an effort to go over to their house to hang out and have dinners and stuff. That way they wouldn’t feel the need to pop over unexpectedly to my place.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“What’s going on?” Megan asked, tilting her head at me curiously.

“He has a secret boyfriend,” Josie explained for me.

“I do not!” I denied. “I told you guys that you’re wrong about that.”

“What’s his name?” Megan wondered, taking a sip of the Coke she’d poured for herself.

Sighing, I only shook my head. “There’s no name. There’s no guy.”

“You know,” Megan said, tapping her fingers on the table before pointing at me. “If you won’t say a name, it’s probably because it’s a guy we all know.”

“Oh my gosh!” Josie said, gawking. “That’s so true!”

“That’s an insane line of logic to follow,” I stated, but I knew showing any kind of emotional reaction or distress would only increase suspicions. On top of that, Rhys was gone so much from his house nowadays that it would be too easy to put two and two together if anyone started thinking hard about it. Well, maybe. I wasn’t sure how willing everyone would be to believe that the ultra-masculine Rhys Kensington was bisexual. But I wasn’t trying to risk it. I still needed time to work him over on the idea of falling in love and staying with me forever in a real, healthy, defined relationship with labels and that we didn’t have to hide. That wasn’t going to happen if he was forcibly outed.

Giving a casual shrug, I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “When my dry spell is over, I’ll let you know. And you can meet him.”

“That’s not what Benjamin says,” Josie countered in a sing-song voice, but she did let it drop after that.

We shifted topics to stuff that was going on around town and Josie’s upcoming baby shower, eventually landing on the abandoned house on Mulberry street. The two of them expressed disdain for the fact that it was likely going to be sold to some shitty temporary rental property type company, but thinking about that house being torn down made my heart ache. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so stuck in the past, but it was devastating to think about.

“My aunt knows the lady who owns that house, you know,” Megan said. “I mean, she doesn’t live here, of course. She inherited it. My aunt said she feels bad selling it to that business but no one around here can afford to buy it. And really, who the hell would want to move here? I don’t think she’ll hold out much longer, honestly.”

I sighed, knowing she was right.

“I wish I could buy it,” I groused. Josie gave me a sympathetic look before rubbing a few comforting circles onto my back.