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“But—“
“No buts. That’s the end of it,” I declare, waving my hand in a gesture of finality. “No retaliation, end of story. Besides, we don’t even know for sure it was actually Westbourne…”
“Of course,it was them,” Joss Royce, a flashy winger with bright red hair, says on a groan, as though he can’t believe how ridiculous I’m being.
“I bet it was that asshole full-back, Billings,” Tim Redden, our little scrumhalf, says with a dark scowl. “KC and I saw him and In-N-Out last week and he asked us if we were going to be wearing makeup to the game like our…um…T-wordcoach.” He ducks his head, his face flaming, as though he’s embarrassed to have relayed the insult.
There’s a ripple of angry muttering, and then KC pipes up, “Hey, weshouldwear makeup to the game.”
Everyone’s quiet for a long moment, and then Tups breaks the silence. “Hell yeah! This face would lookgoodwith some bronzer on it.”
After that, any talk of retaliating against Westbourne is forgotten as the boys start chatting animatedly about this new plan.
“Um…what’s happening right now?” I ask Garrett, who’s standing just behind me and looking about as stunned as I feel.
“I have absolutely no idea, but I think we should just go with it.”
19
ELLIE
“So, not that I don’t think it’s an amazing idea,” I say, “but why exactly did all the players decide they wanted to wear makeup to the game today?”
I was kind of floored when Finn mentioned the players’ plan to me earlier in the week, but despite my curiosity, he’s remained pretty vague about the reasoning behind it. Needless to say, when I bump into Cass on my way to see Finn after arriving at Carmichael for the game, I can’t resist questioning them about it. They’re not involved with the team so maybe they’re as clueless as I am, but as Finn’s best friend, they might have heardsomething.
Cass just shrugs. “I guess after they found out about Finn’s car they wanted to do something to retaliate, and this is what they came up with. Pretty mature for a group of teenage boys, really.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. “What happened to Finn’s car?”
Cass gazes at me, eyes wide and mouth open, as though they’ve just realized they’ve said far too much. “Oh, it’s nothing really.”
“Cass,” I press, my eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
They sigh. “It was vandalized last weekend. We’re pretty sure it was some of the Westbourne kids. Finn’s putting it down to a prank, but…”
I arch an eyebrow. “But?”
They let out a sigh, leaning closer to me so they can speak more quietly. “The T-word was spray-painted across the side.”
My whole body stills, my jaw clenching in agitation. That must have been what was up with Finn last Friday night when he went all weird on the phone.Damnit—why didn’t he just say something?
“Excuse me,” I mutter, brushing past Cass and heading toward Finn’s office.
“Ellie, wait—“
I just hold up a hand to wave them away, determined to give my boyfriend a piece of my mind.
I’ve never actually been here, but it doesn’t take me long to locate the office in question. I quickly stride past the players milling around in the locker room and barge through the door that has the gold placard readingCoach: Finn Kelly.
“How could you not tell me about what happened to your car?” I demand, almost losing my anger completely as I set eyes on him sitting at his desk, looking absolutely edible in a grey hoodie and a blue Carmichael Academy cap.
He just blinks at me for a moment, as though I’m some surprise apartition. I guess I can’t blame him; this can’t be how he imagined our first meeting would go after weeks apart. “H-how…?”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “How did I find out? Cass mentioned it. I guess they assumed I already knew.Which I should have.”
Finn winces and lifts a hand to adjust his cap. He stands and rounds his desk, walking toward me and reaching for my hand. As annoyed as I am, I can’t seem to pull my hand away and I just let him draw me closer to him, my body going crazy as I catch a whiff of his incredible rainforest scent.
“You had enough shit to deal with because of that video. I just didn’t want to add to it,” he explains softly.
