AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sure you are.” I’m obviously not. Time for a subject change. “How do you take your coffee?”
“I’ll fix it.” I watch her put cream and sugar into the cup before stirring it. She doesn’t resume grading papers but instead leans back in her chair and looks up at me. “You can’t keep showing up here. I’m going to get in trouble even if you are the principal’s pet.”
The atmosphere relaxes a bit as I let out a breath. Spotting an extra chair a few paces away, I nod toward it. “Mind?” Her eyes follow, landing on the chair. Blinking slowly, she nods once. In a flash, I grab the chair and silently place it beside her desk before sitting. “I bet you speak from experience. Teacher’s pet in school?”
She gives me a stare and eye squint that confirms I’ve hit the nail on the head. “And I bet you were the jock who never showed up for class but always managed to ace every test. Miraculously, you always maintained your eligibility to play ball.”
Damn. She really does have a low opinion of athletes. And it’s clear I’m not the original source of it. “Is that assessment from personal experience or just a blanket assumption of meatheads in general?”
“More personal experience than I care to admit, but thankfully ancient history.”
“Can’t be tooancientif it’s still riling you up now. But I wouldn’t label myself a jock anyways. I did show up for all my classes because I planned to attend university. My dad’s alma mater’s bitter rival. So, no meathead pass for me because I was determined to get accepted.”
“You really went out of your way to make him angry.”
“Yep.”
“Did it work?”
“Yep. And I graduated with a degree in business, so I had a backup plan in case ball didn’t pan out.”
“Looks like you didn’t need that backup after all.”
I unconsciously rub my right elbow. “Never know. My career could end tonight, or next week, or five years from now. Nothing is certain.” She breaks eye contact, glancing across the room, but my gut says she just wanted to look away from me. “How about you? I’m guessing you didn’t rebel much.”
She smiles, nodding her head. “I didn’t have to. That role was filled by my little brother.”
“Brother? I’m an only child. I always wanted a brother.”
“Well, I have one brother and two sisters. I love them but wanted some peace and quiet growing up—and my own bathroom.”
“A quiet, empty house is overrated.” In childhood and adulthood. Although, the latter hasn’t ever bothered me much until recently.
“What about your mom? Does she still live in Canaan Falls?”
Her asking me a question is a good thing, shows at least a tad of interest on her part. Maybe I’m successfully prying my way into her hard shell after all. But out of all the topics, family isn’t the one I’d pick for first-coffee-date topics. Is this a date? Damn, I hope so. “Yes, she’s still here, but we don’t have much contact.”
“Why not?”
Normally, I’d hesitate to answer, instead I respond easily to Avery. “Because she never put a stop to my dad’s behavior, so I resented her equally for his actions. Even though she was on the receiving end too.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have pried,” Avery says, pink staining her cheeks.
“It’s okay. I blamed her, but I still defended her as soon as I was able to. And as soon as I could, I got her away from him permanently. I blamed her, but I wanted her safe. Now she is.”
“I’m sorry.” Avery glances down to the cup in her hand as she takes a sip.
“Never apologize to me,” I utter. I hate that everyone has always been so quick to placate and accommodate me. I just want them to call me on my shit, like the feisty part of Avery I’ve seen. “Unless it’s for sleeping through my game.”
Her posture relaxes and she rolls her eyes. “I tried, but those damn nineteen innings lastedforever.”
“At least you were able to finish your book.”
“Mm-hmm.” She smiles as a muffled snore comes from E.J.’s direction.
“Why were you at the game if you hate baseball so much?”
“Bodie guilted me into going. The plan was to spend some quality time together. And it was only supposed to be for a few innings which turned into the entire game and then all the fangirling afterwards. That’s when I kinda dozed off.”
