Page 21 of The No Try Zone
He reaches his hand out for a shake, tilting his head to the lizard man. “You remember Frank Jarvitts?”
Frank raises a thick eyebrow. “Never got an acknowledgment from you about those talking points I put in your inbox.”
It takes me a split second to decide how to play this, and it’s to Frank’s detriment. This asshole doesn’t realize that he’s a fuzzy little kitten compared to my dead father. “Good morning, Scott. Great to see you, too. I’m excited to be here.” The smile drops from my face as I turn to the PR man from hell. “Frank. I didn’t respond because I don’t have access to my email yet – something it seems that you, as a long-time employee of the Granite, would know.” I flash him a smile. “But I’m sure you just forgot. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen often.” Then I chuckle and turn my back on him as I angle a knowing smile at Scott, including him in my “joke.”
“Technology,” Scott says as he shakes his head sympathetically. “Frank, why don’t you go see how IT is coming along with his laptop? Coach, I’ve got some ideas I want to run by you.”
Frank’s jaw ticks as he turns on his heel and leaves without a word. As I watch him leave, I catch a glimpse of a tall blonde moving through the hallway. Something about her makes me think of Sam, but that’s impossible. Besides, I’m focused on things I can control right now.
And Sam –my wife, my guilty conscience happily reminds me – is definitely not on my control list.
Chapter8
Sam
“WE’RE GOING TO be late.” I huff the words at my little brother through the phone’s speaker. Although “little” is hardly the right word to describe the guy. The blond monster is six foot three – he remains annoyingly proud to announce the American sizing to me – and built like a tank. Most players in his position, openside flanker, aren’t as thick as him, but my little bro took all that baby fat and turned it into pure Aussie muscle.
He’s still a pain in my arse.
“We can’t be late to a barbie,” he counters.
“Barbecue,” I correct. “You’re the one who always wants to say American words. They call it a barbecue.”
He scoffs. “They’re grilling meat outside. That’s a barbie. We may be in the States, Sam, but some things are sacred.”
I scowl at the phone screen. “Get down here or I’m going without you.”
He disconnects without another word, then reappears at the top of the metal stairs leading down from his second-floor apartment. I’m in a unit right across the lot, which was probably a stupid move, but it lets me tell Mum that I’m keeping an eye on him. All I have to do is pretend I don’t notice the parade of different cars parked in his guest spot on the regular. No judgment, but also, ignorance is bliss. This is the kid who picked boogers and ate them in front of me just to see if he could make me gag.
Ollie flashes me his signature little-brother grin as he jogs down the stairs to meet me on the sidewalk, jingling the leased Bronco’s keys. “Get in. I’m driving.”
I frown at him. “The mustache is not working for you.”
His smile grows wider as he raises his eyebrows meaningfully. “Oh, it’s working, sis. It’s working.”
“Gross.”
He laughs. “You started it.”
The phrase jolts another memory loose.
“What about a simple dare?” Blue-green eyes stare back at me.
“We’re in Vegas. Seems more bets are the way to go.”
“Oh, we’ll get there,” he says. His voice is deep. He leans close and continues. “But let’s have some fun while we do it.”
I give him a low laugh. “You’re trouble.”
He winks. “Tonight I am. With a capital T. Just remember that you started it. So what’ll it be, Sunshine? Heads or tails?”
Air catches in my throat as I close my eyes, desperate for the memory to stop but even more desperate for more of the night to reveal itself.Sunshine? What must I have said to earn that nickname? Sparks of white flash behind my eyelids, but everything fades, leaving me no closer to understanding how I ended up getting married than before.Dammit.
My hand doesn’t leave the handlebar above the window and I curse repeatedly as Ollie jolts us down the interstate. He drives like the twenty-four-year-old man he is: brash and absolutely certain of his immortality. Which means it’s half an hour of pure adrenaline shot through with terror and an utter conviction that I’m going to die.
Come to think of it, he and Kari are similar like that.
“You’re gonna love the new coach, Sam,” Ollie says as he cuts someone off. “I really hit it off with him.”
