Page 46 of Rival Season
“I’m grabbing a Coke, you want one?” I need a caffeine boost.
“Yes, please!”
I smile and head toward the hallway that leads to the front lobby where the refrigerator is. Right when I’m in front of the appliance, the doorbell chimes. I glance at the front door and am stunned to see Penn looking through the glass at me.
He grins and waves as I cross the room and open the door.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
One corner of his mouth lifts into a boyish, lopsided grin. “I told you I’d be here at five.”
“I thought you were kidding!” He sent me a bunch of weird texts earlier aboutable-bodiedfriends, and I assumed either Fisher had his phone or he was making a dirty joke I didn’t understand.
“I was dead serious, actually. I heard you might need some assistance today, so I brought the team,” he says in a good-humored tone.
“What team?”
Penn leans back so I can see the line up of large hockey players waiting behind him.
My jaw drops as I take in what must be over twenty guys, including Fisher and Noah.
“Oh, wow. Are you guys seriously here to volunteer?” Moisture collects in the corners of my eyes, and I blink quickly to push the tears back.
Penn tilts his head, his gaze softening. “Yeah, we want to help.”
“Okay, come on in,” I say, moving to the side so all the guys can enter. They’re all huge, filling the small lobby so full it’s almost cartoonish.
I lead them to the back and Bertie’s eyes go wide when we enter the stockroom. “Uh, Bertie, it looks like we have help.”
She drops her hands from the box on the table in front of her and walks over to stand in front of the group. They tower over the short woman, but she beams up at them. “Well, what do we have here?”
Two of the men step forward, both of them just slightly older than the rest of them. “I’m Mitch Anderson, coach for the San Francisco Lions, and this is my assistant coach, Sebastian Slater.” The bearded man reaches out and shakes her hand “We’re here to help however we can.”
The blond assistant coach, Sebastian, shakes her hand as well. He’s all smiles. “Put us to work, ma’am.”
She chuckles. “Please, call me Bertie!”
The whole team goes around introducing themselves—so many names, I’ll never be able to remember—and they all seem ready and willing to help, shooting friendly smiles at me and Bertie like we’re actual human beings. A world away from Chadwick’s friends on his team, who mostly ignored me.
When everyone else has been introduced, Penn grins at Bertie.
“Saved the best for last—I’m Penn Matthews, Hazel’s boyfriend.” He shoots me a wink, and I close my eyes. I hadn’t planned on mentioning Penn to Bertie, because if anyone could sniff out our lie, it would be her.
Bertie’s eyebrows shoot up high. “Boyfriend?” She crosses her arms and narrows her eyes in my direction. “Is that right?”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t told you all about me.” Penn’s blue eyes twinkle wickedly. “Usually Hazel can’t shut up about how great I am.”
Fisher chuckles, Noah rolls his eyes, and Coach Anderson shoots Penn a pained look like he can’t decide if he should be amused or embarrassed by his player.
Meanwhile, I huff a laugh, my hands moving nervously to my hair to tighten the elastic holding my bun together. I realize there are two pencils stuck in there I’d forgotten about. “Oh, yeah. I meant to tell you, Bertie, but it’s umm…new.”
She stares at me like she’s looking straight through me, and I squirm under her perusal. Finally, she turns back to the coaches. “Let me show you what we’re doing.”
Bertie walks the group through the process of packing the boxes, showing them where everything is stored, including the stack of Valentine’s candy donated by local businesses.
Each man grabs a box and a family list and gets busy. Penn sidles up beside me at the table, his coaches across from him, and Noah and Fisher taking up the space next to Bertie.
“I love this music, Bertie,” Fisher says. “What artist is this?”
