Page 149 of Forever Defiant
“What is it?”
He shrugged. “No clue. She said she’ll catch me later.”
I rested my head against the wall, watching him. I scratched my cheek. “What do you think of her, really?”
He didn’t hide his surprise that I was serious. “Honestly? I think she’s pretty great. I think she’s also really invested in the program scandal, and I think that would make me cautious about getting too involved with her... but other than that, I think you might be punching above your weight.”
I flipped him off, but his words stuck with me, needling the back of my mind long after the two of us headed back to the stadium for training.
He was right. She was too caught up in everything already crashing down around us, and I was fighting to keep the program from pulling me under.
I wasn’t fighting nearly as hard when it came to her.
Chapter 33
Hadley
Everyone lay low for three days.
Dante and Noah weren’t speaking. At all. Savvy had two black eyes, and her father lost it when he saw her. He wasn’t convinced that his daughter had accidentally fallen down the stairs. When she told me, I groaned — it was theworstexcuse to give. Unless there are witnesses to say “she fell down the stairs,” a woman should never claim “I fell down the stairs” when their loved ones already dislike the woman’s partner.
Spring training had picked up on Saturday, and from what Savannah told me afterward, Dante had been sacked twice by Noah and the two of them had needed Dustin to step in and separate them —twice.
She also told me that Head Coach Sutherland looked delighted that they were fighting.
The social media PR girl was also miraculously absent.
Her chance of being innocent was decreasing the longer she stayed away.
Which left me blissfully free to do a little hunting on my own. Savvy was lying low, thanks to the fact that makeup made her look worse. Noah wasn’t in the apartment the two times I’d been there pretending to see my ‘boyfriend,’ and Dante was avoiding everything like an ostrich with its head in the sand.
Which left me all alone. And unsupervised.
I’d slept in this morning. Milly was lying curled on my chest, having befriended me again after abandoning her, and I was making plans. Dean-shaped plans.
I still wanted to go find Tiffany, but I grudgingly conceded that I liked Savannah and I would be sad if we weren’t friends anymore. If I went to Chattanooga on the hunt for Tiffany orMason alone... she’d shut me out. But I hadn’t promised her that I wouldn’t pursue her dad for answers.
And that was exactly what I wanted to do today.
I spent some time with my cat, then I went in search of Dean Cole. The man was a workaholic. Savannah didn’t mention her relationship with her mom or dad much, but I got the impression they weren’t close. Which was good. Because if I pissed him off, she wouldn’t pull a Dante on me and blank me.
She was also pissed at both Noah and Dante for being idiots, and I kind of agreed with her. If anyone should be pissed that Savannah had two black eyes, it should be Savannah. Savannah, who immediately hugged Noah, told him to stop freaking out, and said it wasn’t his fault.
See? How could I risk that girl’s friendship? She was hardcore loyal.
I made my way to the admin building, which wasn’t far from the Den, and heard distant shouting from the stadium. One thing I definitely appreciated about Coach Sutherland’s disdain for me was that I didn’t need to watch them play. I could do my own thing, knowing I was doing it without being under their watchful eyes.
“Hey, Hadley.”
I turned to look at the two girls who had just spoken to me. “Hi?”
“You’re not in the stadium watching training.”
I looked between them, both blonde, both pretty, both wearing less clothes than I would on a Saturday afternoon in March. “Um, no. Obviously.”Because I’m standing right here.
“How are you?”
What was happening? I looked around. “I’m sorry, do I know you? Either of you?”
