Page 41 of Oh, Puck!
Isn't this what I came here to enjoy?
Diego stands to refill the margarita pitcher, and I let the conversation wash over me, filling my glass as my mind keeps sliding back to this morning in the media room.
Fuck.I can't believe I let Josie put me in my place like that.
The way she shut me down, in front of the whole damn team. Then she just stood there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, watching me crash through that practice interview like an amateur.
I left that room thinking way too hard. Harder than I have in years.
You've been coasting.
Yeah. Yeah I fucking have.
And it's been amazing.
But then I went down to The Yard for the next event she had her hands on. And the crowd that had gathered around our players, not because they were forced to, not because a ticket included it, but because someone given them something worthenjoying… it was incredible.
I couldn't help but enjoy myself.
Josie had done that.
And I'm still not sure how I feel about that.
Abouther.
About the fact that she walked into this franchise and immediately started proving me wrong about everything, including the part where I told myself her plan was a waste of time.
The whole town had beenalivetoday and I'd driven back from the boardwalk after the event wound down, and you could feel it… that buzzing energy. People wearing Bears blue. Kids with face paint. A line stretching out at The Vault pop-up shop that Brooke was somehow managing.
Josie's making a difference.
I hate that.
Or I'm starting to think maybe I don't.
"Anyway, the kids loved him today too," Mason says, reaching for his own taco and pulling me back into the conversation while Diego disappears inside. "Didn't they, bro? That little girl with the pigtails? She didn't stop talking about you after she scored that goal."
"She only scored on me because I let her."
"Youlether?" Beck scoffs. "Bro, she deked you so hard you're still spinning. We all saw it."
"It was a good deke."
"It was agreatdeke. And you know what else was great?" Beck leans forward, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Yoursmile."
I toss a scrap of chicken at him. "I don't smile."
"Well you did today. And it was terrifying."
"Hesmiled?!" Diego reappears from the kitchen door, a fresh pitcher of margaritas in one hand and a towel draped over his shoulder. "Photographic evidence or it didn't happen."
"Oh, it gets better." Mason, the traitor, opens his big mouth. "Did you see Josie watching you?"
"No, she wasn't."
"Oh, she absolutely was." Beck sets down his drink. "Darcy pointed it out to me when we were packing up the eating contest. I thought I was hallucinating from all the chilli."
She was watching me?
