Chapter 20
DANNY
Coach Clarkson trained us harder than ever, despite the rain. By the time practice was over, I could barely walk. I welcomed the exertion though. Focusing on not slacking off, I barely had time to think about Sadie. And in the locker room, my teammates kept me occupied with their banter.
It’s not until I’m riding home with Andy that thoughts of Sadie invade my mind and I can’t think of anything else.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Andy points out.
“I’m just tired.”
“A certain soccer player definitely kept you busy last weekend.”
“Dude, come on. You know Sadie is only a friend.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, will you? I wasn’t insinuating anything, just making an observation. Taking care of someone who is sick is draining.”
“Sorry, I can’t tell with you. Ninety-nine percent of the time, your comments have double meaning.”
“That’s true.” He grins. “I guess I’m improving my ways.”
“What are your plans for the evening?” I ask to change the subject.
“Jane has derby training. She also has a game next weekend if you want to come. Lorenzo is psyched about it.”
I grin. “I’m sure he is. Does he still have a crush on that dark-haired player? What’s her name again?”
“Oh, Scary Samantha? I don’t know. He hasn’t mentioned her again since Jane told him we weren’t allowed to speak her name in the house.”
That makes me laugh. “She’s still bitter about that black eye, huh?”
“Totally. I mean, I was livid when it happened, but then I reminded her that’s the nature of the game, and she can’t cry when things get tough.”
“You probably didn’t get any sex that evening, did you?”
“Nope.”
“Sadie would probably love going to a roller derby game,” I say without thinking.
Andy groans. “Bro, it’s really hard not to make a comment about the girl if you keep mentioning her as if she were your girlfriend.”
I clench my jaw hard and look out the window. I have no one but myself to blame for that. “Hell, can’t I invite a girl to a game without it being a date?”
“Yeah, but we both know you’re into Sadie. If you want to insist on not dating anyone because of whatever, then it’s a smart idea to stop hanging out with her.”
“I know.”
We fall silent for a minute or two before Andy continues. “If you want to bring Sadie to the game, I guess it’d be all right. You’ll have me, Lorenzo, and I believe Jane’s grandma is coming with her two boyfriends. That’s plenty of buffer.”
Despite my gloomy mood, that makes me laugh. “Damn it, now I have to bring her. I can’t wait to see Sadie’s reaction when she meets Ophelia Holland.”
“Yeah, that will be epic, I bet.”
No sooner are we home and I’m back in my room than I pull my cell phone out to text Sadie. I begin to ask how her day was but decide to go with something less clingy in the end.
ME: Hey, what’s up?
SADIE: Not much. Veg’ing out in my room and listening to Katrina talk about her Greek life.
ME: That sounds fun, LOL.
SADIE: Barf. But it’s distracting me from the shitty day I had.
ME: What? Did your coach make you train in the rain?
SADIE: I wish she had. Something else.
ME: Come on, Sadie. You can’t leave it at that.
A moment later, she calls me.
“Hey. Got tired of typing?” I ask.
“Yeah, the story is too long, and my fingers were cramping up already. Anyway, if you must know why I had a crappy day, here it is. Coach Lauda made us do weight lifting because of the rain, which I hate on most days. But then we bumped into the king of arseholes at the gym, and he acted like his usual obnoxious self.”
My entire body becomes tense. The memory of him dragging a barely conscious Sadie out of the party on Friday pops in my mind, making me relive the anger all over again.
“What did he do?” I grit out.
“The usual BS. But because I exchanged barbs with the wanker, I received a reprimand from Coach. To cut a long story short, I have to train harder and stay out of trouble if I want to play in our first game.”
Sadie’s evasion makes me suspect it was more than the usual BS. But I can probably get the details from someone else.
“That’s harsh,” I say. “You can do it though. If you want, I can help you on both counts.”
“What do you mean?”
“I also need to train harder. Maybe we can run in the mornings or hit the gym together.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea. But how is that going to help me stay out of trouble?”
“I’ll help you make better decisions because I’m older and wiser?”
“You did not just quote Rolf from The Sound of Music. ” She laughs.
“Guilty. I couldn’t help it. My mom got me hooked on it when I was little. I think I know most of the lines and the song lyrics by heart.”
Sadie laughs harder at this, and the sound is infectious.
“You’re going to make me piss my pants.”
“That wasn’t the intention.”
“Did you burst into song at the most inappropriate moments too?”
“Yeah.”
“Blimey, your dad must have loved that.”
I grow quiet suddenly, not knowing how to reply to that. It’s normal for people to assume I grew up with a dad, but coming from Sadie, it’s a surprise. She didn’t have her father around either, after all.
“No dad,” I reply.
“Bollocks. I’m such a moron. I don’t know why I made that comment. It was word vomit, really. I’m not that thick, I swear.”
I don’t know what to make of that comment. Did she guess my father was never in my life? Probably. I bet most guys she knows talk about their fathers all the time.
“It’s okay, Sadie. It happens.”
I could tell her I’ve never met my father. In fact, I do want to share that with her, but now is not the time.
“If it makes you feel better, I accept your offer to tag along when I train, despite the blatant sexist comment about helping me make better decisions.”
Her joke does pull me out of my sudden funk. Very few people are able to do that when I enter my dark moods.
“Tag along, huh? We’ll see about that when I leave you behind, eating dust.”
She scoffs. “You don’t seriously believe you can run faster than me. I play soccer, in case you forgot.”
“I sense a bet coming on. Should we put a wager on it?”
“That sounds brilliant. I love entering bets when the winning is guaranteed.”
“That’s what the hare thought.”
“The hare was a dumbass and fell asleep.”
“Okay, then. Let’s meet for a run in front of the library tomorrow. We’ll see who’s the fastest. How about five?”
She groans. “I’m already not liking this, but hell, I’m game.”
I smile from ear to ear, even though I know spending more time with Sadie is exactly what I don’t need.
“All right, see you tomorrow, Sadie.”
I’m still sporting the goofiest grin minutes after the call ends.
I see the warning signs flashing in front of me, and I’m choosing to ignore all of them.
When I crash and burn, I’ll have no one to blame but me.