“What do you do on the field so that you get to park in the players’ lot?” he asked me finally.
“I’m Nutty.”
“What is that supposed to mean? You’re crazy?”
“No, I’m Nutty. Nutty the Chipmunk. You know, Nutty and Hank the Hunter?”
“You’re that stupid animal that runs around? We all keep hoping that the hunter really shoots you.”
I stiffened. “Lots of people like Nutty.”
“Lots of people are idiots.”
Well, he was sure pleasant. But I thought I understood. “Did you get bad news about your knee or something? It that what’s the matter?” I asked sympathetically.
At first he didn’t answer. Then his voice came out angry and mean. “Are you looking to sell some information? A first-person account? I’ll give you a tip. They’ll pay more if you get a video of me limping to go along with it.”
“No. I’m not going to sell information about you. I was just trying to be friendly.” First he wrecked my car, then he was a total pill. I closed my lips firmly.
I took a corner a little too sharply—this truck handled a bit differently from mine, which could have fit in the back seat and ridden along with us. He made a little sound. A groan or a moan.
“I’m sorry!” I said. “I didn’t mean to make your knee hurt. I’ll slow down and be more careful.”
“I’m fine.” But his skin looked pale to me. He clearly wasn’t.
“I tore my ACL,” I told him. “In high school. It got better. I mean, it was no picnic, but it did heal.” Eventually and not completely. I thought I’d leave that part out.
Davis Blake looked out the window. “This is the second time. In the same knee.” He quickly swung his head to look at me. “The news is going to get out anyway. The team is making an announcement tonight, so you can’t use that.”
That hurt my feelings. “I already told you, I’m not trying to get information from you. I was trying to be nice.”
“Sure you are.”
“Look, you’re the one who ruined my car, not the other way around. And I’m sorry you hurt your knee, but there’s no reason to take it out on a perfect stranger who’s helping you.”
“Helping me?”
I gestured around the cab of the truck. “I’m driving you home, aren’t I?”
“I’m renting you a car, aren’t I?” he countered.
“Because you demolished mine! Sweet Jesus, what is the matter with you?” I turned to look at him and then had to brake hard for a light. Our weight swung forward and he made another little noise. “Sorry. Sorry! That really wasn’t on purpose.”
Davis Blake stared out of the window the rest of the way to his house and I focused on driving carefully so I wouldn’t hurt his knee again. And wow, his house! If his car could have given mine a ride, his house could have invited my house over to stay. In fact, his house could have hosted mine and four or five of my neighbors’ houses as well. It was right on the lake, too, and I caught a glimpse of the wide beach in the back. Probably he had a boat.
When I turned off the car we sat in the driveway for a moment and he didn’t move. “Here we are,” I prompted him. I looked closely. His face was all tense, as if he was in pain. “Hey, are you on anything? I remember that my knee really, really hurt.”
“No. I’m not on drugs.”
I sighed. “I don’t mean that you’re on drugs, just something to help with the pain! And I’m not going to try to spread rumors that you’re an addict, if that’s where you were going next.” He didn’t answer and I sighed again. “Ok, never mind.” I opened the door and leaped down, then went around to his side. He was staring in the direction of the driveway below him, probably contemplating making his descent.
“Here,” I said, patting my shoulder. “Lean on me and slide down.”
“No.”
“I’m really strong,” I told him, and braced my legs. He directed his mirrored lenses toward me for a moment. Then he eased down until he could reach my shoulder. He weighed a lot, but I held steady. Sometimes I carried Sam around the field in his costume.
He took a few deep breaths once he was standing on the driveway. “I thought you’d fall,” he said after a moment.
“You thought I’d fall, and you leaned on me anyway?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he got his crutches out of the truck and started toward the house. I followed him to the front door, and he turned back toward me.
“I guess I’ll wait here for the loaner car to come,” I said. “You really did call about that, right? You weren’t kidding or something?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, you got me a car, or yes, you were kidding?”
Davis Blake turned back to the door and unlocked it. “There’s a car coming.”
He shut the door.
Well. Well, well, well. I stared, open-mouthed, at the door and heard several locks click shut. Well!
I had met plenty of the players on the Woodsmen squad. Some had been nice, some not as nice. Most of the single ones (and some of the not-single ones) had asked me out. I had never even been close to Davis Blake before, and certainly hadn’t spoken to him. He had seemed to be almost in another orbit from where I was whirling around.
Now I was glad I hadn’t talked to him. Sweet Lord, he was a pill! He destroyed my car then made me wait outside. Fine, he was in pain, but…I thought about it. Maybe the news he had gotten from the doctors today was really, really bad. Maybe he wasn’t going to
