“It is,” Brynn chimes in, and for once her tone is all business. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her talk like this. “But we can do more. Why stop at the Mustangs? We all have friends on other teams. The guys all have friends playing on other teams. Hurry up and write the email. I’m going to call Maxwell, he’ll get email addresses from all the guys, and then have them spread the message around the league.”
“Wow.” I breathe the word out, in awe of how these women not only support me, but make me better. Even if Quinton doesn’t ever talk to me again, at least I’ll be able to give him this. So I start typing and I don’t stop until it’s perfect, hoping the entire time I do, that this will work. And Quinton can finally see how much he means to everyone.
How much he means to me.
Thirty-eight
If I got more than an hour of sleep last night, it was only by a few minutes.
Vonnie took Poppy home right before midnight. Brynn and Greer stayed until the wee hours of the morning. Liv and Marie, proving once again just how much they love me, camped out with me as we worked through the night.
The whole night, all I could think of was Quinton and how betrayed he must’ve felt not only that I was working with Glenn Chandler, but that I was always so quick to dismiss his feelings about Mahler. I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to forgive me for that—for how small I must’ve made him feel—but I hope that today will at least prove that I heard him and that I think his voice matters.
“Miss Elle.” Jax tugs my sleeve and pulls my attention from the crowds starting to surround us as we make our way to the family and players’ parking lot. I’m never sure if I feel like an old lady, a kindergarten teacher, or both when he calls me that, but he’s cute enough that I don’t think about it for too long. “Are you okay? You look kinda sleepy.”
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, in the entire world will tell you that you look like shit quicker than a child. I wish I could appreciate their honesty, but I’d much rather hang out with adults who know how to lie.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Liv says from the front seat, the laughter in her eyes evident even through the rearview mirror. “That’s what happens when you don’t let your friends help you and then you’re forced to stay up all night fixing things that could’ve been taken care of with a simple phone call.”
I’d like to amend my previous statement. I’d much rather have friends who not only know how to lie, but do so often.
“Yup.” Vonnie cosigns for Liv. “Listen to Miss Liv, this is good advice.”
The car really isn’t moving that fast. I’m sure I wouldn’t get too hurt if I just jumped out.
“Hardy har har.” I roll my eyes, not setting the best example for the impressionable eyes next to me. “You guys are so funny.”
“Sarcasm is also a terrible defense mechanism,” Marie, who I wasn’t even annoyed with, pipes up from the row behind me.
But before I can say something snarky to her, Vonnie turns down the radio and starts to go over the plan for today again. “Alright boys, when we get to the stadium, you’ll take Miss Liv and Miss Marie to the box. If I find out from either of them that you gave them a hard time, you won’t have electronics for a month, and that includes Christmas, got me?”
“Yes, Mom,” all three boys say in perfect synchronization. Even they know Santa’s got no pull on Vonnie. Smart kids.
“Are you sure they’ll let us in the tunnel?” I ask Vonnie. The confidence I had last night has withered away and melted into a rock in the pit of my stomach.
“I already told you yes. They love me here.” She slows down, waving at the police officers guarding the players’ lot. “Plus, I give them really good Christmas presents every year, they won’t want to put those in jeopardy.”
“Okay. Good. Yes.” I’ve forgotten how to form sentences and I’m not even in the stadium yet. I hope this doesn’t turn into a disaster. I really need this to work.
I spent so much time trying to hate Quinton that even when he managed to slide past my defenses, I still couldn’t admit just how much he meant to me. It took him walking away and me really thinking about just how much he has been there for me to realize that the butterflies I felt every time he walked in the room, and the pressure in my chest every time he left, was love. I was just so convinced he would leave like everyone else seemed to, that I pushed him away. A self-fulfilling prophecy, as Greer not so helpfully informed me.
“Ready?” Vonnie asks as she pulls her gigantic SUV into the narrow parking spot surrounded by luxury cars.
But as nervous as I am, this feels different from everything else I’ve done. Because for once, I know I have an entire support system standing behind me. And if I fall, I know they’ll pick me up again.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s go get your man back.”
—
“WE HAVE THE stuff!” Brynn’s voice echoes around us as she runs into the tunnel, waving a plastic bag above her head.
“Oh thank goodness.” I take the bag from her, the weight of it surprisingly heavy . . . but that might just be the pressure of this grand plan I made.
I glance at my phone and check the time. I’ve never wanted a game delay more in my entire life. But of course, the one
