I shrugged.
“Yeah.”
“W
hy?”
“Because you’d be watching me,” I said.
“You want me to watch you?”
“I want everyone to watch me,” I replied. “It kind of goes with the territory.”
“So you are an attention whore?”
“Pretty much.” I shoveled more fries into my mouth—they were damn good—and wiped my lips with a napkin. Nicole ate hers in little bites, tearing each one in half before dunking it in ketchup.
“At least you admit it,” Nicole said as she sat back and gulped down the rest of her drink. “Okay, if this actually counts—we’ve been on a date now. I guess that means we’re dating.”
“Yes, we are,” I said with a smile, “and tomorrow everyone will know you’re mine.”
Nicole rolled her eyes.
“I belong to me, you jerk.” She shook her head, but she was smiling, too.
Perhaps Shakespeare would have considered us “woo'd in haste,” but at least we had something of a plan together. Somehow, I thought it would be easy to convince the student body of our high school to see us as a couple.
Now, how was I going to keep my dad from hearing about it?
CHAPTER 10
CAUTION
After I dropped Nicole off, my mind began racing to come up with some sort of explanation that would work on Dad. Obviously, I couldn’t be like Nicole and tell my dad the truth—that would just be stupid. I needed a plausible reason to have him see her around me and not flip out. As far as I could discern, there was really only one way.
Dad’s car wasn’t in the drive when I got home, which was good. I did my homework, lifted some weights in the basement—which didn’t last long since my ribs started hurting—and toasted a bagel. When I heard Dad’s car come up the driveway, I took a deep breath and tried to remember my lines.
“You missed practice,” he said as soon as he walked in the door. He looked tired, which was also a good thing.
“Um…yeah,” I stammered. I wasn’t expecting that from the get-go, but it actually made for a good cue. “I know, and it won’t happen again. I’ve got it all worked out now.”
He dropped his briefcase near the door and stalked into the kitchen. He glared at me as he pulled the stack of delivery menus out of the drawer by the refrigerator.
“You have what worked out?” he demanded.
“Well, you know that little cherry-girl, right?” I asked. “Sheriff Skye’s daughter?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, let’s just say she’ll be taking care of my homework assignments this semester,” I laughed and shook my head a little.
“Oh yeah? Were you fucking her instead of practicing?”
“No,” I said. I swallowed hard. “Not yet. But I’ve got her worked up enough that she’ll do anything I ask. I know I missed practice, but I think it will save me a lot of pointless work in the long run, you know? And I did some lifting when I got home, and I did go out with another…um…another player and did some practice PKs afterwards.”
“Any get by you?”
“Just one.”