“I’m not—”
Krueger lifts his hand to silence me. “Let’s talk about this,” he says over me.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“I suggested the play,” I say. “Don’t penalize them.”
Peters moves his gaze back to me. “Maybe next time, they’ll remember who has gotten them this far.”
He turns and hobbles out of the room, taking whatever remains of my future of football with him.
Chapter31
Hadley
Iblow into my cupped hands and then rub them together as I listen to Mila recount the book she’s been reading.
“You love the broody heroes,” Evelyn says.
“Like attracts like,” Mila says.
Evelyn giggles, wrapping a blanket tighter around her shoulders. “God, it’s cold tonight.”
“Freezing,” I agree. “But I’m kind of okay with it. We were going to set up Christmas decorations last week, but we all got busy with school, so we’re going to do it next weekend. This cold weather kind of makes it feel more festive.”
“We’re setting ours up tomorrow, and I’m so excited.” Evelyn tugs her stocking cap lower to cover more of her ears. “We only ever set up a tree when I was growing up, and Mila’s gone absolutely nuts. I swear, our apartment’s going to look like the North Pole. It’s going to be amazing.”
Mila beams. “We should plan some fun things for Christmas. Maybe something like the brunch you hosted, but do it with cookies or movies or something festive.”
“I can’t imagine Grey attending a cookie exchange,” Evelyn says.
Mila scoffs. “Who said I was inviting him?”
I chuckle.
“Maybe we do a few girls-only events?” Evelyn says. “And others we can invite the guys to.”
It’s becoming harder for me to agree to do anything that takes away time from when I’ll see Nolan, our time is already so limited. I’m still trying to unpack this fact because it’s not something I can recall caring about in previous relationships.
“We could do a cookie exchange and our first book club meetup,” Mila suggests.
“Oh, that would be so fun. Do you think everyone will be able to read a book and be ready to talk about it?” Evelyn asks.
“You read a new book every other day,” Mila says.
Evelyn smirks. “But I’m not normal.”
Mila wraps her arm around Evelyn’s shoulder. “You’re the only kind of normal I want. Besides, if we don’t finish, you can just give us a summary without spoilers and tell us whether we should read it or not.”
Evelyn chuckles. “Deal.”
The crowd stands around us, cheering so loud that it ends our conversation. It’s the telling sign that Camden has taken the field. We stand up to watch.
“Wait. Why isn’t Hudson going to the coin toss?” Mila asks.
I pull my attention from trying to find Nolan to see someone else going to midfield to meet the refs and opposing team captain.
“Is he sick? Did he get hurt?” Mila continues.