Rhodes followed me here and parks in a different area of the parking lot. He’s here a little early for practice and will be in the gym working out. He’s not going to walk in with me or anything, but he wanted to be sure he was nearby for whatever happens. I get a text from him as I’m grabbing my purse and getting out of the car.
Rhodes
Let me know how it goes.
I will.
I walk inside and down the long hallway toward Lisa’s office. The door is open when I walk up, and she’s at her desk.
“Come in, Elle, and close the door.”
I do and she motions for me to sit down.
“I’m sure you have a good idea why you’re here this morning,” she says. “You have been one of my favorite dancers, and that’s not something I throw around lightly.You’re gorgeous, and you have the body and charisma that draws people in.” She pauses.
“Thank you so much.”
She sighs and lifts her shoulder in a shrug. “When I’m watching the recordings and you’re on the screen, I can’t look away.” She moves a few papers on her desk before leveling me with a piercing look. “So I’m really upset that you completely disrespected me and the team…and everyone else who would’ve happily taken your place and been content to fulfill their end of the commitment. I communicated the rules of the team very clearly to you, and you blatantly broke every one. You have been seen all over town with Rhodes Archer, multiple times!”
She pauses and when I don’t say anything, she continues.
“You’re fired. I need you to clear out your locker, turn in your uniform, and leave the premises within the next half hour.”
The timeframe is a bit surprising, but everything else is what I expected…except she surprised me with the compliments.
“Thanks for giving me the opportunity. I loved being part of the team, and I’ll really miss dancing with the girls. I should’ve known it would be too hard to stay away from Rhodes. As I told you before, Rhodes’ son Levi is my godson, so I should have never joined the team. I just love dancing so much, and I loved being part of this organization. At the time, when I joined, I thought a little space from Rhodes might be what I needed…I was struggling with staying in the friend zone. I’m so sorry for the disrespect. I have nothing but admiration for you and the girls. I actually have you to thank for forcing Rhodes and me to confront our feelings.”
Her nod is brisk. “Well, I hope it was worth it.” She makes a face like she smells something bad. “You know…I’ve been around long enough to see the occasional dalliance between players and cheerleaders, but they never last. The sheer volume of women that throw themselves at these players is staggering.” She shakes her head. “And like I said, you’re gorgeous, but there are a lot of pretty girls out there. You won’t always be there to scratch that itch. Rhodes Archer is a hot commodity.”
“What we have is more than that. And he’s definitely worth it,” I say and walk out the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
MY FAVORITE PART
RHODES
Now
I’ve checkedmy phone a dozen times before practice begins and there's nothing from Elle. I shoot her a quick text.
Everything okay?
And then I have to get out on the field before I’ve heard anything back. It sucks that she's so close and I’m still clueless about what's going on. We practice, I'm distracted as fuck, and Coach calls me out on it.
“Sorry, I'll do better tomorrow,” I tell him.
“Just get your head screwed on right before Sunday, is all I ask,” he says.
“I will.”
When I get back to the locker room, there’s a text from her.
Elle
I was fired.
I leave the locker room and call her.
