Parker chuckled. “You offered to pay her, right?”
“Of course. I started at ten grand, but she said no.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. Then I doubled it to twenty.”
“She still said no?”
“She said it’s not about the money. I don’t know what’s up with that.” I scoffed. “Offer most girls twenty grand, and they’d doanything you want, Parks. Not this one.”
“You said she goes to Stanford. Maybe she’s wealthy?”
“And I thought of that, too—but then, why would she be looking for jobs on Craigslist? Doesn’t make sense.”
“Hm. Good point,” he said, stroking his chin. “Maybe you could offer her something else?”
“Yeah, but what? ’Cause I’m stumped. Ifmoneydoesn’t do it, what the hell am I supposed to offer her?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the girl. Just listen to her. See if there’s anything else you can do for her.”
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if theonegirl in Las Vegas who could actually help me tonight, is also theonlychick in the world who doesn’t care about money?” I sighed. “Once she shoots me down at lunch, that’s it, I’m fucked. I’m either canceling on dinner, or I’m rolling into Mr. Capuano’s mansion solo. Either way, he’ll be done with me.”
Parker stared down at me, his arms folded. “You want my honest advice, Dak?”
“Sure, let’s hear it.”
“Forget the girlfriend act. There’s no way you’ll be able to pull that off with some girl you just met. Mr. Capuano will sniff that stunt out in a minute, and it’ll only land you in more trouble.”
“Okay, so what do I do?”
“The only way out of this mess—anymess—is to tell the truth, Dak. You’d be surprised how far the truth can get you in life.”
I scoffed. “So I should go marching into Mr. Capuano’s house and tell him straight to his face that I’ve been lying my ass off?”
“Only about having a girlfriend. That was dumb as hell, and you’ll have to beg for mercy for that one, obviously.” The coach shrugged unsympathetically. “But the rest—that you’re going to get into the best shape of your life this summer? That you’ll come into training camp leaner, meaner, and stronger than ever?” He ground his fist into his palm. “Thatpart is true. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. I could tell he was eager to get back to work, but I was still beat. I tried to buy some time. “Hey, Parks. I’m really sorry you had to give up your summer plans because of me, by the way.”
“It’s my job.”
“Can I ask what you had planned?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I was gonna take my wife and kid up to our cabin in Muskoka for the summer.”
Shit.CanadiansloveMuskoka. To a Canadian, Muskoka is basically the Garden of Eden. That had to sting …
I gulped. “Is that why you’re kicking my ass so hard bad today, Parks?”
“Oh, it’s not just today,” he said with a maniacal grin. “This is gonna beallsummer long, baby.”
“Fuck …” I whimpered.
“Enough chit-chat. Time for core work.” He clapped his hands impatiently to get me off the floor. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
Grumbling a string of choice words under my breath, I grabbed my bag and dashed for the exit.
“Have fun on your date!” Parker called after me with a cackle. “See ya back here at three o’clock!”
