She shrugged and pushed the end of my nose in. “Whatever works for you. Have a good couple of weeks.”
“Ten days. Not that I’m counting,” I said. “And you too. A good ten days.”
Our eyes bounced back and forth from one to the other. God, did her lips ever look so supremely kissable as they did right then?
“Jones!” We both startled at Coach’s shout.
“Hug me quick and go before he kills you,” Violet said,folding into me for a squeeze. I lowered my face and inhaled a whiff of her hair before letting her go.
“See ya, Vi.”
“Bye!”
I turned back at the airport’s doors to find her already getting into her car. Coach slapped me on the back. “Glad you sorted out the whole promposal thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “That was not a promposal. We just took some pictures for me to post. You know, prove it to people. Stop the rumors. Make it my responsibility and not the team’s.”
Coach bobbed his head. “A good idea. That’s the kind of leadership I want to see. You messed up, but you stepped up.”
Well, he was probably the only one proud of me. When I stepped onto the plane, I was greeted by half my team making kissy noises. My face flushed and I held up my middle finger.
“Leave him alone!” Sorrento shouted over the noise.
“Yeah, let Cap be happy!” Owen said. It would have been a nice thing to say, but he had his mouth half full ofmyjunior bacon cheeseburger.
“Owen, what the fuck?” I demanded.
He grimaced. “It was getting cold, Cap.” He held out the sandwich. “Want a bite?”
Royce leaned over and ripped a bite off the burger, straight from Owen’s hand. Owen startled like a shark jumped up and bit it.
“I’m good,” I said. “Just give me the Frosty.”
Behind Owen sat Leroy, the paper cup in his hand and plastic spoon in his mouth. He rounded his eyes at me.
“You too?” I asked.
Leroy lifted a shoulder. “It was melting.”
I settled in my usual seat next to Dottie and scrolled through the pictures Violet and I took. God, she was beautiful.
Dottie leaned over. “Is that your girl?”
My gut twisted. No one here knew about the fake part. “Yeah. That’s her.”
He patted my thigh. “She’s pretty.”
I nodded, unable to pry my eyes from the screen. “Yeah. She is.”
I analyzed the picture that made me stop scrolling. The fall sun made the edges of Vi’s hair glow, and we were looking at each other and laughing.
I looked completely and totally in love. It would be a convincing enough photo for the public, but was it too vulnerable to show to Violet?
But that was the kicker: she looked just as enamored as I did. I silenced my hopeful heart, but it couldn’t stop me from staring.
“Post two,” Dottie said. “People like to look at two.”
I fought a laugh. “Are you a social media expert?”
