Offside - Page 51

The tears slipped out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. I felt my chest clench and wished I could do something about it, but I knew there was nothing I could do.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I had no idea…I mean, people were saying shit to me, but I didn’t even know what they were talking about…not until lunch—but you were already gone.”

She nodded.

“I looked all over for you,” I told her. “Where did you go?”

“To the trailer park on the other side of town,” she said with a shrug.

“Why the heck did you go out there?”

“Just to see a friend.”

She didn’t seem interested in elaborating, so I let it drop.

“What am I going to do?” she whispered as she finally looked over to meet my eyes. “No one is going to believe nothing happened, even if you tell them. Now I have a bunch of guys chasing me because they think I’m going to put out and a bunch of girls hating me for the same reason. I can’t believe this is happening again.”

“What’s happening again?”

“Forget it,” she grumbled, and she started to stand up.

I reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Tell me,” I insisted.

“It’s really none of your business,” she said again.

Taking the chance, I reached over and put my hand on top of hers.

“Tell me what happened,” I said.

Nicole looked over at me with narrowed eyes.

“How about I make you a deal?” she said as she pulled her hand away from mine. “We go out to the soccer field at school, and if I can’t get a penalty kick past you, I’ll tell you the whole story. If I do get one past you, you have to answer one question completely truthfully—anything I ask.”

I couldn’t help it—I laughed.

“You think you’re going to get a PK past me?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “I’ve never tried. It doesn’t look that hard, though. Besides, you’re hurt.”

I shook my head.

“If that’s what you want,” I said.

“So we have a deal?”

“You got a deal, Rumple,” I snickered. “You’re an idiot, but you got a deal.”

“Now?”

“Sure.”

Shakespeare wrote, “Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.” Somehow, I still had to admire her tenacity.

Now to get this over with so I could figure out what had happened to her.

CHAPTER 9

Tags: Shay Savage
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