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Her lips turn downward. “Yeah, I understand.”
No, you don’t.
“I need to get to practice,” I tell her, feeling the shame settling back in.
I don’t know what it is about the article that causes me to feel so horrible—none of it is even true. Yet, as I glance over to Nila, I can’t help but wonder what she thinks about me now.
Does she think it’s true?
I tense my jaw as I hold the door open for her, gesturing for her to step through. She gives me a soft expression as she walks ahead, and I don’t know how to take it.
I’ve made her job a lot harder now, though. I do know that.
I head off toward the locker room before she can ask me any more questions. It’s not that I don’t want to hang around Nila, I just don’t even know what to say … and I’m certainly not in the mood to talk about what happened.
“Hey man,” Kade greets me with a sympathetic smile as I enter the locker room. “I’m surprised you came today.”
I furrow my brow. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like they’ve kicked me off the team. Not … yet, anyway,” I add, my voice falling as one of the rookies side-eyes me. I have the urge to stick my tongue out at him, but I don’t.
“Yeah,” Kade’s head drops as he finishes getting ready. “We’re all worried about you.”
“I know,” I mutter, ignoring the way his golden eyes show all his emotions. There’s never a question of how Kade is feeling. His eyes always give him away—and I hate the sympathy and concern in them right now.
“Cameron,” Coach Wilson calls from behind me. “A word.”
I spin around, my shoulders falling as I pull my skates out. “What’s up?”
“Come on.” He waves his hand for me to follow him, and I do, leaving my stuff behind.
Time to face the music.
We step out into the hallway, and as soon as the door closes, he continues. “I need to know—for my own sanity—are any of those allegations true?”
My mouth falls open. “Coach, you’ve got to be kidding me right now. I’ve been on this team for nearly five years.”
“I know that,” he says tersely. “Which is why, on a personal level, I need to know, Cameron.” Something falters in his voice, and I realize that this isn’t an attack on my character.
“It’s not true. You know better than anyone that I barely even saw her when we dated. We didn’t even talk all that much—which is why the breakup hit me so hard. It felt like we never even gave it a chance before she up and bailed. She landed the modeling contract she wanted, and that was it.”
He nods. “She did that interview for attention. I would think everyone can draw that conclusion themselves.”
“But here we are.” I sigh.
“You know I’ve got your back. And I need you on this team.”
“Yeah, but Mark has the final say. He always does.”
Coach Wilson claps me on the shoulder. “But I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
He glances up toward the stands. “I saw that Nila’s here.”
I nod, confused as to why he’s pointing her out. “Yeah, I saw her...”
“You know she didn’t have to be here today, right?” He tilts his head, giving me a funny look. “I figured she was just here to support you.”
“Oh...” My voice trails off while my heart leaps in excitement.
