Page 7 of Set Play

Lukas locks eyes with me over Cillian’s head, brow raised in curiosity. I imagine he’s wondering why Cillian doesn’t know the Jade story. It’s not a secret, per se. I just don’t like talking about it. She can stay in the past where she belongs.

“You know, when I first met Flynn, I was definitely in her shoes,” Theo pipes up. “So don’t worry, Cap. I bet the universe is shifting shit around as we speak to bring her back into your life. It’ll work out, you’ll see.”

Élise

Dread coils low in my gut as the opening notes to “You’ve Got A Friend in Me” cut through the room, interrupting the episode of Supernatural I am watching on my laptop.

Okay, calm down. You and Henri talk every week. Him calling may not have anything to do with the pictures of you and Mateo.

“Hey frère,2” I say cheerfully as I accept his call.

“Lise,” he greets coolly. “Do you have something you want to tell me?”

My pulse lurches and I swear all the oxygen in my bedroom vanishes at the question. “Um, no, I don’t think so. Why? What’s going on?”

“What’s going on,” he says, drawing out each word with agonizing slowness, “is that I had a preseason game yesterday and you always start our conversations by giving me shit over my performance. But you didn’t today. What gives?”

“Oh,” I reply through an uncomfortable laugh. “The clinic was slammed yesterday so I had to work late. Then when I got home, I was so busy looking for part-time sports medicine jobs in the area, the game just slipped my mind. I’m sorry for missing it. How’d it go?”

Henri ignores my question and instead lasers in on his favorite topic of debate recently. The job applications.

“You already have the knowledge you need to switch specialties, so why are you going through all of the trouble of applying to these part-time jobs in sports medicine?”

My eyes roll to the ceiling. “Frère,” I groan wearily, “we’ve had this discussion. Having the real experience will essentially guarantee that I can switch without further difficulty or training. Plus, I love working at the clinic and want to give them plenty of time to find a replacement. Pediatric ortho isn’t exactly the most common specialty, you know.”

“Yeah, so you’ve said,” he huffs. But he sounds a bit less combative. “I just know how much the swap means to you. Just don’t go and apply to work for Memphis, okay?”

“And I love you for your concern,” I offer, choosing to completely skirt around his suggestion to avoid Memphis. It’s true. Swapping to pediatric sports medicine does mean the world to me. But if he knew I interviewed with the Storm a few weeks ago, he’d blow a gasket.

“Now, answer my question. How did your preseason game go? Who’d you play again?”

Henri barks out a quick, sharp laugh before answering. “We played Vegas and tied zero to zero. The game was fucking brutal.”

As he continues raving about the game, I settle down against my pillows, internally sighing in relief that he hasn’t mentioned the photos. Guess Reyes’s people came through for us.

1. Mano = brother/bro

2. frère = brother/bro

Chapter 6

Élise

“Élise Madeleine Clément!”

My heart nearly stops, and my lungs seize at the sound of Niamh barreling toward the kitchen, screaming my full name. She never drops my legal name.

Closing my eyes, I replay our recent interactions, searching for anything I might’ve done wrong. I come up short, which can only mean…

“Ye little shite! When were ye going to tell me that ye had a date last week? And with Mateo Reyes of all the men in Memphis?”

Her Irish accent is thick like always when she’s this worked up, but I don’t find any amusement in it right now. I’m too busy trying to force air back into my lungs.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was having a heart attack.

Niamh storms through the doorway, sitting down across from me and wrapping her hands around the tea I prepared for her. I know she wants an answer, but I’m internally freaking out. After a week of silence, I assumed his team was successful in silencing the story before it was released, but I guess not.

Before my mind can even contemplate the full ramifications of that revelation, a chilling thought washes over me. If Niamh knows…then Henri has to know too.