Voices—mostly female—cried out.
Including one that sounded like Becca screaming, “Parker, I told you it was Chrissandra stabbing you in the back!”
And my own: “I had nothing to do with that, Coach!” But only one person pushed her way forward. “No way. Uh-uh. You're not giving Parker my spot.”
Chrissandra looked down from her lofty counter position with an icy glare. “Shut up, Lyric.”
“I believed you, Chrissandra. I trusted you!”
“And if you just shut up,” Chrissandra said, between clenched teeth, “everything will work out, okay?”
Hartley spun to look Lyric in the face. “It was you? Chrissandra talked you into breaking into AJ's locker?”
Lyric's face remained blank, but her voice betrayed her fear. “No, she only had me do the note.”
The crowd made a tittering noise; then all that could be heard was breathing.
“It's not like I planted the pills or anything,” Chrissandra said, and did one of her superior hair flips. “I mean, AJ totally deserved to be exposed.”
Hartley's face inflamed. She shook a finger at Chrissandra, then swept it to point at Lyric. “Out! Both of you!”
Chrissandra's hands went to her hips and her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth, then, for once in her stupid life, thought better of it and closed it. She stepped down from the counter and out the side door. There was no doubt she didn't consider this finished, but that would be her battle, for another time.
Hartley shook her head. Then, slowly, her eyes rose to meet Luke's. “The coach of the booth that makes the most money gets a reserved parking space all year.”
I appreciated Luke's silence and the fact that the “duh” sounded only in my head.
“With both my teams collapsing,” she continued, “I sure as heck need a break somewhere.” She held out her palm.
Luke pulled the wad from his pocket. “So Parker's on varsity for the next two minutes?” he asked, holding it inches above her open palm.
Hartley grabbed the cash; then her gaze moved to mine. “You're on varsity for the next two years, if you want. I'm going to have to do some restructuring after losing all these players. And as much as I appreciated your leadership on JV, I need your game on varsity.”
What? Huh? It was that easy? “I—I'm varsity?” I asked her.
“You're varsity. Although I might have you attend the JV practices as well for a week or so, until I get things on track.”
“Done!” I said.
A smile burst onto my face, and I searched for Clayton in the crowd to send him a silent thank- you for his partnership and support. And then I turned toward Luke, who, I prayed, realized that even though we'd just “won,” we were not done. We still had to do the kiss— and do it well—or Hartley might spot the deception and pull the team position away. She had to be sick to death of liars at this point.
I caught Luke's eyes and widened my own. For once, we must have been on the same wavelength, because he nodded, then yelled my name like a game- show host. “Parker Stanhope, come on down!”
I laughed, and skipped around to the side door of the booth. Mandy and Elaine flashed nervous grins, like they weren't quite sure where we all stood now. I didn't know, either. But what I did know was that they hadn't been there for me when I needed them. And right now, I didn't need them.
Luke stood waiting against the counter, his brows arched. If he was nervous about the audience, he didn't show it. Even with the hooting and catcalls, I didn't feel anxious, either. Maybe it was because I was so well prepared, or because the kiss was just a simple means to an end now. Or maybe it was because it was the first time this school year that all eyes had been on me in a good way.
But how ironic was it that this grandstand kiss would basically erase from people's minds my lapse in judgment with a freshman—and yet it was Tristan's teachings that gave me the skills and confidence to go face to face with Luke? Had my world done a total flip- flop or what?
As I moved closer to Luke, Tristan's face jumped out at me from the crowd. I wasn't surprised to catch him pushing forward to see the results of his blood, sweat and tears. But I couldn't say it made me happy to know he could watch with complete detachment, just a teacher proud of his student.
Clearly, none of our closeness or secret sharing had fazed him. He'd kept up his end by simply passing along his “craft.” And now he was going to reap the rewards of a job well done.
Of course, I was the one taking home the grand prize—the return of the best elements of my life.
Luke leaned in and pressed his mouth against mine. I closed my eyes as if I were drifting away and listened to the whistles and foot stomping. The kiss was sweet. Warm. And having him cup my cheeks with his hands was a very nice touch. But that was it. No chills, no shivers, no moans inside me fighting to break loose.
I wondered if I did have stage fright after all and just couldn't relax enough to enjoy it. Or if Luke couldn't perform at the same skill level as my high- school-freshman trainer. Or if Luke and I simply did not have chemistry together.
Or all of the above.
Or none of the above.
Because the ingredient that made the magic happen in my world was Tristan.
Wow.
Finally, Luke broke free, a smile engulfing his face. I put on my best smile, too, and added a very lazy and satisfied roll of my eyes.
The crowd exploded. Then Luke applauded me, I applauded him and we both did a little bow. Clayton came up and shook hands with both of us while I did a quick crowd scan for Tristan. Almost immediately, we were converged on by Rachael and a few seniors who were now my teammates. Hartley grinned at me like it was all no big deal, then headed back to the ring- toss booth.
“You are so bad, Parker!” Rachael said, giving me a hug. “Acting all cool about Luke, telling me he's just your brother's friend. Keeping him a secret.”
I opened my mouth to explain, but she wagged a finger in my face.
“And using a freshman boyfriend as a cover. That was priceless, Parker, priceless. People were so stunned that they never stopped to doubt you.”
“Genius,” a blond girl who I was pretty sure was named Victoria said. Several others nodded.
“Yeah, but—”
Rachael cut me off. “In with Parker, and out with the demon Chrissandra!”
More than one girl laughed.
“Welcome to varsity, Parker!” Victoria said. “We are going to keep you so busy with practices and games and afterparties that you'll barely remember that whole JV thing!”
Rachael looped her arm around my neck. “But don't worry. We'll give you sneak-away time with your steaming- hot boyfriend. As long as you bring him to parties and stuff so we can drool all over him.”
“Rachael,” I said, so strongly that the whole group finally stopped chattering, “Luke and I are not together.”
She retracted her arm. “Well, you're still a heck of a lot closer to being his girlfriend than any of us here. Let us be jealous—please.”
Victoria laughed. “And just don't tell us that freshman thing was for real.”
I felt my throat closing up. It wasn't, of course. Ex cept when certain elements had started to feel real to me.
Rachael joined in Victoria's laughter. “Seriously, then we'd have to send you back to JV.”
I laughed, too. She was joking—right?
A couple of my new teammates fell back, and again, I looked around for Tristan. But in the opening, it was Becca who appeared, her mouth slanting down and arms hanging loosely at her side.
“Hey,” I said, rushing up to her. “Wow, huh?”
But Becca just let out a weary sigh. “Don't worry about it, Parker, you're off the hook.”
“Hook? Huh?”
“With me. You don't have to go slumming anymore. I get it that you have your popular, important friends back. And that there's no more need for me.”