I went up to the register to pay Kim, and Lisa followed me. I told Kim I’d see her tomorrow at Beth’s pool.
“Thank you for this afternoon, you were wonderful,” Lisa said, and gave me a nice kiss.
I was surprised when I realized I hadn’t lusted after her even once today. Normally she got my motor running. She thought she had my attention and gave an extra wiggle in her walk as she left me at the cash register. I hurried out to meet Mom at the car.
On the way home, I told Mom about my day. I agreed to go once a week until football started. I couldn’t see doing more than that, because I was mentally exhausted. Keeping a happy face on for the whole day had been hard. Seeing the look on the faces of Billy’s family made me decide to go back.
CASSIDY WELCOMED ME back by trying to kill me!
“Two weeks till two-a-days, people! I’ll not be embarrassed when my dad tries to separate the men from the boys,” she told us.
Coach Hope had weeded out the baseball team by running us to death. I anticipated a similar experience come the official start of practice. I was happy to see Jeff was holding his own. He had lost all his baby fat since the start of baseball season. He should be our poster child. I noticed he no longer worried about taking his shirt off. He had never been fat, he just wasn’t in shape. We’d played video games way too much when we were younger.
“I heard a rumor that you and Tami are on the outs,” Jeff said.
And so it begins.
“We had a disagreement,” I told him.
“Sorry to hear it,” was his only response.
You have to love guys. If this had been a girl, I would have been grilled for hours for every detail. This had always driven Tami crazy. I just nodded to him.
“So is it true? Did she really get a scholarship to study in England?” he asked me.
“Yep, she’ll be gone a year.”
“Good for her.”
“Exactly,” I said; Jeff caught the double meaning and gave me a tight smile.
“Sorry, man.”
“Don’t be. We’ll be fine.”
I don’t think he believed me.
AT DINNER, THE SUBJECT came up again.
“I’ve been getting calls about you and Tami. What do you want us to say?” Greg asked.
“Well, I don’t want to make it worse,” I answered.
“You need to be very careful what you do and don’t say,” Dad advised. “I know you care for her a lot. I would lead with that. You don’t want it to get back to her that you’re blaming her, or you don’t like her anymore.
“It had to be the hardest thing she’s ever done. Your mom and I have talked about this, and we feel she did you both a big favor. You guys do need time apart. There’s no need to share this with anyone but us. Just say you still care for each other, but you both need to focus on yourselves for a time. You’ll be working on your football, and she has her opportunity to study in England.”
We all agreed that was the best approach. I decided I had better call Tami and see. I know she’d said not to contact her, but I didn’t want to mess this up.
“Hey, sorry to break the ‘no contact’ rule, but I have a question,” I started.
“What is it?” she asked.
“What do you want me to say about us? I don’t want you thinking I’m being a jerk, or don’t care about you. I’d hate it if you thought that. Dad suggested I say I care about you, but we decided to focus on each of our opportunities,” I suggested.
There was silence for a moment.
“That works. I’ve had some awkward questions too. I think if we give them the same answer they’ll back off.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“No, not really,” she told me.
“Me, neither.”
“We can’t do this. It’s too hard. You have to promise me you won’t call me unless it’s an emergency or something big.”
“So, if I win State I can call you?”
“Yes, that’d be okay. When I get to London and get a new phone, I’ll give the number to your mom. She won’t give it to you unless she approves. That should keep you from calling me,” she told me.
“You forget, I’m a resourceful little shit if I want to be,” I teased her.
“Don’t make me laugh. I need to stay mad at you, for now.”
“Okay, you be mad at me.”
“I will, you ‘stupid boy.’ Do me a favor and stop moping around. I still love you,” she told me.
“I love you, too,” I said, and she hung up.
Tuesday August 5
I HAD JUST GOTTEN UP when I got a call from Kendal. I had no idea she even knew there was a seven o’clock in the morning.
“Good morning, sunshine,” I answered.
She made some very specific threats to my person and then told me why she was calling.
“Jade and Range both want you in the studio for work. I just got off the phone with Tiffany. She has arranged for you to go to Hill Advertising to do the shoots. You have to be there by ten o’clock today and then you’re booked for all day Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday is the commercial. Since Tiffany’s working with her new group of models, I get to go with you.”
“You want me to pick you up?” I asked.
“That’s right; you have your driver’s license now. Yes, that would give me a chance to get ready. Bring coffee,” she ordered me.
I hurried downstairs to find Mom drinking coffee with Dad.
“Hey, I have to go be a model starting today through Saturday. The workout group will be here at four o’clock. Can you handle that for me for another week?”
“I suppose this means you’re leaving me to mow the yard,” Dad said.
“Pfft, you still have slave labor living under your roof. Get Greg to do it,” I told him.
I took my supplements and ate quickly. I poured coffee into an insulated travel cup and headed to Kendal’s. On the ride over, I called my speed coach, and he told me he was charging me for the week. I told him, in that case, I’d have someone there he could work with today. I think he thought he was going to double-book my slot the rest of the week because he wasn’t happy.
I thought about who should fill my place. Bill was going to be my primary receiver and had division-one talent. Wolf was developing into a good tight end. Mike had been helping with my quarterback workouts. Finally, Jim was going to protect my blind side at left tackle. I picked Jim. He was excited to go learn. I knew he’d take full advantage of the coaching.
I ALMOST MADE KENDAL walk. She spilled her coffee all over my new Jeep. I explained you didn’t take the lid off the thermal cup. She reported that the lid leaked. She was still apologizing when we got to Hill Advertising. We went up to the receptionist, who was new, and cute.
“I’ll get the carpet cleaned,” Kendal told me, then turned to the receptionist. “Mr. Dawson to see Mr. Hill,” she told her.
“Don’t worry about it. Mr. Sullivan promised to clean my Jeep. I’ll just take it to the dealership and have them clean the carpet.”
“I’m sorry I converted your new-car smell to coffee.”
“Get over it. Wait until Kyle rides in it. I’m sure it’ll smell much worse when he gets done.”
That got Kendal to smile. Another new gal came out and led us to the studio. There were all kinds of people running around. I looked at Kendal and she just shrugged.
“Mr. Hill said to go straight to makeup. Is there anything I can get you, sir?” the new gal asked.
“Can you get Kendal some coffee in a sippy cup?”
“Yes, sir, anything else?
“I could use a bottle of water,” I told her.
“Any particular brand?” she asked.
“Just regular will be fine.”