“You didn’t go back to practice?” Rafe asked softly.
I shot him a look. See? Rafe was destined to think I was a bitch. Because when shit went bad in my life, he always happened to be around.
Trevi looked uncomfortable. “It’s just not right, though. His kid isn’t even a Harkness student.”
I laughed. “I’d bet any amount of money that he will be next year. This is going to look so good on his application.”
Trevi pulled a face. “As if the kid even needed to fill one out. I hate nepotism.”
“That’s like saying you hate gravity, Trevi. It’s here to stay.”
“That is craptastic.” Trevi stood. “Let me know if you change your mind about fighting it. It’s more fun with you around, Bella.”
My heart broke a little bit when he said that. Because I wanted to believe him. But I did not want to walk into that locker room, either. And now I didn’t have to.
“Come to Capri’s on Saturday night?” Trevi said, his hand on my doorknob.
“I can’t. I have a family thing in New York.”
“Sunday then,” he insisted.
“Maybe.”
“I’m not above throwing you over my shoulder and dragging you there,” Trevi teased.
“Great idea,” I deadpanned. “Chicks really dig that.”
I heard Trevi snicker as the door fell shut. When I turned back to Rafe, he was studying me with those big brown eyes that didn’t miss much. “What?” I asked, testily.
“You haven’t been going to practice?”
Ugh. Now he was going to go all bossy on me again. “Nope.”
“So you’re just going to let the job go?”
I closed my computer, hoping Rafe would take the hint that study time was over. “It’s not like I need the money, right? That’s lucky.” In a strange way, Trevi’s shitty news was a relief. Because now I could stop worrying about missing practice and letting people down.
“It was never about the money, I think.”
So true. “The new coach was never my biggest fan, okay? Maybe this is the best way for him to say it without having to say it. The man can hire whomever he wants.”
Rafe made an irritated sound in the back of his throat. Then he closed his notebook and shoved it into his book bag. “It sucks, though.” He stood. “I won’t see you tomorrow. Are we still on for Saturday night?”
I was going to have to give myself a major pep talk before I faced my family. “Saturday night is unavoidable for me. But if you don’t feel like dressing up to eat fussy food in a room full of philanthropists, I wouldn’t blame you.”
He shrugged. “It’s no trouble. How dressy are we talking about?”
“Coat and tie.”
“That’s easy,” he said, pausing beside the bed. He put one warm hand on my head for a second, and it was all I could do to keep from leaning into it. Then he took it away again. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too,” I said, as if it was something friends just said to one another. As if I weren’t the one who was quite obviously self-destructing.
Nineteen
Rafe
Bella and I rode into the city on the Metro North train in a comfortable silence. As the buildings began to get taller, I asked, “What’s the goal for tonight?”
She looked up from the book she was reading on her phone. “The goal?”
If tonight weren’t complicated for some reason, then Bella wouldn’t have needed a date. “Who needs to be impressed, and who needs to be avoided? Just give me the lay of the land.”
She stashed her phone. “Well, I invited you as a buffer. My family will be nicer to me if you’re there.”
“Why wouldn’t they be nice?” I asked.
She looked out the window. “We had a blow-up a couple of years ago. There isn’t a lot of trust between us. But my parents are civil people to the core. They’ll be nice. They’re very good at it. My sister is more of a wild card. And if there’s anyone I’m avoiding, it’s her snake of a husband.”
“Okay,” I said. I could work with that.
When the train pulled into the 125th Street station, I found it odd not to get off. My whole life I’d lived in the northernmost part of the city, where Bella and her friends never bothered to tread.
The doors shut again after a minute, and the train barreled downtown, entering the tunnel at 97th Street. When the train stopped at Grand Central, we got out to head for the 42nd Street exit. “Can’t beat this commute,” I said. Cipriani was right across the street.