The idea of moving out was such a relief that I fantasized about it all the time lately. Right now, I was all but relegated to my bedroom when Jillian and Amelia were home. I had eaten more meals at my tiny desk than I could count. Though after our confrontation the other day, they had given me a wide berth. If I was in a room, they wouldn’t even enter. But I practically needed a coat and gloves to weather the chilly atmosphere.
In Jillian’s case, she was probably treading carefully because she didn’t want me to tell everyone what I knew. Maybe that was the case with Amelia too. Seemed like everyone was complicit in their little web of lies.
“See?” His face brightened, a smile peeking through. “You could stick around on Sunday until I get back. It shouldn’t be too late. Probably shortly after lunch.”
“That was your angle all along, wasn’t it?”
“Sure was.” He glanced at his watch, smile fading. “Oh shit. I really do have to go, or I’ll be late for practice.” Tipping forward, he gave me a quick peck on the lips and released my waist. “We can talk tonight. I’ll text you the door code too.”
As he jogged down the steps, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Please don’t let anyone else be home.
No such luck.
Jillian was standing in the entryway, putting on her coat as I walked in. I slid off my shoes and brushed by her, ignoring her presence completely.
“Bailey,” she said, voice tight. “Can we talk for a minute?”
My entire body tensed. I was a pretty level-headed person overall, more prone to sweeping things under the rug and forgiving too easily than fighting. I rarely lost my temper, rarely even raised my voice, but this moment was incredibly close to becoming an exception.
Turning to face her, I made every effort to keep my voice level.
“Why?”
She straightened her shoulders, throat bobbing. “About what you said the other day. You’re not—you’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” She scanned my face nervously.
I shrugged. “You mean, besides Chase? Because he knows all about it.”
Keys in her hand, she froze on the spot, and the color drained from her skin. The look on her face was so horrified it was almost comedic. Someone she hated knew one of her darkest secrets. Poetic justice.
“But your brother…the team.” Jill gestured vaguely.
As if I would care about the team at this point.
“Yes, Derek is my brother, which is why I’m so upset. Otherwise, I wouldn’t really care about what sorts of shady things you got up to, Jill.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, expression turning guilty, but said nothing.
“Imagine how you would feel in my shoes,” I said. “This isn’t fair to him. To either of them.”
“It’s complicated.”
“So I’m told.” I hung my bag on the hook and turned, heading for the staircase. “As for telling anyone, I haven’t decided yet. Maybe you should make things easier on both of us. If you put an end to this messed-up situation, then I won’t have to make that call.”
It was an empty threat. I could never do that to Derek. But she didn’t need to know that.
By the time I got to the Callingwood Daily office after lunch, my annoyance with Jill had faded, and I was back to cloud nine over Chase. It really was a wild experience. I’d never felt this way before. Ever.
With Luke, I thought I should like him because everyone did. He was good on paper—or so I thought—and had tons of girls eager to date him. Naively, I had been wowed that he was even interested in me.
But I’d never been giddy about him or filled with that intense, inescapable infatuation. It had almost been one of those you don’t know what you don’t know situations.
But I knew now, and it was amazing.
I pushed open the door, making my way over to join Zara and Noelle at the oversized round table. I could feel their eyes on me as I set my bag down and pulled out my laptop and notebook.
Zara tilted her head, examining me. “Well, isn’t someone in a good mood?”
“You practically skipped in here,” Noelle added in a sing-song voice.
“I would say danced,” Zara volleyed. “Or maybe pranced?”
I shrugged, but I couldn’t keep the dopey look off my face. Words eluded me. My brain was hormone and happiness soup.
“Wait.” Her jaw dropped. “You saw Chase again last night, didn’t you? Did you guys finally…？”
I bit my lip. “Maybe.”
They both squealed.
“Well, no.” I held up a hand. “No sex. We just fooled around a little.”
Or, you know, a lot.
Zara raised her eyebrows. “Must have been some fooling around if you’re this giddy.”
A rush ran through me at the memory. “Oh, it was.”
“That’s awesome.” Noelle swatted me playfully. “Especially after what you said about Luke.”
Oh my god, how many people had I told? I’m never doing shots again.
“Aw, B. I’m so happy for you.” Zara bounced in her seat.
Noelle nodded. “Me too.”
We fell quiet for a while, working on homework and newspaper tasks.
“Speaking of good news,” Zara said, squinting at her computer screen. “I have some more for you. Well, some partial good news.”
“What’s that?” Could it be?
She nodded at her laptop. “I got an email from Liam. He wants to give up part of the sports beat. Says he’ll split it with you. If you’re willing, that is.”
Okay, so I was partially right. I thought maybe he was throwing in the towel altogether, but I guess I could only get so lucky. I should have been excited about this, but now I would probably have to actually work with him.
Ugh. And there would be strings.
I sighed. “What’s the catch?”
Did he want me to pay him for the honor? Take credit under his name for the stories I wrote? Nothing would surprise me.
“He wants to keep covering hockey exclusively.”
Oh, even better. Jerk. Why was Liam so attached to covering hockey specifically when he was a casual fan at best?
“Of course he does.” I huffed. “You should ask him what our record is right now. I bet he couldn’t even tell you without pulling out his phone.”
Conversely, I could list the stats for the top ten teams off the top of my head. Who was leading in each metric, who was living up to expectations, and who was disappointing this season.
Zara shrugged, giving me a sympathetic look. She knew I was right. “Is that a yes or a no?”
“You know it’s a yes,” I said grudgingly. “Maybe he’ll lose interest in hockey eventually too.”
“Did you see that list of spring internships?” Noelle asked, poking me with the end of her pen. “They’re all remote. There’s, like, ten of them. I saw something sports-related on the list and thought of you.”
My ears perked up. “No, where was this posted?”
“On the career portal.” She nodded at my laptop. “Went up this morning. You should check.”
Hope thrumming, I reopened my browser, navigated to the Callingwood career website, and logged in with my credentials. Scrolling through the listings, I scanned the descriptions. There was one for a fashion website I’d never heard of, a food website I was vaguely familiar with, a local news station, a national fitness brand…and Penalty Box Online.