Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“On the treadmill?” He smiles at me, and the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Sure, buddy.”
“You never know.” I can’t help smiling back. “And I might meet the future Mr. Kendrick at the college library. We’ll have a friendly fight over the last stale corn muffin at the café.”
“Sounds hot.” He closes the Porsche’s little trunk. “You take care of yourself, okay? And let me know how your dad is doing.”
“I will.”
He drives away a moment later, and I go upstairs to my stuffy apartment and my homework. Except now I’m more distracted than ever.
Two days later, I get an email from Eric.
Hey Darcy,
I happened to speak to the team doctor today, and I mentioned that a friend needed to make an appointment with a cardiologist. He recommends Dr. Talbot at NYU and said to name-drop him for an appointment. The wait time is sometimes long, I hear.
E. Tremaine, Cha-cha Competition Winner
I grin at my computer screen like a goober.
Then I dial the doctor’s number.
Chapter 16
A Little Bit Stupid
Eric
The sun beats down on me and DeLuca as we run a quick six miles on the beach. “Quick” is a relative term here, because running on sand—even packed, wet sand—is hard work. I’m panting like a racehorse when my teammates’ rental house comes back into view.
“Swim?” I gasp as we lengthen our strides toward the finish.
“You know it.”
We barely pause long enough to kick off our shoes and socks and toss our phones onto the wooden deck chairs before jogging into the ocean.
The contrast in temperature between my overheated body and the water makes me suck in my breath. The only thing to do is dive under immediately. The cool ocean swallows me, and the world goes blissfully silent.
This is exactly what I needed—a short vacation away from everything. Especially all the noise in my head.
When I pop up again, DeLuca is shaking off his wet head like a dog and grinning. “Almost makes the cardio worth it, amirite?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. He lunges instead.
But I have fast reflexes, too. So I manage to dodge his palm—the one on its way to dunking my head under the waves. I grab him instead and smush him into the surf.
He comes up choking with laughter. “It’s on.”
We spend the next ten minutes trying to drown each other, until we stagger back onto the sand, exhausted and waterlogged. We collapse on the hot sand, not even bothering to grab our towels off the chairs.
“You’re a beast, Captain. Didn’t even let me get the first dunk in.”
I snort. “I grew up at the beach with an older brother who liked to roughhouse. You never had a chance.”
DeLuca grins up at the deep blue sky. “Fair. How was your trip home, anyway? You never said. How’s your mom doing?”
“Eh. Not much to say. Parents are depressed about the wedding.” DeLuca knows my family situation. “I knew they would be. So I only stayed one night. Going back in a couple weeks, though.”
“For the wedding,” he says.
“Yeah. And…” I sigh. “I did something a little bit stupid.”
“You, Captain? That’s impossible. Unless it involves a woman, and then it’s totally on-brand.”
I reach over and give him a shove.
“Oh boy. Called it! What did you do? Did you take up Darcy on her offer?”
“Shh,” I say automatically. But there’s nobody nearby, and the noise from the surf would drown out anything we’re saying. “That didn’t happen. It’s even dumber than that.” I tell him what I overheard from Darcy’s sister, and how I pretended we were a couple.
He finds this hilarious, of course.
“I didn’t think it through. And then Maribel called my mother a few days later to check up on her. And Maribel said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me Eric had a new girlfriend?’ So now my mother is all aflutter. She wants to meet Darcy before the wedding.”
DeLuca laughs so hard that he has to sit up to breathe. “You really stepped in it now, dumbass.”
“Unhelpful,” I grumble.
“How did you not see that coming?”
“I don’t know, okay? It was impulsive. Like the time that goon from Buffalo tripped Larkin, and I threw my gloves down without a plan.”
“Five stitches later…” He laughs.
“Yeah, yeah. I just…” I close my eyes against the sunshine. “It was a reflex. I don’t like people messing with my teammates.”
“Teammates,” DeLuca says slowly, as if he’s amused by my choice of words. “I don’t think it’s like that.”
“Of course it is,” I insist.
“You forget how well I know you. And I’m willing to bet you’re still thinking about that message Darcy sent you.”
Get out of my brain. “In my defense, she gave me a very detailed outline. It’s hard to forget.”
DeLuca gives me a sideways glance. “Well, yeah. And that part about the bow tie, right?”
I cover my face with my hands.