Page 33 of Eat. Prey. Love.
“Shhhhh!” I chastise as I look around to see if anyone is close by. “We can’t have that getting back to the wrong ears yet. But… yes.”
Her smile is rueful as she studies me. “You will with Felix, too. And the rest.”
“Duh.” I roll my eyes. That’s the dumbest statement I’ve heard all day and my classes have beenfullof weird shit. “But when we’re ready. Fitzy and I were.”
“Makes sense. He was obsessed with you first.” Coach runs her hand over her hair, looking around with a wistful sigh. “Congrats, though. But I doubt that’s why you’re haunting me, Drew, so spit it out.”
“My best friend Cori… you know, the polar bear?” I lick my lips, feeling nervous despite the fact that I don’t think she’ll say no. “She’s having a hard time. And she’s a fucking amazing designer who could probably integrate this into her end of year project, but um… I think she should design the uniforms.”
There’s a long pause and I meet her gaze, hoping my expression conveys how much this means to me. “She’s a Bouvier, right?”
I nod. “Not happily connected, but yes.”
“Hmmm.” Z says as she scratches her chin. “That could work. An exiled Leonidas, running a re-vamped team with the exiled Drew heir, and the exiled Bouvier designing. It’s like a ‘fuck you’ tour, huh?”
“It sure as fuck is.” My smile is getting bigger and I almost remind her that having her design the boys uniforms since they’re coached by the exiled Khans is a good plan, too. I need to make sure Cori can handle that before I dump thirty people on her.
“And the twins are exiled, too,” Zhenga says. Her eyes dance as she grabs my hand. “You realize with this I can bug the dance idiots to put together cheerleaders. A full-on performance at half times… it would need a choreographer, a designer for effects… This is my way in.”
“Way in to what?” I frown as she gets more excited, worrying that perhaps I’ve started something bigger than I intended. “What are you scheming about?”
“Dolly, I’m trying to help you and those malcontents. We need a way to get the staff to see me as one of them, not one of you. With this idea, I can appeal to their egos. They’ll jump at the chance to be on the world stage with the league, especially if I hint it could get them a meeting with my asshole father.”
Ohhhh. She wants to set a trap.
“Felix wants you to help keep an eye on his cousin, doesn’t he?” I guess. Her smirk is answer enough, and I sigh. “He’s really worried about this dude. Is he overreacting?”
Zhenga lets go of me, jerking her head toward the locker room. “Walk with me again. I don’t want anyone overhearing.”
Nodding, I walk alongside her, dying to know what she’s so worried about. “Okay, spill.”
“I can’t spill all of it. It’s not my story to tell and he never told me directly. This is all gossip, mind you. But…” Coach Z pauses for a moment before finishing, “…rumor has it that Asani was part of his exile. When the prey girl he loved chose the Raj’s deal, Asani was who she was given to. No one’s heard from her since.”
I can’t mask the look of horror on my face. “Hekilledher? I mean, I know that place is vicious and I know they’re all terrible. But he took her just to off her? Why the fuck even bother?”
“I don’t know, Dolly. This may not be the actual sequence of events, either. There was a lot of gossip when the Raj sent those boys packing to Apex. Felix and I were never close enough, nor was hesoberenough, to ever discuss it.”
My chest aches when I think of how betrayed he must have felt—by damn near everyone around him—and how sad he must have been when they got to Apex. Felix feels things just a strongly as his twin, but he’s so much more reserved. I can’t help but wonder if part of that comes from this awful piece of his past.
“Thank you for being honest with me. I won’t push him about it, but I hope he shares with me someday. I get why he’s having such an episode about Asani now, too.”
And I do… he’s terrified that Asani will hurt me.
“You know, I didn’t think anyone could wrangle that group of grumpy ass misanthropes. I pretended I could deal to win Felix over, but deep down, I knew. I’m glad they have you; they’re actually happy now.” Her lips quirk as she adds, “But no less grumpy.”
I chuckle, winking as we walk up to the door. “I don’t think anything can fix that. They’re determined to make the world think they’re all going to tear them to pieces if they so much as speak to any of them. It’s frustrating as hell.”
“Go home, Dolly. I’ll get cleaned up here and make a visit to the theater dorm to talk to your friend. I want to get this shit moving quickly.”
“See you Wednesday, Coach.” Saluting the lioness, I turn on my heel only to run into the girl who was damn near dying on the field. She’s glaring at me like I offended her ancestors and I blink slowly.
“What were you discussing with her?” the girl demands as she puts her hands on her hips.
Uh, who the fuck are you to interrogate me?
I don’t say that, though, because it’s my first day and I’d like to havelessenemies than I had at my previous two universities. “Nothing. Just team stuff.”
“If you think you’re going to use the fact that she was your coach before to get the captain spot, think again.”