Page 13 of Your Play to Call

Tripp throws on his 1000-watt smile and walks me to my car. I don’t rush or cover my face. When we get to the car, he opens the door and gives me his hand as he helps me in. Once I'm safely inside, he stands in front of the door opening and smiles.

“See you around, hopefully,” he says with a wink and shuts the car door.

I glance to the front to see Emilie wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. “What the hell did you get into during the afterparty?!” she shrieks.

“He called me Lo,” I say, more as a question than a statement. Emilie whips to the back looking at me as I put a hand on my chest, feeling the quick heartbeat under my fingers.

“Is that a good thing?” she asks.

“I’m not sure.”

All I know is I can still feel the place where his hand rested on my lower back.

Chapter 10

Tripp

My phone buzzes obnoxiously,even though it’s barely 6 a.m.

What the hell? I grab it from the nightstand and see 54 unread text messages and even more notifications

My stomach drops. The last time something like this happened, it was the fallout from being re-drafted. All the roots I tried to put down, gone. I’ll never forget the way my phone buzzed as I talked to the Seattle Serpents general manager, wishing me luck.

Before I have a chance to investigate, my phone rings: Mom.

I yawn into the phone before I say, “It’s so early.”

“That is no way to greet your mother,” my mom lovingly snaps.

“Good morning, Mom,” I sweetly croon.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” she pokes. It’s not condescending or accusatory.

“Why do I feel like I’m in trouble?”

“It looks like you had a good time at the afterparty last night...” Her voice trails off and my brain tries to catch up.

“I did have a good time.ButI think I know what you’re referring to and I just walked her to the car, like a gentleman.”

“Ah, I was thinking about the pictures of where she’s in your lap in what looks like a dark, dark corner where you couldn’t be bothered, but what do I know? I don’t have my glasses on.”

“Huh?”

“Google yourself or something. Let’s get on the same page.”

I put my mom on speaker phone and Google my name, which is always weird.

And there it is, a blurry but clear enough picture where Willow looks to be draped all over me, my arm around her, and our noses so close they could be touching. It was the moment that guy fell into her but whoever sent this photo in deviously cut that man out of the picture. Before I have a chance to click into anything, I know everyone is eating this up.

Fuck.I’meating this up.

“Oh, wow,” is all I can muster while I'm taking in the photo and headlines.

“Are you seeing Willow? You know I love her music.” My mom sounds excited.

“No, I’m not seeing her. I mean, I saw her, but you know what I mean.”

My mom snickers, “I wish you believed in fate because I'm really questioning the coincidence of your first meeting and now this one.”