“Hold on,” Jack said. “I didn’t say I was going to start him in the game tomorrow. I said third-string backup. With Williams and Morison as one and two”—Jack pointed toward the boys—“he’ll never play in a game this season. I just think it would be good for him. You know he’s got a strong arm.” He put his hands in his pockets and squinted out toward the field, searching for Andy. “He’s only a sophomore. Maybe after a few training camps, in a year or two he’ll be ready.”
“You think that’s a good idea, Coach?” Bryson piped in. “Seems like a waste of—”
Danny quickly cleared his throat. “We’re behind you, Jack,” he said. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. We’re almost done for the day,” he called to them over his shoulder as he headed toward his defense working the tackle dummies. “I’ll call Rivers into my office after practice and let him know.”
After practically peeling the kid from the ceiling, Jack gave Andy an official copy of the playbook and a set of game tapes to watch, and then sent him on his way. He couldn’t help smiling when he heard the whooping and cheers coming from the locker room. Sure, Andy weighed a buck twenty-five and had a lot to learn, but Jack was happy with his decision. And knowing how supportive the other members of the team were—even for a third-stringer—reminded him of why he loved coaching.
He must remember to add that to his list when the subject came up with Tess again. He swiveled in his chair, tapping a pen against his chin.
It was Thursday and he’d only managed to see her one other time since he’d dragged her into the closet on Monday. They’d met again at lunch on Tuesday but they were never alone. That night, Jack had gone out to Jenna’s school for a teachers’ night. On Wednesday, Tess was in a meeting at lunch and then called Jack later that afternoon, apologizing that she couldn’t see him that night because she needed to help her parents with something at their house last-minute. When he’d asked if she wanted him to come along, she’d said no, but promised she would make it up to him.
That was good enough for Jack, even though it had been almost four days and he was starting to feel a little crazy without being able to touch her. It was a good thing he had such an important game coming up to distract him. With their two toughest rivals left, he really needed to win both games.
When he heard the last locker door close, Jack paused the game tape he was watching and reveled in the silence. The other coaches must have left, too, because the only sound Jack could hear was the AC unit. He closed his eyes and sat back.
“Hey, you.”
Jack’s eyes flew open to see Tess standing at the open door of his office. He was a little shocked at the sudden heat swirling in his stomach. Her hair was pulled up, displaying that long, sexy neck, and she was wearing a black pinstriped jacket with a matching skirt that was just short enough to cause his eyes to linger on her legs.
“Hey.” He pushed back from his desk and stood up. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I missed you,” Tess said as she sauntered over to him.
Jack felt a hunger in his soul for this woman that was almost uncontrollable. Yes, he loved every inch of her body, but he also loved the in-between times when they would talk and laugh. He loved her mind, the way she thought, and the things she cared about. He hadn’t felt this strongly about any woman, not even at the beginning with Susan.
“I missed you, too,” he said, glancing past her into the hall.
“Everyone’s gone.” A little smile was playing around the corner of her mouth. “I have evening rehearsal, but not for another hour.”
Jack stood and watched as she pulled at the single button of her jacket then peeled it off, revealing a little purple tank top. “Oh, boy.” He swallowed. “Is that for me?”
Tess nodded then stepped up to him. “And a little for me,” she whispered, gently pushing him against his desk. Jack sat back as she leaned into him, kissing him slowly, like a sweet temptation.
He wrapped his arms around her, his fingers trailing over the silky fabric. When she pushed on him, he opened his eyes to see her grinning. Just when he was about to grab her and sweep everything off his desk in a romantic gesture, he heard a screech.
“Oh! Sorry!”
Jack and Tess disentangled and turned to see Mac at the door.
“Sorry, sorry!” she repeated, holding a hand over her eyes like she was watching a scary movie.
“Mac!” Tess gasped, stepping back from Jack and smoothing down her top. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you,” she said, still covering her eyes.
“For me?” Jack asked, confused, taking a quick moment to make sure all his clothing was in place, too. “Why?”
“No.” Mac stomped her foot. “Not you.”
“Mac,” Tess said, chuckling softly. “We’re decent. You can open your eyes.”
“Oh.” Mac slowly lowered her hand.
“What are you doing here?” Tess repeated, pressing a hand against the side of her neck as though she was taking her pulse. If it was anything like Jack’s, it was going a million miles per hour. “I mean,” Tess continued, “how did you know I would be here?”
Mac rolled her eyes. “Please. You might have the rest of this school fooled, but not me. You’ve always been a terrible liar.”
“Oh,” Tess said. “Well, nothing’s going on, really, we’re just planning a, um—”
“Save it,” Mac said. “That’s not why I’m here. Rick released a special. It was too late to come out in this morning’s paper, but it’s online now.”
“About the school?” Tess asked, like she was hearing a foreign language. “What does it say?”
Jack blinked when Mac suddenly turned to glare at him. “I think he knows,” she muttered.
“Me?” Jack said, taken aback. “I have no idea.”
Mac rolled her eyes then pulled a computer tablet out of her bag. She swept her finger across it then held it up to Tess. “Read,” she practically ordered.
Tess obeyed. A few moments later, her eyes lifted to Jack’s. He hadn’t seen her look so angry since that very first day they saw each other in the teachers’ lounge. And suddenly, Jack felt ice in his stomach.
…
Tess was fuming as she flew down the road. She wasn’t sure if Rick Duffy would still be at his office, but if she knew one thing about newspapermen, it was that they kept very late hours. If he wasn’t still at the paper, someone would be. And that someone was going to give her answers.
After she’d read the online article, she’d confronted Jack. He claimed he had no idea what was going on, but Tess refused to listen, just grabbed her jacket and stormed out of his office. Was that why he’d really met her at the running park? Was their whole weekend together a ruse to get her to spill her secret plan for how she would save the music program?
While she sat at a red light, impatiently tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, she replayed that conversation, how casually Jack had asked about the choir and then about Penny. How interested he’d seemed. How she’d told him everything.
And now all of it was in print for the world to see. More importantly, for her competitors to see.
“Why did you do that, Tess?” she said aloud, lecturing herself. “Why did you pick now to open up like that? And to a man who broke your heart before? Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
There were lights on at the newspaper office. Tess slammed her car door and marched across the parking lot. The glass doors were locked but there was a night buzzer. Tess leaned on it for over a minute until someone showed up.
“The business office is closed,” the scruffy-looking guy said through the glass, pointing at the office hours stenciled on the window.
“I need to see Rick Duffy,” Tess said. “Is he here?”
“Duffy?” the guy said, scratching his head. “Umm.” He glanced over his shoulder.
“It’s very important. Tell him it’s Tess Johansson from Franklin High. I need to talk to h
im. He owes me that.”
The guy fingered his patchy beard and seemed to be thinking it over. “Just a sec,” he said, then disappeared.
She folded her arms and waited. A few minutes later, Rick appeared in the lobby. He kind of waved and unlocked the door.
“Hi,” he said, holding the door open.
“Who?” Tess asked, not bothering to move the conversation into the lobby. “Who told you about my competition piece for Regionals? Who told you about Penny? And who told you the name of the song?” She folded her arms. “That’s a pretty lucky guess, don’t you think? So? Who?”
“You know I can’t reveal—”
“I swear to you,” Tess cut him off, “if you say you can’t reveal your sources, I will scream bloody murder. Who was it?”
Rick shook his head and slid his hands into the pockets of his brown corduroy pants.
“Fine,” Tess said, realizing she was at an impasse. “I’m pretty sure I know who told you, anyway,” she muttered, mostly to herself. “But why? Why did you print that? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Information was brought to me and I reported it. It’s news.”
Tess felt fire under her skin. “No, it’s not,” she said. “It was a secret, one that a bunch of sixteen-year-olds managed to keep, I might add. These kids have worked so hard and you just ruined it. You promised that your columns would be equal and unbiased, so, tell me, are you now going to print the football team’s playbook?”
Rick furrowed his brow. “Of course not.”
“Why? What you wrote about my choir is just as damaging as telling the football team’s opponents what their plays are. Don’t you get that?” She bit the inside of her cheeks so she wouldn’t cry. “You destroyed the best chance I had at saving my program.”
“Why?” Rick asked, taking a step forward. “You have Regionals in a few weeks. The outcome there is what your program is hanging on. Right?”
Tess opened her mouth, tempted to further explain the nuances of show choir competitions, but she refused to give him any more fodder. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. And I’m calling your editor tomorrow.” She pointed a finger in his face. “Mark my words.”
“You should do more than that,” a voice said from behind.
“Jack,” Tess said, thrilled to see him for the briefest of moments, until she remembered. “What are you doing here?”
“The same thing you are,” he said, though Tess noticed that he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking at Rick.
…
“That was completely unethical,” Jack said, moving directly in front of Duffy.
“I assure you, it wasn’t.”
Jack wanted to take a punch at the guy, but he was trying to control his anger for the moment. After Tess had yelled at him and then stormed out of the gym, he’d read the article on Mac’s tablet. Then he’d become incensed. Just like the night she’d come to his house for dinner and received the phone call from Walker, Jack immediately felt the need to help. Though, after all they’d been through recently, that desire was even stronger now.
“You made a huge mistake tonight,” Jack said, stepping up to Duffy, just waiting for Tess to give instructions to knock him out.
“Calm down, Jack.” Tess sighed. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Jack shifted his gaze from Rick to Tess. “What exactly have I done?” he asked. His question came out more callous than he’d intended, but he couldn’t seem to control where his anger was directed.
“What did you do?” she repeated, her voice rising in pitch. “You told him!” She pointed at Rick. “You told him about Penny, about the song. You told him everything!”
Jack stared at her. “No, I didn’t,” he said, his anger melting away as hers ignited. Even though he felt wounded that she was outright blaming him, he wanted to comfort her, to make her see that he was there to help. “It wasn’t me,” he added, pushing back the pain he felt at the accusatory look in her eyes. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” When Tess’s glare didn’t soften, he turned to Rick. “Did I?” he said. “Am I your source? Tell her.”
Rick didn’t answer immediately. “No,” he finally offered.
Jack turned back to Tess and lifted his eyebrows.
“It wasn’t him?” she said to Rick, who shook his head. “Oh.” For a moment, she seemed to be at a loss. “Well, I’m still calling your editor,” she promised, but the fight had left her. Jack hated seeing that, too. At least she wasn’t blaming him anymore. Jack understood her confusion at first, but he had to admit, her initial, and immediate, doubt in him still stung.
“Is that all?” Rick asked.
“No!”
Both Jack and Tess turned around to see Mackenzie stomping through the parking lot toward them.
After gently elbowing Tess out of the way, she got in the newspaperman’s face. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said. “It’s completely unfair and unethical.”
“I already told him that,” Tess said, planting her hands on her hips.
“Oh.” Mac blinked but didn’t back away from Rick. “Well, what else do you want me to do?” she asked Tess. “What do you want him to do?”
“For starters, he needs to take down the online article right now,” Tess said, stepping up to Rick, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mac. “And then I want you to tell me that you know what you did was wrong and that you understand it would be just as damaging if you published the football team’s playbook.”
“Wait a minute,” Jack said automatically. “No one’s going to print—”
Tess swung around to him. “Chill out,” she snapped. “I’m not telling him to print it; I’m making a comparison.”
“Oh. Well.” He gestured for her to continue, deciding to keep his mouth shut until the women were done.
“So?” Mac glared at Rick, who was standing speechless.
“Do you admit it?” Tess added, turning her wrath back to Rick where it belonged.
Rick’s lips were pressed into a thin line and Jack noticed his left eye twitching. “I can’t say anything like that, officially, and I stand by tonight’s column.”
“You won’t take it down?” Tess affirmed, folding her arms.
“No.”
Jack held his breath, waiting to see Tess’s reaction. She was narrowing her eyes in thought, probably deciding what to do next. Jack had some ideas of his own.
After a long moment, Tess blew air out of her rounded mouth. “Fine.”
“Fine?” Mac echoed, sounding astonished.
Tess shrugged, looking helpless.
Mac turned back to Rick. “Don’t you think I’m through with you,” she said, pointing a finger in his face.
Rick swallowed uncomfortably and stepped back. “Yes, well, if that’s everything.” He jerked his head toward the office door beside him. “I have to get back to work. So, good night.” Without looking at anyone else, he closed and locked the glass door, then disappeared.
There was a collective exhale.
“Thanks for coming,” Tess said to Mac.
“Of course. We couldn’t let him get away with that,” Mac said. Jack blinked when she suddenly turned to him. “Either of them.”
“It wasn’t Jack,” Tess said after a loud sigh. “He’s not the source.”
Mac eyed him up and down. “You sure?”
“Rick confirmed it.”
This seemed to reassure Mac, but Tess was still visibly upset. Jack guessed that she believed it wasn’t him who’d talked to Rick, but—by the way she was keeping her distance—he knew there was something else troubling her.
“Well, okay, then,” Mac said. “But let me know if you want me to call any of my…” She looked Jack up and down again. “People.”
Tess snorted a laugh. “You know I will.”
“Well,” Mac said, “I’m going to take off.” She gave Tess a hug and only gave Jack a courtesy glance. He politely waved good-bye to her. After she drove away, the pa
rking lot was quiet.
“I thought you were going to rip that guy’s head off,” Jack said to Tess, if only to fill the silence.
“I was about to say the same thing to you,” she replied.
A ghost of a smile was on her lips. When Jack tried to return it, hers was already gone. Her stillness made him uneasy, but seeing her worried expression was just plain painful. “I tried to get here sooner,” he said, “but Mac wouldn’t let me leave without giving me a piece of her mind.”
“Yeah.” Tess looked in the direction of where Mac’s car had driven off, then dropped her gaze to the ground. “She’s good at that.” Her voice sounded weak, a defeated whisper.
“So I’ve seen.”
When she didn’t even attempt a smile, a knot formed in Jack’s stomach. This was very bad. Maybe Duffy’s new article really would damage the choir’s chances beyond repair. But that was unfair.
Still staring down at the ground, Tess wrapped her arms around her middle, almost like she was trying to hold herself together. The knot in Jack’s stomach grew. It was agonizing to see her like this, knowing there was nothing he could do. His feelings for her were building, swelling, becoming almost out of his control. If he couldn’t help her, maybe he should—
“I have to go,” she suddenly said. “I’m late for rehearsal.”
“Wait.” Jack got over his surprise quickly enough to move to her side. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t answer right away. She was biting her bottom lip.
“Not really,” she finally said.
As she pulled her keys out of her purse, Jack saw that she was shaking. Automatically, he reached out and put an arm around her. “Come here,” he said, trying to coax her into a hug. He might not be able to solve her problem, but he would be here to comfort her, if nothing else. After the drama of the last hour, they could both use relief in each other’s arms.
But Tess stiffened and stepped away. “This was a rude awakening,” she said, her voice practically a whisper.
“What was?” he asked, reaching a hand out to her.
“That. This.” She laughed bleakly, looking down at his outstretched hand. “Like I said the other night.” Her voice was even softer. “Nothing has changed.”
Playing at Love Page 17