Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
They predictably began with the defense line. Cody named a player, and the two of them compared insights and potential areas for improvement. Cody refused to touch the goalkeepers, laughingly saying they were too afraid to offend any of them. They’d just started on the dealers when Cat and Laila arrived home, and the girls followed the light to the kitchen. Cody skipped a greeting to throw Jean under the bus:
“Finally! Jean was going to starve to death if you took any longer.”
Cat rocked to a stop halfway to them. “I thought you went out to eat. What happened?”
“Good luck,” Cody offered Jean.
They had the gall to sound sympathetic. Jean glared at them, but Cody only hopped off their stool and gave Laila a quick hug goodbye. Unsurprisingly, Cat followed Cody to the front door to demand a better explanation. Laila remained behind, studying Jean with a serious look. If she wasn’t going to say anything, neither was he. Jean focused on drinking his water until Cat came back. She went straight to the fridge, tugged his takeout off its shelf, and set the container in front of him.
“Walk me through it,” Cat said.
Jean broke it down for her: the ingredients first, the best guess at numbers after. Some he knew by heart by now: the rice and chicken were easy, if basmati rice was anywhere close to the brown rice Cat preferred. The spices were negligible, and while he couldn’t remember how yogurt worked out, he knew she could correct him. He added it up when he was done and waited for her to confirm it.
“You already know you’re right,” she said. “Why couldn’t you trust your work?”
“I could have been wrong.”
Cat searched his face. “By what? Five or six carbs? Two grams of fat? That’s negligible in the grand scheme of things.” When Jean didn’t answer, she tore open his plastic sleeve of silverware and lightly bopped his nose with the fork. “Say you forgot to carry a one somewhere and ate too much. Would Cody have dragged you into the street? Would I? It’s not a rhetorical question, Jean,” she pressed when he didn’t answer. “I need to know if you’re scared of us.”
“Of a team that can’t fight?” he asked, offended.
Cat’s smile was fleeting but satisfied. Jean knew he’d been had even before she agreed, “Of a team that won’t fight. God, that’s delicious,” she added as she stole a bite of his dinner. She leaned across the table to plant a kiss to his forehead. “You know what you’re doing. Trust yourself, okay? Now eat up before you wither away. If you genuinely don’t like it, we’ll make you something else.”
Laila motioned over her shoulder. “Come find us if you need us. My show’s about to start, so we’ll be in the other room.”
Jean pushed his food around its container for a few minutes after they’d left, his thoughts a muddled mess, and finally took a bite. He almost wished he hated it after the stress it had caused them all tonight, but even cold it was good enough to dig into.
He was nearly done when Cody texted him a simple, “Eat?”
“Ate,” Jean confirmed. After a moment’s debate he added, “It was good.”
“:)” was all Cody sent in answer, so Jean set his phone aside to finish eating.
CHAPTER SIX
Jeremy
Finding out the Ravens didn’t recognize federal holidays was not how Jeremy thought he’d start his morning. He stared Jean down over his mug of coffee, willing the caffeine to hit his system a little faster so he could keep up with Jean’s startled anger. Maybe someone should have reminded him that the team wouldn’t have practice on Wednesday, but who would have guessed he needed the heads-up? Jean was French, but he’d been in the United States long enough to know about the 4th of July.
“It’s a holiday,” Jeremy said, for the third time.
“Every year?” Jean demanded.
“Like clockwork,” Cat said as she cheerily pushed eggs around a pan. “Considering the role France played in the war, you should consider it your patriotic duty to spend today partying.”
“Missing practice for something that happened two hundred years ago is irresponsible.”
“You really are a ray of light sometimes,” Laila said. She set her coffee aside and cradled her face in her hand to consider him. “If this doesn’t count as a legitimate holiday at Edgar Allan, then what does? New Year’s and Christmas, I assume, but what...”
Jeremy didn’t like the way she trailed off, but he knocked back the rest of his coffee before looking between them. The stubborn set of Jean’s jaw was answer enough, but Jean didn’t hesitate to spell it out: “Ravens cannot recognize winter holidays when championships start in January. That time is critical.”
“They have to have a day off,” Laila insisted. “Don’t tell me they never stop.”