Jaxon snorts out a laugh. “Doesn’t look that way to me.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, I’m not judging. In fact,” he begins, and wipes his mouth with his napkin. “Did you know our team’s media relations officer is moving?”
“What no.” I sit up a bit straighter, my heart jumping, but I try to calm myself. Honestly, I can’t let myself get too excited about anything. I’ve got nothing but rejection after rejection since #GobbleGate.
“Yeah, I just heard about it before I came home.” He glances at Jaxon. “You know Deanna, right? Married to Mackenzie?”
Mackenzie is on the fourth line like me. I didn’t know he was married to the PR officer, though. But I mostly keep to myself so there’s a lot I don’t know. “Yeah,” is all I say.
“Mac is going to Pittsburgh. She’s going with him. The position is going to be open. Maybe you should apply. I’ll put in a good word for you.”
“Are you serious?” Honestly, it’s a dream job.
Calm down, girlfriend. After all the rejections, you know better than getting too excited.
“Totally serious. Penn could put a good word in for you too.”
“Uh, after the incident, I’m not sure my word is worth much.”
“Yeah, well.” He grins at me before tuning his focus to Penn. “If anyone can clean up your image, it’s Jay.” He makes a fist, turns back to me, and gently nudges my chin.
OMG, does he know we’re pretending? Wait, no that’s crazy. He can’t. Right? Even if he did, no big deal. He needs Penn’s image cleaned up for the team and he clearly cares about me. Our families do go way back.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” My phone pings, and I reach for it. I read a message from Garrett. “Shoot, Garrett was supposed to go to the country club to get the star for the town’s life-size nativity set. Apparently, it somehow got boxed up with the club’s float last year. He’s tied up. I’m going to have to go.”
“Right now?” Penn frowns. “You’re not staying for the game?”
“I can go after the game.”
“Snow is coming later tonight,” Jaxon informs me. “A good eight inches.”
Eight inches.
Gulp.
Penn sets his mug down. “I’ll take you. I have the SUV. If we’re getting pounded with eight inches, it’s safer.”
Pounded.
Do they have any idea what they’re saying? Wait, are they messing with me? I eye them. They don’t seem to be. Yeah, okay. Sure. I have the maturity of a twelve-year-old boy, but still…can we stop talking about getting pounded by eight inches already.
“I’m sure we can get there and back before too much falls.”
“That would be great, Penn.” I set my utensils on my plate and stand. “Right now I have to hit up Main Street and get voting boxes out for the displays.”
“Sounds fun,” Jaxon grumbles.
I pause. “That means you want to help Penn and me out,” I tease.
His phone pings. “Actually, if you need help, sure, but—” His face drops when he looks at his phone, and then his head lifts, to see his ex-fiancée walking into the room. When she starts toward him, I suck in a breath and hold it. Those two have history, and not the good kind.
“We’ve got it covered,” I blurt out. Penn looks bewildered by our reactions and I wave him up. “Come on. I need your help to carry…um, the ballot boxes.”
He gives me an odd look and stands. When he does, Jaxon’s ex slides into his seat, and I can feel the tension in the room growing. Penn grabs his plate and I snatch up mine. We set them in the bin and leave the dining area.
“What’s going on?”
“Have you been living in a cave?” I ask him.
“Not that I know of. I mean, Elaine’s place is on the outskirts, and I haven’t been back in a while.”