“What did you want to talk about?” I ask, keeping my tone neutral and wanting to get straight to the point.
He fixes his eyes on me. “There have been rumors circling about budgets and staffing. I wanted you to hear this from me. The Stormhawks are cutting the cheer budget by thirty percent.”
I think of Flic’s suspicions about the sale and I’m about to ask how bad things are when Ryan continues. “I’ve been asked to develop a plan to reduce the budget with as minimal impact to the squad as possible. I thought I’d run it by you before presenting to the board.”
Ryan is asking for my input? That’s a first.
“How much financial trouble are the Stormhawks in?” I ask, thinking of Chase and Jake and what a sale could mean for all of us.
“I’m not on the inside of the big meetings, but my guess is, it’s bad. We lost a couple of sponsors in the offseason. And after buying your boyfriend last season, they’ve struggled.”
“Chase is great for the Stormhawks,” I reply, ignoring the disdain in Ryan’s voice.
Ryan shrugs. “It doesn’t matter how good he is for the team. Denver might love the Stormhawks, but the rest of the country thinks the team are behind the times. According to the sponsors we lost, we’re stuffy and out of touch.”
“Are the Huberts looking to sell?”
He hesitates. “It’s possible. There have been secret meetings with the board. My guess is we’ll find out soon. But before then, I need to cut the cheer budget. Four coaches is a lot.”
“We have a big squad.”
“If we cut the girls’ pay?—”
“No way,” I cut in. “No way, Ryan. They barely make anything as it is.”
“I know. I can trim a few things here and there and keep the cheer squad pay as it is… but either we lose one of the coaches or two of you go part-time and job share.”
I grit my teeth, fighting the sting of frustration in the backs of my eyes. We already work more hours than we’re paid for.
“They’ll want my recommendation on who should go.”
“Daisy and Liv have been coaching longer than I have,” I reply quietly. “It’s only fair it’s me.”
We fall silent.
“Well, thanks for the heads-up,” I say, starting to move. I need to wrap my head around what this means for me. And I need to do that somewhere away from Ryan.
“Serena, wait.” Ryan grabs my hand. I pull it away but remain seated, raising my brows in question. “If…” he starts. One side of his mouth moves into a hopeful smile.
“If what?” I ask, already tensing.Don’t say it!
“It’s just if I thought we had a shot at getting back together, it might make me more inclined to want to see you around the stadium more. It might make me consider if Daisy and Liv might be the best coaches to move to part-time.”
He said it!
Anger coils tight in my chest. This is the real reason he wanted to meet with me today. It wasn’t out of concern for my job or to get my advice. He wants to manipulate me.
Fuck!
He knows how much this job and this career mean to me. He’s holding my dreams hostage for the chance I might date him again.
My voice when I speak is low and laced with a venom that makes him draw back. “You’re a pig, Ryan. There is no us. There never will be again.”
I stand fast.
“Your job?” he says, and there’s the darkness in his eyes again, the one I saw at the awards dinner when I told him to back off.
“Do what you have to do.”