“No might about it.” My kiss was firmer.
“Do you think this is why Noah’s avoiding us?” Savvy asked suddenly. “We’re all... couple-y.”
“Well, fuck that,” I said, taking my arm off Hadley. “I’ve got a rep to protect.”
She pulled my arm around her again. “Trust me, Slater, no one would want to protect the reputation you have.”
They all laughed, and I gave her a mock glare. “I think that was harsh, Dante — was that harsh?”
“You hit on Brooke within an hour of meeting her.”
“Brooke was his ex,” I explained to Hadley, “who cheated on him, so really, I was trying to do him a favor.”
“Asshole.” He wasn’t pissed off, though; he was smiling.
“Reach out and find out more about Briar,” I instructed Hadley. I turned to the others. “Chattanooga is just over an hour away. Who wants to skip tomorrow and look for Tiffany and Sterling?”
Hadley looked up at me with excitement. “I do!”
Savannah looked torn. “I missed classes today . . .”
I waited.
“But... I really do want to go looking,” she continued.
“I can skip,” I told Dante. “You?”
He looked as indecisive as Savvy had, then he nodded. “We go together or not at all,” he conceded. “Majority wins.”
“Isn’t democracy great?” I told them, my eyes on Hadley, watching how satisfied she looked knowing we were finally acting. She quickly typed an email on her laptop and closed it. “What time do we leave?”
There was a discussion about what time practice finished, after we brought them up to speed on how our afternoon training had gone. Dante told Savvy that Noah needed some space, and she gave a sad nod of acceptance.
They got up to leave, which left Hadley and me.
“Try not to sleep in,” was Dante’s parting shot. I flipped him off and closed the door behind them.
“Hey, baby girl,” Hadley greeted Milly. I heard the cat hiss. “No,no, Milly, no scratching! I’m letting you out, you obnoxious diva!”
I turned to watch the three-legged ball of fury streak across the room, and Hadley slumped back on her heels as her cat hid herself under the bed.
Hadley looked up at me. “She doesn’t like the crate.”
“Mmhmm. I see that.” I helped her to her feet and slipped my arms around her. “How are you?”
She tilted her head back. “I’m okay. How was practice, really?”
“Tense,” I admitted. “We sat there like second teamers; the rest of the squad didn’t know if we were being disciplined, or if it was a part of spring training to psych them out.” I pulled her closer. “To be honest, the latter was quite funny, and Dante and I let them think it.”
“Noah?”
“Furious. No one looked his way after getting glared at the first time.”
She made a noise of sympathy. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be. What were you thinking, going digging again?”
Hadley pushed back, but I didn’t loosen my grip. “This is my job. You guys overreacted.”