The Love Playbook

by Suze Winegardner

  “Billy?” They both turned their heads to the back of the store. Mr. Duchamp had stepped out of the workshop and was beckoning him back.

  Billy nodded at him and slowly picked himself up from the deep lean he’d been doing on the counter. “See you around town.” He pushed his finger up as if he was tipping the brim of a hat to her and slowly walked through the store saying, “G’morning,” to bemused customers as if he were the freaking mayor of Hillside.

  Yup. There was no doubt that he thought he already had her dad’s job.

  There was no way she was going to let that happen.

  No. Freaking. Way.

  She’d kill him first.

  She grabbed her journal and a pencil from the empty peanut butter jar-turned-pencil-holder on the counter.

  Killing Billy Seymore:

  Pro: I wouldn’t have to worry about her dad losing her job.

  Pro: He was a total ass.

  Pro: He obviously doesn’t think girls know anything about football.

  Con: I'd go to jail.

  She slammed the book shut and bit her lip. It was a tough one to call.

  Lucas was still the answer. At least the only answer that wouldn’t get her a life sentence and an orange jumpsuit.

  …

  It turned out that Lucas had a bit of a knack for fixing things. Well, he’d known that he could fix things—he’d been fixing things in the house since his dad left. They never had any money to buy new appliances, so he’d learned to change fuses, fix busted circuit boards, unblock drains, fix leaking showers, rebuild the vacuum, and, as it turned out, put together a toaster that had been taken apart by someone trying a little do-it-yourself at home.

  By the time it was nearing lunchtime, he was plowing through the minor repair jobs that Mr. Hardy put on the workbench. Each time he put something in front of him, Mr. Hardy raised an eyebrow as if to say, “There’s no way you can fix this, punk.” And he just about managed it, only having to ask advice once or twice.

  It was eye opening to see that it wasn’t just his family that apparently couldn’t find the extra money for new things. He’d always thought they were alone in that. But it seemed like there were a lot of people in Hillside who couldn’t, or didn’t want to, spend the money on new items.

  He wondered what Avery was doing outside in the store. If he got this job, that would be another thing he would have to thank her for. She was helping him fix his game and land gainful employment. He would be thanking her forever. She was really the kindest person he’d ever met. The goodness in her—basically helping a complete stranger—almost overwhelmed him, particularly since he didn’t really feel like he deserved it.

  His brain drifted back to the hospital. They had nearly kissed, right? Like her mouth had been this close to his. She hadn’t mentioned it or even looked at him weird. She hadn’t blushed or seemed awkward. Maybe it hadn’t happened. Maybe it had all been in his mind. But nothing could take away how he’d felt when he’d thought he was just about to kiss Avery. Even if it had only happened in his mind. Alive, excited, happy, hot. Things that hadn’t even hit his radar in the previous four months.

  Was she an angel? Put here to fix his life? She certainly seemed that way. Except…he knew he didn’t deserve an angel. He was putting her father’s team in jeopardy. At the very least, certainly LeVonn, who was looking for a way out. A scholarship. He was fucking with everyone’s life, just to get his own straight. That wasn’t right. He wasn’t right.

  He clenched his fists and tried to steer his mind back to the Leap Frog circuit board he was working on. It still had droplets of water on it. He guessed some kid learning to spell had dropped it in the bath. “Do you have a hairdryer?” he asked Mr. Hardy, who was chatting to a tall man in his office. They both turned to look at him, and he flashed back to his teammates all turning to watch him walk by as he left his last school. None of them saying anything or smiling. All condemning him silently. Even though they’d happily accepted rides in his car and drank beer bought by the “stipend” that MFU alumni had given him.

  Mr. Hardy made his way around his desk back into the workshop. He lifted a box out from a shelf. “There’s one in here, kid. You might have to rummage around for it some.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Mr. Hardy returned to his office. Lucas heard the tall man say, “Who’s that?” but he didn’t hear the answer.

  He took the hairdryer on its lowest setting and held it a good half foot away from the wet electronics. It’d take patience to get rid of the dampness without heating up the components.

  As he wafted it across the Leap Frog pad, a younger man came back, too. Like, maybe just a few years older than himself. He grinned at Lucas and went straight back to the office, with his hand already outstretched toward Mr. Hardy.

  Mr. Hardy didn’t seem as enthusiastic to see him. He looked at the young guy’s hand, looked at the taller man, and then shook the guy’s hand really fast. Lucas really wanted to switch off the hairdryer just to hear what was going on. Secret son? Being introduced to the tall guy’s new boyfriend? He couldn’t figure it out. And it was probably better that he didn’t. The last thing he needed was to take on anyone else’s secrets. His own were heavy enough.

  Finally, he figured that the circuit board was as dry as it could be and set it to one side to completely cool.

  Just as he did, Avery popped her head around the door. “Mr. Hardy?”

  “Yes, Avery?” He stuck his head out of his office and looked over his glasses at her.

  “Is it okay if I go for lunch? Can you take over?” she asked.

  Mr. Hardy looked at his watch. “Good heavens, yes, of course. I lost track of time.” He looked back at the men in his office. “Sorry, gentlemen. I have to go let this young lady get some sustenance.”

  “Lucas and I have some errands to run. Is it okay if I spring him, too?”

  Mr. Hardy smiled. “Certainly.” He turned to Lucas. “I think you can consider yourself hired. When you come back, we’ll fill out some paperwork.”

  Lucas’s spirits raised once again and basked for a second in the warmth of being wanted and Avery’s happy smile. “Thank you, sir.” He had a job, and he was about to run errands with Avery. It already felt like a good day. Except when they stepped out into the windy sunlight, his head started to throb again. He winced.

  “Are you okay?” Avery said with a hint of concern in her voice.

  “I’m fine. What errands do we need to run?” he asked, putting his shades on, protecting his eyes from the sun and the flying debris.

  “I don’t really have any. I just wanted to get out for a bit,” she said.

  He had no argument. “I think you may have just scored me a job. Thank you.”

  She skipped ahead of him a little and turned around to talk while she was walking backward. “You did that. I just drove. You got the job.” She grinned and poked at his chest each time she said “you.” She skipped again and was walking next to him once more. She seemed as happy as he was.

  “Hey!” a voice screamed at them.

  Lucas turned to see who was shouting down the quiet high street.

  “It’s Lexi.” Avery laughed without even turning to see or stopping.

  “Do you want to wait for her?” he asked, looking around again. “Oh.” Lexi was right behind them, overtaking the tumbleweed that was flying down the road with the wind.

  “Yeah, she’s the school track star…as well as a million other things.”

  “At least a million,” Lexi replied, not even out of breath. “S’up?”

  Avery stopped and hugged her. Lexi punched Lucas’s arm lightly to say hello. He grinned.

  “Lucas got a job at Hardy’s today,” Avery said.

  “Congrats, man,” Lexi said, smoothing her hair down. “Hey, we should totally go out to celebrate. What do you th
ink, Lucas?” She turned to look at him, deliberately blocking his line of sight to Avery.

  “Okaaay?” he replied.

  Lexi spun round with finger guns at Avery. “Ah-ha! Now you have to come out!”

  Why wouldn’t she have come out? He tried to read her expression but couldn’t.

  “Sure. I’ll drag Colin out, too.”

  Lexi punched her arms in the air and ran a victory lap around the pair of them. Avery rolled her eyes.

  “I like you!” Lexi said, punching his arm again.

  He didn’t reply, because even he could see that these shenanigans were about her and Avery and not about him. He just grinned. He was going out with Avery tonight, and he didn’t even have to go through the agony of asking her on a date. Not that you would. No. Bad idea. You’ll get benched. No dating, no pissing off Coach or Colin.

  But he ignored his inner voice. Everything was on the up and up, in the space of, like, four hours. He felt as if he were walking on the wind that was snaking through the alleyways and streets of town. Maybe this was where his world turned around. Maybe this was where life finally got good again.

  And it was all thanks to Avery Stone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When she got home, Avery spent half an hour just trying to make her planner work. That whole day had been a wash, and a knot of anxiety poked at her as she stuck stickers over the homework she had been planning to do during the lulls at work and the studying for the calc test she had Monday and shifted them all to Sunday. Sunday had to stay clear now. She already had another English essay to plan and Spanish vocabulary to learn. She was also supposed to be going through her SAT words. But contrary to what she had promised her father, she hadn’t got beyond E: the final letter of flash cards her mom had written out for her to help her practice.

  She tried to shake it off. So the yards of washi tape over her Saturday and her Sunday pages in her planner had packed up with things she had to do. Maybe if she got up earlier, she’d still be able to watch Rogue One in the evening.

  She pretended that she didn’t know why marathoning Star Wars was uppermost in her mind, but she did. She wanted to be able to talk more to Lucas about them. Listen to his opinion. Maybe mock him a little for his opinion, too.

  He’d given no sign that he’d remembered that he kissed her at the hospital—even though it was really little more than a peck. She, however, did. She remembered his bare chest and the line of dirt on his face and his warm breath on her cheek. She remembered the heat that had rushed through her body and a pure need that she’d never felt before. She’d wanted to kiss him so badly that her whole body had virtually melted down from the inside out. And now it was like it had never happened. She’d actually done a mental pro and con list about kissing him in the second before their lips would have touched. Maybe if she hadn’t, they would have kissed. But then the doctor would have still come in and probably had a heart attack right there on the floor to see what he thought were siblings kissing.

  She giggled to herself. And then stopped. Lucas was a means to an end. He had to save her father’s job—and the Hammers—from Mr. “call me Billy” Seymore. That was it.

  She stood and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Then why was she in a dress, with makeup on and her hair done, just to go out with the usual gang? She stared. That was a good question. God, she hoped no one would make fun of her or think she was dressing up for the new guy. Urgh, of course they would.

  She wiped off some lipstick and mussed up her hair. Better. But still, she got dressed for Lucas. There was no getting away from that. They’d shared an almost-kiss. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe he just flat didn’t remember. But they’d nearly kissed, and that was something.

  She looked at her planner again. The whole day was now covered up with pretty tape. Everything she had planned to do today had disappeared and moved to the next day. Really, it was like anything could happen and not have happened, too, because the day didn’t exist anymore. Saturday was like Schrodinger’s Cat. If you couldn’t see it through the washi tape, it could have happened or not happened. Kind of. Maybe today—and tonight—was a free day. A whole evening that didn’t count. A whole evening where she could stop worrying about her father and football and everything.

  And then Sunday was her back to work day. Back to the love of her life—her planner—and back to ensuring her dad kept his job. Back to homework. Back to normal. She nodded firmly at herself in the mirror. Back to normal.

  And who knew? Maybe spending more than a couple of hours in Lucas’s company would make her realize he was a dick or something. And then she wouldn’t even need an evening off from anything. Except she was already taking the evening off.

  Argh. She was talking herself around in circles. She took a breath and tried to stop her brain racing away. It was just a night out with friends. It was even in her planner now, so she should be able to relax. Why was her head making such a big deal about it? Butterflies fluttered inside her as she made her way downstairs.

  Colin was already in the kitchen, talking to her dad through the door to the dining room. He looked her up and down and frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but she was saved by her dad making an entrance, balancing a tray of flatware on one hand.

  He stopped when he saw them. “Aw, it’s so nice to see you going out together,” he said with a smile.

  “Urgh, Dad—gross!” Colin complained.

  Avery and her dad exchanged a “bless his heart, but what can you do?” look. “That’s not what he meant, freak,” she said mildly as she rolled her eyes.

  Before Colin could complain more, or misunderstand something else, the doorbell rang. “Go get the door, you plank,” Avery said, turning her back to him. She hoped it was Lexi and that Colin answering the door may give them a minute to talk.

  But it wasn’t. It was Lucas. Avery turned around as the kitchen door swung open. He grinned at her, and she smiled back. Colin was halfway into the kitchen when the doorbell rang again. He spun around, leaving Lucas in the kitchen with her father and Avery.

  “Evening, Coach,” Lucas said. “Avery.” He nodded at her, and then his gaze slid away to the countertop.

  Her dad just dumped his plates in the sink before turning and wiping his hands on a dish cloth.

  Well, this wasn’t awkward at all.

  Thankfully, Lexi and LeVonn barreled into the kitchen laughing. “Coach,” LeVonn said, snatching off his baseball cap.

  “Johnson, Black, Lexi.” He name checked them as if he were taking attendance. “Where are you all going this evening?”

  There was silence.

  There was another pause. “So when you leave the house, which I hope you’ll be doing soon, which way are you turning? Left or right?”

  “Dad!” Avery said. He was totally checking up on where they were going.

  “Left,” LeVonn said at the same time that Colin said, “Right.”

  Then Colin said, “Left,” and freaking LeVonn said, “Right.”

  Lucas laughed, and Avery rolled her eyes. Lexi just looked bemused.

  Her dad closed his eyes for one of his “give me strength” moments. “Don’t get into any trouble,” her dad said, taking a glass off the counter and filling it at the sink.

  “There is no trouble to be had in Hillside, Mr. Stone,” Lexi said. “I’d have found it by now if there was.” She pouted, and her dad cracked a tiny smile.

  “Let’s keep it that way.” He pressed a kiss to the side of Avery’s head and left.

  “God, you guys are the worst,” she said, looking at Colin and LeVonn. “Where are we going anyway?”

  “Munch is on locker duty until his ankle is fixed—so he has the keys,” Colin said with raised eyebrows.

  Lexi put her hands on her hips. “So you guys are telling me that despite the fact that you spend nearly every waking hour at the football f
ield, on a Saturday night we’re not going to the movies, not going bowling, not going to the barn out on 67. We’re breaking into the football field. The place you have access to all week?”

  “Aw, come on. It’s cool at night. Spooky,” LeVonn said, putting his baseball cap back on his head.

  “Munch has beer.” Colin shrugged.

  Lucas stayed quiet, with his hands in his pockets, and just shrugged when Avery caught his eye.

  “Oh my Gahhhd,” Lexi said, looking at each of the boys in turn, making her disappointment with them clear. “Okay—let’s go.” She linked her arm through Avery’s and took the lead to the front door.

  “All right. That’s what I’m talking about,” LeVonn said, rattling his mom’s van keys.

  …

  Lucas sat in the way back of the minivan and enjoyed listening to the banter between the four who seemed to have known one another since kindergarten.

  “Don’t give me that shit, LeVonn,” Lexi said when he objected to stopping at the Kent Kwik’s for the Diet Coke and Twizzlers she’d asked for. “You know you’re going to eat half of them.”

  “It hurts, but it’s the truth,” LeVonn said simply as he turned into the parking lot of the store. By the time he’d put his parking brake on, Lexi had gathered a list of the stuff everyone else needed.

  Lucas had a twenty dollar bill in his pocket that he gave her. “Full fat Coke, please.” At least he wasn’t expected to buy beers like he had at his last school, because that was the last of his cash until he saw Mr. Hardy again.

  Avery jumped out with Lexi. And although he tried not to, he watched her short skirt swing around her legs as she walked and shook his head at himself as he noticed his heartbeat kick up. They still hadn’t talked about their almost-kiss in the hospital, and although he didn’t want to talk about it, like, at all, it had been all he’d been thinking about since it happened. Whether she might actually let him kiss her. Whether he’d ever see that expression on her face again. The one that said, “Yeah, I’m going to rip your clothes off right here.” Because that look had nearly fucked him up. If that doctor hadn’t come in…