Offsetting Penalties

by Ally Mathews

  His mom lifted up the jug. “Don’t forget the hand sanitizer, boys.”

  Coming to his senses, he rushed over and pulled out his wallet. “What do I owe you for the food?”

  The Chicken Fried guy raised his hands. “Nothing. It’s compliments of the diner.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. That wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he’d asked for Isabelle’s help. “Thank you. That’s generous of you, but I’m prepared to pay for the food for the team.”

  “Senator Oster is one of our biggest supporters. Always uses us to cater his local events. We’re happy to help the team and support community service.”

  “Thanks.”

  That explained it. Isabelle must’ve told them about the community service to get them to do it for free. He glanced around and several members of his team were staring at him. They’d all heard the chicken guy mention the senator, and it wouldn’t be long before they started asking about it. Probably as soon as they finished stuffing their faces.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. For once, it was a welcome distraction. “Excuse me.” He pulled it out. “Harley Quinn” lit up on the screen.

  “Hey,” he said, then turned and walked away from the table, which was surrounded with hungry guys filling their plates with mounds of food.

  “Incoming! I had to warn you.”

  He sighed. This day needed to end, and it was barely lunch time. “About what?”

  “My dad’s assistant thought it would be a good opportunity for the diner and football team to get some publicity.”

  “And? There has to be more, or you wouldn’t have called.”

  “Well…”

  Was her voice shaking?

  “I’m sorry, but a reporter from KMXP is on the way there.”

  His brain stopped functioning for a second. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No. The story will probably be more about my dad supporting the football team than you guys doing community service, but either way, it’ll be on the news tonight.”

  A movement from the parking lot caught his eye. Sure enough, it was a news van.

  “Garret?”

  “What?” That came out more harshly than he intended.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to be about him, but somehow everything always ends up that way.”

  “It’s all right. I’m the one who asked you to use his connections. The guys will probably love it.” His dad was moving quickly toward him. “I gotta go. I’ll call you later and let you know how it went.”

  “Garret! What’s going on?” His father lowered his voice when he got closer. “Why is there a reporter here? You know we’re not up to code in some areas.”

  Make that a lot of areas. They’d already been cited once, but the town was giving them a break, since no one else had wanted to take on cleaning up and running the junkyard. “I asked a friend to help us get food donated, and Senator Oster’s staff somehow got involved.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “It’ll be good publicity. Maybe more people will come out here after this.”

  Dad ran his fingers though his hair. “Yeah, but your friends are helping us for free, and the restaurant donated all that food. That’s gonna make us look bad.”

  “Not if you donate something. Give the football team your proceeds from all the stuff we sell and recycle from today.”

  He frowned. “I’ll give them fifty percent.”

  “All right. Mention that on the air and remind everyone to come out and hunt for hidden treasure here.” Garret patted him on the back. “You need to get ready to be on television.”

  Now all he had to do was hope that Coach wouldn’t hear about this, since they’d be at practice when the story aired on KMXP.

  …

  Garret breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Isabelle teaching a bunch of little girls in Studio Three. He didn’t have much time before he needed to be at practice, but he had to thank her for the lunch and the news coverage. Since she couldn’t see him through the one-way window, he took a chance that she’d finish before he had to leave. The guys had been so excited to be featured on the news they forgot to ask him why her dad was involved. It wasn’t often Brinson was the subject of a positive story. Usually it was featured because of a break in or domestic violence.

  Isabelle popped her head out of the studio. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “I came to thank you. Today was awesome. The guys on the team were really excited about the news coverage.”

  She grinned. “You’re welcome.”

  He put his hands in his pockets, suddenly nervous now that he’d made a decision. “I also wanted to tell you that…that I’ll dance with you.”

  She leaped at him, and he caught her by reflex.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. Her warm breath slid across his neck and a thrill shot through him. The scent of warm honeysuckle surrounded him, and he spent a few seconds just enjoying the feel of her before he put her down. There was more to be said.

  “I owe you for helping me improve my game, and for today, but I still have some conditions.”

  She grabbed his hand and led him into the now empty studio, then closed the door. “What are they?”

  “I’ll do it as long as no one finds out I was ever here and no one I know shows up at the performance.”

  “But I can’t guarantee—”

  “I wasn’t finished. And you have to give my sister free ballet lessons.”

  “Are we talking private lessons or group lessons?”

  He frowned. “I didn’t ask. Probably group lessons, since you’re pretty terrifying one-on-one.”

  “Do you have any more demands, my liege?”

  “There is one more little thing.”

  She raised her brows and waited.

  “To protect myself just in case someone sees me here, you’re going to have to pretend we’re dating.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “This is a joke, right? Who’s gonna believe that Mr. Hotshot is dating me?”

  Whoa. She might be all crankypants and Goth at school, but she lived in the biggest house in town and was the daughter of two former Hollywood actors. Pretty much everyone envied her. How could she not know that?

  “Mr. Hotshot? That’s interesting coming from Ms. Hollywood von Crankypants.”

  Her face paled. “Is that what people call me?”

  He stiffened. “Geez, no. I just made it up to counter your Mr. Hotshot comment.”

  “I’m sorry to ruin your brilliant plan, but no one is going to believe that we’re dating. Especially when we’ve never been seen together before.”

  She had a point. “Fine. We’ll do it gradually. They’ll see you at the football game tomorrow and wonder about it. Then we can be seen in the halls together when school starts, and things can heat up from there. Then, if you turn out to be wrong and someone finds out about the dancing, it’ll still make me look good, stepping up to help my girlfriend in her time of need.”

  She coughed. “Sorry, I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

  He laughed. She could give as good as she got. “So do you agree to our new arrangement?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Sure you do. You can find someone else to blackmail.”

  “All right, but don’t come crying to me when this backfires on you.”

  They locked gazes for a few moments, then he nodded his chin at her. “I’m not worried.”

  “Just in case, I think we should make some rules for our fake relationship.”

  “Like what?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure, but we need to get our stories straight if we want people to believe we’re together. Can we date other people?”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t want to be that guy. We’re exclusive for now.”

  “Okay. How did we hook up?”

  “My sister’s taking ballet class with you. Next.”

  “PDA at school?”

/>   This was getting way more complicated than he expected. “We can hold hands in the halls, but I’m not into being entertainment for everybody else.”

  “Should we promise to keep the fake relationship going until after the fall production?”

  He nodded. “Either of us can break it off after that.” It was kind of crazy how much the thought of her dating someone else bothered him, especially since she’d tried to blackmail him.

  “So we both agree. Should we shake on it?” She held her hand out and he took it.

  What have I just gotten myself into?

  Chapter Eight

  “No, Roley, you don’t need any liquid eyeliner. Your eyes are already gorgeous.”

  To soften her words, Izzy gave her dog a good belly rub then went back to the mirror to finish applying her makeup. She was naturally so pale that she could wear foundation that matched her normal skin tone and still look Goth. With her black hair and violet eyes, it wasn’t hard to get the look she wanted with minimal effort. Purple eye shadow and lipstick complemented her hair, and she quickly ran her flat iron through it to discourage any heat-induced curls, then put on her earrings and nose stud and she was ready to go.

  “Dozer!” She pried his jaw open and pulled her makeup sponge out of his mouth then tossed it into the trash can. “I know you guys want to help, but eating my stuff isn’t the right way.” She scratched behind his ears.

  The alarm signaled a door had opened downstairs, and both dogs began barking. Either someone was breaking in, or her father was home. She wasn’t sure which she preferred.

  “Izzy?” The dogs raced down the staircase to greet him.

  “Coming, Dad.” She took the football book she’d bought and stuffed it into the drawer of her nightstand then slowly followed the dogs, hoping they would mellow his mood. Dozer ran to her as soon as she entered the kitchen, but Roley stayed with Dad. She was an attention whore in the best possible way.

  He straightened. “I see you’re going out with your…friends.”

  Though he was fine with Audrey and most of the girls she hung out with, he detested the boys in their group, based on appearance alone. He only tolerated Jeremy because he’d been around for so long.

  “Yes, we’re going to the football game. First of the season.” She glanced at his face and a laugh nearly shot out of her. He was gobsmacked.

  “You’re going to a football game? What prompted that?”

  She shrugged. “It’s our senior year. We decided to see what all the fuss is about.”

  “Speaking of fuss, have you sent in your applications to UT and A&M?”

  Not in the mood to argue with him, she said, “Can we please not do this right now? I need to pick up Audrey, and I don’t want to be late.”

  He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “I know you want to join that dance company instead of focusing on your education or helping with the campaign, but what if you don’t make it? You need something to fall back on.”

  Blood whooshed past her ears. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She snatched her purse off the counter and stalked toward the garage.

  “Izzy.” The pleading tone in his voice made her stop. Despite their differences, she was more at ease when he was home. He opened his arms and she let him hug her, and just for a moment, she relaxed into his warmth.

  “I’m glad you’re home, Daddy.” She pulled away and patted each of the dogs before heading to the door.

  “Be home by midnight,” he called just before the door slammed shut.

  …

  Texas was such a strange place. Their school didn’t have enough money to provide textbooks for every student, but they somehow managed to have a football stadium with a state-of-the-art sprinkler system that sat seventy-five hundred people and had both a press box and an elevator. Sadly, it wasn’t just their school district. It was a Texas thing. Some of the high school stadiums she’d seen in the Dallas area were so big she’d mistaken them for a college campus.

  They’d chosen a spot about halfway up the bleachers in the middle of the Renegades’ side.

  “So tell me again why we’re at a football game?” Audrey asked, then stuffed more popcorn into her mouth.

  “Because I’m trying to help you-know-who improve his game.”

  She sucked in a breath and choked on the popcorn. Izzy smacked her on the back. “Are you all right? Can you breathe?”

  “I’m not dying. I’m only mostly dead.”

  “Yeah, I can see that. Your face is gray.” It was a joke they’d started a few years ago when they saw The Princess Bride on retro night at the local theater. They’d had a lot of offensive comments thrown at them about their Goth style. It was easier to joke about it than get upset.

  A large sip of her soda seemed to solve the problem. “How are you going to help him? You don’t know anything about football.”

  “I know quite a lot more than I ever thought I would, since I’ve read an entire book about it over the last two days. I also watched a couple of old games online so I could figure out what’s what.”

  “What’s he doing to return the favor?”

  “Well, he agreed to dance with me in the production. As long as I can guarantee that no one from school will be there or find out about it.”

  Audrey chewed and swallowed before answering. “Izzy, how can you promise that?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t, really, but there’s no point in telling him that. It is pretty unlikely.”

  The rest of the gang climbed up the bleachers toward them, ending the conversation for now. To be honest, she had no idea how she might help Garret, but she hoped to be inspired after watching him play. She’d been to a few professional games, but they were business meetings for her dad and they’d sat in luxury suites, so she hadn’t paid much attention to what was happening on the field.

  “Ladies, to what do we owe the pleasure of being invited to such an auspicious event?” Jeremy asked. She’d had an instant kinship with him when they met in kindergarten, since his dad had been a long-haul truck driver who died in a crash when he was a toddler. They never talked about it, mostly because they both agreed that missing someone you couldn’t remember was a waste of time. Of course, that didn’t stop them from doing it.

  A few of the nearby families were giving them the side eye, but they were used to it. Jeremy had gone all out for the football game. His hair was Renegade blue and spiked like a triceratops.

  Audrey threw popcorn at him. “Izzy thinks we should all watch at least one game before we graduate. You know, see what all the fuss is about. Plus, we heard if you take your ticket stub, you can get half-price milkshakes at the Dairy Hut until midnight after the game.”

  “Fine,” Trevor said. “I guess I can sit through a few hours of anything if I’ll get a free milkshake afterwards.”

  “I said half-price, not free.”

  “C’mon, Audrey. You know you want to buy one for me.”

  “Really, really not,” she said without heat.

  Izzy waved to Stacy, who was looking lost at the bottom of the steps.

  Jeremy raised a brow and sat next to her. “So what are we really doing here?”

  She should’ve known he wouldn’t let her explain it away so easily. “I can’t tell you everything right now, but I’m here to watch Garret Mitchell.”

  “Seriously?”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “I really hope that’s true. You know what he did to me. He can’t be counted on to follow through.”

  He had a point, but surely it was possible Garret had changed over the years since. “I promise I’ll be careful. It’s worth the risk to be able to audition.”

  “So he agreed to dance with you?”

  She nodded.

  “Don’t count on him to follow through.”

  “I don’t have any other options.”

  “Just be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “Thanks.” She squeezed his a
rm.

  “He’s a player, and he’ll probably try something with you. Do you know how many cheerleaders he has chasing after him? I don’t think he’s ever dated the same girl more than once. Use ’um and lose ’um.”

  That didn’t sound like the Garret she knew, but then again, she didn’t really know him all that well. Jeremy might be right, but why would he have offered to dance with her if he was such a terrible person? He could’ve just walked away. Unless he really didn’t trust her and assumed she still had the video of him dancing. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “Just remember you can’t count on him to keep his promises.”

  The PA system crackled to life. “Please rise and direct your attention to the flag for the singing of our national anthem.” They stood, including Trevor, because despite the fact that everyone thought of them as the rebels of the school, when you grew up in Texas, you respected your state and country.

  The players stood in front of the bench, all of them focused on the flag. Garret was easy to spot because he was one of the tallest players on the team, and after spending so much time watching him, she recognized how he moved.

  Everyone started clapping and cheering during the last stanza. When the music ended, Garret turned to scan the stands. His eyes stopped on her and her heart skipped a beat. He shot her a half smile then put on his helmet and said something to one of his teammates. Despite what Jeremy said, he had agreed to dance with her, and that wasn’t the sort of thing a jerk would do. But the moment she finished that thought, the idea that he didn’t trust her popped back into her head.

  Trevor stood. “I’m gonna need some sustenance to make it through this. Can I get you ladies anything?”

  “I’ll go with you.” Stacy had been crushing on him since freshman year, but he still hadn’t figured it out. Or maybe he had, but wasn’t interested and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It was hard to tell with him.