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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

MY FAVORITE PART

RHODES

Now

I’ve checked my phone a dozen times before practice begins and there's nothing from Elle. I shoot her a quick text.

Everything okay?

And then I have to get out on the field before I’ve heard anything back. It sucks that she's so close and I’m still clueless about what's going on. We practice, I'm distracted as fuck, and Coach calls me out on it.

“Sorry, I'll do better tomorrow,” I tell him.

“Just get your head screwed on right before Sunday, is all I ask,” he says.

“I will.”

When I get back to the locker room, there’s a text from her.

Elle

I was fired.

I leave the locker room and call her.

“Where are you?” I ask when she answers.

“I’m back home. She only gave me thirty minutes to get my things out and leave. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to everyone, and I didn’t want to interrupt your practice. I came back and have been hanging out with your parents and Levi…just saw that I’d missed your message.”

“I’m so sorry, Elle. This is…I hate this.”

“No, it’s okay. I knew it was risky?—”

“It's not okay. I want to do something about it.”

“It's not worth it.”

“It is. This was important to you. Let me see if there's anything I can do. I've got to at least try. I don't want you losing something you love because of me.”

“It won't do any good,” she says. “I willingly broke the rules, and I’d do it again. I told Lisa you're worth it and I meant it.”

“You and Levi are my world. I love you.”

“I love you too. ”

We hang up and I go to Coach Evans’ office and rap on the door.

“What's up?” he asks.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course. Come in.”

I go inside and shut the door.

“I’ll just get right to it. I’ve been best friends for thirteen years with Elle Benton…you’ve met her at some of our family parties. Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but she became a Mustangs cheerleader this season.”

“Oh,” he says.

“Yeah…” I can’t hide my grimace. “She loves it and I was so happy for her to be on the team…and then realized what all that truly meant. First, we tried not to see each other, but she's the godmother of my child…and I'm in love with her.”

“ Oh ,” he says again, chuckling. “I didn't know it was like that, but I should’ve. She’s a great girl. Beautiful too.”

“Yeah, it’s like that. It's always been like that on my end and we've just realized it has been on hers too. I’m with her, Coach. I'm all in. I'm completely, madly in love with her, and she just lost her job over it.”

“Damn, Rhodes. I’m sorry to hear that. Happy for you and Elle though. I do remember her. You’ve needed a good woman to settle you down.”

I’ve needed Elle, period.

“Those rules are put in place for a reason,” he adds.

“She's just so good at what she does. And we're not going to cause any drama for the team. It’s not like we’re just sleeping together for the fun of it…I mean it’s fun , but this is a forever kind of thing.”

He chuckles.

“Is there anything we can do? ”

“I don't think so. I can see now why you were so distracted during the practice.”

“I’ll get it together before Sunday.”

“I believe you. I want to keep you happy, Rhodes. I’ll talk to Lisa, tell her this isn’t just a casual hookup with Elle. But Lisa’s pretty firm, and you understand this goes higher up than her. These are rules that have been set in stone for a long time. But we can see if she’s open to bringing it up with her superiors.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate it if you try.”

I drive home and when I get inside, I don’t know why I’m surprised that it sounds like a party.

“Where are all my favorite people?” I call.

“Daddy!” Levi yells, running to wrap his arms around my legs.

He leads me to the kitchen where Elle and my parents are, and I watch them interacting for a moment before they look up and see me. Dad is chopping vegetables. My mom is stirring something on the stove and Elle is working on a dessert.

“Hey, son,” Dad says.

I squeeze his shoulder and my mom is right next to him.

“Hey, Mama.” I pause to kiss her on the cheek before I reach Elle.

“Welcome home,” Mama says.

Elle grins at me over her shoulder. I turn her around to face me before I give her a quick kiss and wrap my arms around her.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“I’m doing good. Really ,” she says. “Don't worry about me. I'm happier than I’ve ever been.”

“I know you loved being on the team so much. I can't stand that you're out, just like that. It feels wrong. ”

“You’re not on the team anymore?” Mama asks.

“I was fired today,” Elle says softly.

“ No . Because of the two of you? That’s so silly…” She shakes her head.

Elle’s phone rings and she waves it off, but then it rings again. I move so she can get to it if she wants to, but she doesn’t make it in time. After the third time, she hustles to answer.

“Hello?” The color drains from her face.

She holds onto the counter and I move by her and put my hand on her back to let her know I'm here.

“Does it seem like just one person or, like, a lot?” she asks. “Oh, God,” she squeaks. “Okay. Okay,” she says softer as she exhales. She pauses and takes a deep breath. “I’ll be okay.”

And now I'm really freaking out. What the hell is going on?

“Yeah. I'll let you know. I want to talk to the girls…hopefully before they hear about it from anyone else.” She puts her hand on her head and closes her eyes.

“Baby, are you okay?” I whisper, unable to take it any longer.

She looks up at me and I can’t read her expression, but she nods.

On the phone, she says, “Okay, I'll call you later. Love you. Bye.”

When she gets off, she takes a deep breath and her eyes flicker down to her phone as she seems to try to take calming breaths or something.

“Are you hyperventilating?” I ask.

“I have something to tell you.” Her eyes meet mine again.

“Okay.” She’s scaring me. “Should I sit down? ”

“Yes.” She takes my hand.

I expect her to lead me into the living room to sit down on the couch, but she takes me up the stairs and down the hall to the room she’s using as an office. She’s arranged the bookshelves a little, but they’re mostly empty. And it looks like she’s worked on her desk since I’ve been in here. Her oversized chair is next to the lamp and shelves and she motions for me to sit there. When I try to tug her onto my lap, she shakes her head.

“I need to pace.”

I stare at her with wide eyes, unaccustomed to this side of Elle. She rarely gets this shaken up.

“You can tell me anything. You know that, right?” I say.

I’m not sure she hears me. She makes a pass in front of me once, twice, and on the third time, she turns and moves toward the boxes and grabs a box cutter. Cutting through the tape, she opens it and takes out a book, holding it to her chest. Then she leans against the front of her desk and looks at me.

I wait because it seems like she’s struggling with how to get it out and I don’t want to rush her.

“I should’ve told you about this a while ago, and I don’t know why I’m so shy to do it now. It’s just all rushing at me, what it means for this to be coming out. Know that I wanted to tell you about it from the very beginning, but…there are a couple of huge reasons I didn’t.”

She turns the book around and holds it up for me to see.

“ It Was Always You …by Zoey Archer,” I say out loud.

I nod and wait. When she still doesn’t say anything, my head tilts.

“I’ve seen that book around…” My eyes narrow. “Was that the book the girls were going on about? I think I bought a copy… ”

“Yes,” she whispers. She still looks shaken.

“Baby, what is it? Do you?—”

“Zoey Archer is me ,” she says.

She clamps her hand over her mouth and hysterical laughter bursts out of her.

“What?” A weird laugh comes out of me too.

I stand up and take the book out of her hands, turning it over like it will tell me more.

“Archer…you wrote a book and used my name and you didn’t tell me?” My voice gets louder with each word and her eyes are huge by the time I’m finished.

“Are you mad?” she whispers.

“Am I mad? Are you serious? I’m goddamn elated!”

I hold up the book and put my hand on her waist. She worries her bottom lip with her teeth and I lean in and tug it loose with mine.

“This is your book?” I ask.

She nods.

“My God. I am so fucking proud of you. Tell me everything,” I say. I shake my head and laugh so hard. “You wrote a book and put my fucking name on it. God damn , Elle baby. Right under my fucking nose!” I laugh until I cry. “It Was Always You…” I laugh harder and she’s laughing just as hard.

I flip through the book and see the names Ryder and Eliza and laugh even harder.

“It was right here under my nose all along,” I say, clutching my side. “Oh my God. The audiobook I heard. Right?”

She nods.

I can’t breathe from laughing.

“Sorry. Get to talking…I’m just in shock over here.”

“So, I wrote a book…” she says nonchalantly .

That sends us wheezing for another two minutes.

“And it’s about what would have happened if we’d ended up together.”

That shuts me up.

“Woman,” I say, shaking my head. “You?—”

I set the book down and kiss her. It’s one of those swoop her back and kiss her until she’s limp as a noodle kind of kisses. When I lift her upright, she fans her face and dries her eyes.

“I didn’t think anyone would read it, but it blew up…practically overnight. It went to number one in the whole Amazon store, and a few months later, it hit the USA Today list. I have an agent. Book two is coming out in a couple of months…”

With each new statement she says, I have a physical reaction. My fist is at my mouth, I put my hands on my head, I have to lower them to my knees…I’m a mess.

“Fuck. Me !” I yell. “You’ve become a bestselling author overnight and you haven’t told a soul? How do you sleep at night with news like that roaming around in there?”

I wave my hand around her head and she bites her lower lip, grinning so big.

“Wait…so what was that phone call?” I ask.

“I’ve worked really hard to keep it a secret…obviously. My parents are going to flip, Rhodes. It’s one thing to disappoint them with the skimpy cheerleading outfits and sexy dances, but this book…it’s where all of my hopes and dreams and pent-up sexual frustration went. I started writing it when Carrie was pregnant with Levi and I’d write every night for weeks and then it would be too hard to deal with reality, so I’d set it aside. Carrie’s even in there…as Sabrina.” She puts her head in her hands. “She’s going to find out,” she groans. “The people from church…everyone in town. If they don’t already know.” She groans again. “So, Calista found out because she’d emailed asking Zoey to do a signing at Twinkle Tales, and when I responded, I did it through my iCloud email from my phone. That was her on the phone, and apparently she wasn’t the only one I made the same mistake with that day. I also emailed an influencer who wanted to have me on her podcast and she put two and two together. I’m sure the two of us blowing up online helped because it’s all over the place now, and just a matter of time before everyone knows.”

“You don’t need to worry about what anyone thinks. It’s your work and I’d be proud of it no matter what, but for it to be so successful—that’s huge, Elle. You should tell the whole world with pride.”

“I should’ve asked permission to use your last name,” she says.

“Are you kidding? That’s my favorite part.”

I back her into the wall and lift her arms over her head. Her tits jut out and I thrust into her, wishing we were naked right now, but her leggings are the next best thing.

“Are you gonna read the book to me now?” I ask, my voice raspy.

“Hell, no,” she says.

“Oh, I think you are,” I tell her, kissing down her neck. “I think you need to read me every word to make up for the fact that you wrote a goddamn book and became a fucking sensation without letting me know!”

I must have yelled the last part because my parents and Levi come charging into the room just as I’m hiking Elle’s leg over my hip.

“What’s all the commotion? So much yelling going on! We were too curious,” my mom says .

If she’s flustered about seeing us making out, she doesn’t show it. Amara knows how to keep her cool.

I go to the box of books and open it, taking two out and handing them to my parents.

I nod at Elle like come on, let it out, baby.

“I wrote that book,” Elle says softly.

My mom does know how to lose her cool after all. “ What ?” she gasps.

When Elle nods, my mom starts dancing around the office and goes over to hug Elle, squealing.

My dad goes over to hug her too. “This is amazing, Elle. Congratulations.” He holds it up, studying it proudly, and shakes his head. “Wow. Just incredible.”

“I’ve seen this book all over the place!” Mama says. She points at the last name. “This is what caught my eye.” And then it’s all smug struts. “Mm-hmm, look at that. That’s our girl.” She looks at me and points. “And you better go ahead and make it official.”

“Mama!” I say, laughing.

Elle’s cheeks turn bright red, but I just grin.

I’m so ready to marry this girl.