Thirty minutes. I stifled another shriek and hurried out of there.

It wasn’t until I was almost to the main lodge that I looked at what shirt he’d given me. His.

I turned the shirt inside out, but even the tag in the back had a Seattle Thunder emblem on it. A lightning bolt.

Hadley and Owen were the only ones who saw it, and I caught the raised eyebrows, but that was it. Both kept silent except for one lone whistle from Hadley, which sounded at the same time Reese walked into the cafeteria. Juan was with him, and both looked over at me.

I busied myself with the dishes.

What do I do? Say hi? Look like a clinger already? Yes. My basic roots were fangirling and stalkerish, but I really wasn’t that.

Work. I was here to do a job, so after I did a certain amount of dishes, I grabbed some toast and snuck out through Owen’s office. I really loved that he had two entrances. The team was still eating when I popped into the office.

Ugh. So not a normal morning. I did not ever seek Keith out, but I had to today.

“Keith.”

“Hmm?” He popped out from around the back office corner. His Boss mug was still on the counter. I’ve no doubt he never had it cleaned. He could’ve asked Owen to run it through for him, but that wasn’t my concern this morning.

“Is the team using the gyms this morning?”

“Uh…” He had to think, his curly hair slightly damp from his shower. “No. They’re doing meetings this morning.”

Sweet. That meant a morning off.

I was slipping back out when he called my name. “Hey, Charlie! Wait. One sec.”

Now wary, I eased back into the office, keeping the door open and one foot outside. “Yeah?”

He shifted, staring at me a moment. A cough. He tugged his collar around. “You’re doing a good job, and I want you to know I’ve really appreciated all the extra help you’ve been doing around here. The board too.”

He was being kind.

He was smiling at me, and it wasn’t creeping me out.

But it was setting different alarms off in me, because this was not Keith. He wasn’t kind. Ever.

“But?” I was readying myself.

He stroked his jaw, an uneasy guffaw leaving him. “Uh, but. Yes. But… I got a call from one of the board members last night, and I guess you weren’t approved to be on staff during this time. We only have enough funds to cover your first two weeks here.”

My first two weeks… That would’ve ended three days ago.

“Are you kidding? I’m not getting paid for this week?”

“Well, it’s only been a couple days that you won’t have been paid, and the team wasn’t here, so technically, you shouldn’t have been doing any work anyway. But yes.” He moved closer to me, rolling his shoulders back, sucking his gut in. He began to tap on the counter, his nervous habit. “So what I’m saying is that—”

I was out of a job.

“I’ll be manning the gyms for the next two days. I mean, it’s really only today. They’ll be leaving in the morning.” He reached into his pocket and slid a check over to me. “Here you go. And we really do appreciate all the help you gave the kitchen too.”

Really? I had no words. None at all, and because of that, I just stepped back, let the door slam shut, and I walked out. Unfuckingbelievable.

“You okay?”

Reese was coming out from the cafeteria.

I didn’t look up. “No.”

“Forster!” one of his teammates yelled.

I looked now. He stood in the hallway, concern etched over his face.

“Reese.” His coach stepped up, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We gotta go. We have a meeting with the other coaches.”

But he wasn’t looking at Reese. He was watching me. There was a gravity in his gaze, but not the caution I saw last night.

I got it then.

This wasn’t Keith. This wasn’t the board. This was Reese’s coach. He knew. Somehow he knew about us, and he was putting a stop to us in his way. He was pushing me out.

There was a warning in his gaze, his mouth thinning as if knowing I connected the pieces.

“Yeah. Okay.” Reese was reluctant to go. He glanced back to me. “Charlie? You want to talk later?”

It felt final. All of this. The firing. Reese would be in meetings the rest of the morning. I could feel my bank account dipping lower every minute I stayed here. And I hadn’t done anything I’d set out to do. Well, I’d written one night. But the reprieve from reality was gone. Whatever friendship I had with Reese, I’d have to see what happened, but I knew I couldn’t stick around. I couldn’t afford to stick around.

And I had a feeling Coach Winston would find a way to get me kicked off the island if I tried to.

“Yeah. Talk later.” I attempted a smile.

It was enough to appease Reese, more because another two of his teammates were calling his name now. They all walked past us, heading outside and up to the meeting hall. Coach Winston waited until Reese was gone and the last of his team had filtered past us.

“If one of them knew, and if one of them was unhappy with our team, they could leak you and Reese to the tabloids. It’d be that easy. His name’s already being put through the ringer because of his brother. We came here to protect him, and to keep him focused. I know he’s a grown man, but he’s my player. I have to look out for him.” He paused a second. “You understand, don’t you?”