Instead, this particular corner of south Williamsburg seemed like it hadn’t been completely changed just yet. The Center was no frills but had been decorated by the staff with artwork and graffiti, and the kids I’d peeped while walking through were a mix of ethnicities. That gave me hope. If we were paying it forward with our skills, I’d prefer it not to be just to rich kids with trust-fund parents.
“Yaritza?”
I hesitated before following Sheila into the office, not moving until Adrián hard-bodied me all the way inside. After tossing him a vicious glare, because what did he think he was doing making me barge into this woman’s space, I turned to our new boss. She, like Sheila, really made me all kinds of happy. I had a soft spot for nerds and hipsters, and Yaritza had matched her bow tie, big glasses, and acid-washed jeans with Jordans and big gold-hoop earrings with her name in the middle. Took me way back. Marcus would be in heaven. Well . . . soon-to-be engaged Marcus would have been in heaven. I had to keep reminding myself that my boys weren’t bachelors anymore.
“Hey, guys,” she said breezily. “I’m so happy to have you here. Take the most comfortable seat you can find, and we can go over everything.”
There were a couple of tiny folding chairs and one slightly more comfortable-looking office chair that Adrián immediately snagged. He went for optimum man spread while eating his ice cream with his eyes still shaded. Frowning, I leaned over to snag his sunglasses.
“Don’t be rude.”
He sucked his teeth. “No one cares.”
“I care.”
Sheila snickered and gave me a little wave before hurrying out. I was so going to be the teacher’s pet. Adrián shook his head.
“You guys are funny,” Yaritza said. “I honestly thought you would be showing up with an entourage.”
“I’m not on that Tom Brady shit, miss. I live around the corn—”
“Stop cursing,” I muttered.
Adrián sighed. “This kid really thinks he’s my daddy. Can you believe I have to put up with him?” he asked Yaritza, giving her the big, chocolate-brown eyes. “For like two months!”
“Well, considering you’re going to be around a bunch of kids with helicopter parents, you might want to get used to censoring your mouth.” Yaritza sat back in her chair with arms crossed over her chest. “I talked to both of your agents, and they aren’t going to call in the media for planned photo ops for a while. The point of that is to not overwhelm the kids right off the bat, but also not show you two being an overwhelmed hot mess, since that’s probably what it’s going to be like at first.”
I laughed. “Trust me, we’ll be okay.”
“Ah ah ah,” she said, wagging her finger. “Don’t underestimate the wiliness of preteens. They’re hardheaded, sassy as hell, and some of them will have no real interest in football. These kids are more likely to have been playing basketball or handball than trying to figure out complicated plays. Expect the first two weeks to be a lot like herding cats.”
“Come on, Yaritza. Give us a bigger vote of confidence than that,” Adrián said. “And they have to do plays.”
“If you really want to do that to yourself,” she said with another breezy smile. “But you’d be better off just teaching them teamwork and leadership skills than worrying about all that other crap.”
Adrián and I looked at each other. He did the sign of the cross.
“You’re not a football fan, are you?” I asked, cringing.
“Not really, but you will see me rocking orange and blue from head to toe when the Knicks are playing.”
Lord. Jesus. Maybe I couldn’t fuck with New Yorkers after all.
Adrián
As much as I disliked Simeon pretending he was about that I’m-super-serious-about-this-BS-publicity-stunt-ma’am life, I could not deny the cat was charming as hell.
It annoyed me through the first three hours of our first day of volunteer work, which was apparently us minding the kids who were there for a full-day camp. They did arts and crafts, had snacks, then free play, while I hung back in a corner and tried not to let anyone notice me. The funny thing was—most of the kids had no idea who we were. Only a few of them got big eyes once they noticed it was Simeon’s face on their cereal boxes and even then it took them a minute. I had no idea how they didn’t recognize him. His face wasn’t exactly forgettable.
By the time noon rolled around, I’d texted my agent twice about how bullshit this little project was while Simeon sat in a circle and colored with first graders. What was life?
“Hey, guys.” Yaritza walked over to us with her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “We ordered pizza if you want to eat with us. I doubt it’s enough, so feel free to take off for a half hour and be back by eleven thirty. You’ll meet your players at twelve.”