Page 94 of Always You

“Promise?” she asks softly, the tone of her voice making a flutter grow in my stomach, and I drag a hand over my face.Fuck, I wish she was here.

“Promise.”

32

Iwalk into Julie’s yard, finding her on the screen porch while sipping a sweet tea and reading a magazine after she sent me a text telling me to get the fuck out of the house.

Her literal words.

At first, I protested heavily, but when she compared me to a mix of a hermit and a cat lady, I felt obligated to show her I’m not any of those things.

When I look at how I’ve spent the last ten weeks, she’s kinda right, though.

It’s funny how fast the days pass by when you do nothing significant. Other than taking care of my mother, and hanging out with Julie and Jacob, who I now know is indeed the asshole Hunter paints him to be, I’ve been reading the entire summer.

I actually think Mrs. Dennis from the local library is feeling sorry for me, because every time I walk in, she keeps eyeing me with this sympathetic look on her face. I re-read all the classics in the first month of summer, and now I’ve been reading some romance books, trying to fill my days, while other kids are preparing for college.

Me? I’m just out here missing my best friend.

After his first fight, the media exploded around him. Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of him, a few girlsliterally,if I can believe the tabloids. But with more media attention also comesmore obligation, and lately, our daily calls have changed to weekly calls. Now I haven’t spoken to him in ten days.

I’m happy for him, and so fucking proud. But it doesn’t stop my heart from leaking drops of blood every day I wake up and don’t talk to him.

“Hey, girl.” Julie looks up as I walk through the door and take a seat next to her on the wooden armchair, throwing my feet on the table in front of us, mimicking her stance.

“Hey! Sweet tea?” Her flip-flop covered feet fall to the floor, leaning forward to grab the can filled with sweet tea as she pours me a glass, topping it off with a fresh lemon wedge.

“Thanks.” I grab the glass, taking a sip of the cold drink as I close my eyes and lay my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

“What were you doing yesterday?”Here we go.Turning my head toward her, I blink at her in innocence, giving her my sweetest smile. “Dear Lord, Charlie. You really gotta balance it out a bit more. You hardly get off your front porch.”

“I get off my front porch!”

She cocks her head, shooting me a look that tells me I’m full of shit, and I roll my eyes at her. I mean, I still need groceries and all that stuff?

“Only because either your mama has a hospital appointment, or I force you to. It’s not healthy. At least when Hunter was still around, you’d go out and shit.”

Right.“Yeah, well, he isn’t.”

Hearing the disappointment in my voice, she gives me a questioning look, turning her back to the side of the chair so she can face me.

“You haven’t heard from him?”

“We talk.” I shrug, trying to act casual about it, when really, it’s tightening my stomach. “Like once a week. But the conversations keep getting shorter, because he’s always at some party, or training, or that Gina woman needs him for something.”

“You miss him, don’t you?” I keep my green eyes trained on the ceiling to keep my tears at bay, knowing they are there just waiting to burst out.

“Like crazy,” I confess, pushing out a breath. “It’s weird, because I want him to succeed. I want him to be the best fighter there is, so it’s not like I want him to come back, but he’s slipping away. We spent so much time together last year that I have a hard time filling my days without him. No offense.” I give her a tight smile, and she responds with a big grin.

“None taken. I have no intention of competing with Hunter. I’d pick that fine body over you any time of day,” she jokes. “But yeah, I get you. You’ve been inseparable throughout senior year, and now he’s on the other side of the country, living a different life.”

“Yeah. The more time passes, the less we seem to talk.”

I’m not stupid. I knew our friendship would change the second he got on that plane.

If this whole twist of fate isn’t a sign to tell us that we aren’t anything more than friends, I don’t know what is.

And I just need to accept that, I guess?

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