Page 61 of The Sky Between Us

Aiden laughed. “Don’t hit on my girlfriend, you are too old for her.”

Laying my head on his shoulders I blinked up at the screen watching Harvard wipe the floor with UCLA. The two strongest teams, yet the game was pretty much decided. The camera followed Jake running across the field and with a barely visible motion, trip one of the offense players.

“That’s a penalty,” I muttered automatically as the UCLA player rolled on the field. The referee blew his whistle and both coaches were shouting as Jake started arguing with the referee.

Aiden let out a low whistle. “You know your soccer, Hazel McCarthy. I’m almost convinced you are not just another pretty face.”

With a short laugh I shook my head. “I’ve been doing this a lot, remember? Plus, this guy does that all the time.”

He contemplated my words and nodded. “He does. You’re right. I didn’t even realize.”

“It’s kind of like a distraction,” I muttered as I knew how Jake worked. “Cause a scene, snap them out, it will be harder to get back into it. Also, he does that thing before shooting that confuses the goalkeeper. I don’t know how to explain it…”

Aiden’s eyes lit up with excitement and he started flipping the pages of his notebook. “Yes, I realized that too, but no one else from my team saw it!”

Offering him a smile I shrugged, while he looked at me in awe, his eyes glimmering with satisfaction. “Coach’s daughter, remember?”

“Sure,” Aiden muttered in a way I knew he didn’t believe me, but he hadn't pressed on it. It was our last night in Fresno before heading back in the morning. Aiden’s mom, Jackie, was out with Camilla shopping to bribe her into therapy and I stayed with the men of the family to allow them some mother-daughter time. I wanted to let Aiden be alone with his dad but he insisted I stayed to watch the game. His parents were very kind and it was visible from the first moment how much they cared for their son, but their actions didn’t show that always. I understood Cami had her issues, but they shouldn’t have taken Aiden for granted.

“What are your plans for the future, Hazel?” Thomas asked as the game ended and Harvard celebrated.

A question I never knew how to answer.

Aiden’s eyes snapped to me and worry swam around in them.

“Are you planning to teach dance?” he asked something I never even considered. “Camilla told me you were very knowledgeable.”

“I don’t know yet,” I said, sounding confident in the stupidest reply. “I’m majoring in marketing.”

“So, you like all these social media things?” he muttered, disapproval lacing his voice. “This Instagram?”

“Not exactly,” I replied slowly as my account barely had any followers and I wasn’t an influencer type. Honestly, I only picked marketing as it seemed easy enough to graduate when my brain was all over the place. But my dad was right, Aiden had a plan, and once again, five years later I was still standing there without one.

“You are graduating in May?” he asked again, clearly just as confused on what I wanted to do as I was.

“I am,” I mumbled much less confidently. “But I’m still keeping my options open.”

He grumbled something under his breath, allowing me enough time to excuse myself and escape upstairs.

“Keeping your options open?” Aiden’ echoed my words an hour later when he joined me in his room.

Shrugging, I continued scrolling through Instagram.

“Hazel,” he said, pressing my name just enough to cause me to look up. “What’s your plan for after graduation?”

“I don’t know,” I repeated myself as frustration ate at me. “I don’t have a plan.”

“Just because we are together, I need to know what to expect. I’m a planner, I have everything planned out, and I know Sky wasn’t part of it but I’m happy to take him. But what’s your plan? We need to align and… we never had this conversation but if we want to have a future, we need to talk about it. I never realized you…”

He cut himself off and dropped his gaze, taking in his trophies and pictures.

“That I didn’t have a plan?” I asked him quietly. “I had a plan once. It turned out well, remember? I don’t want to plan anymore. I can’t take another disappointment.”

“So, you will finish university and move back in with your parents?” His eyes found mine. “Come on, baby. You used to have ambitions. What do you want to do with your life? The sky’s the limit.”

“It really isn’t. I’m stuck.”

“You are not!” Aiden raised his voice to get through to me. “Your parents will take care of him. You are free to live your life. Apply to law school. I’m sure you will get in, or find a job in your field. Whatever makes you happy.”

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