Page 31 of The Night We Met

With a lingering kiss to my cheek she crawls off my body and slips out of the room. The sound from the party infiltrates the room before I’m flooded in silence once again.

I don’t regret the hookup. I did it all of the time in high school when I never thought I’d get a chance with my best friend. Now that I had that chance and she’s with someone else, the regret paired with emptiness, claws at me. Threatening to drown me in the hurt. I could blame Kamryn for this. I could. It would be so easy for me to do so. But I know I’ve had years to tell her I have more than a crush on her. So I can’t blame her.

I’ll now continue to resume the supportive best friend role. If that’s the only way to have her in my life without losing her, then that’s what I’ll do.

Mason

“Party tonight?” One of my teammates asks.

I look at him like he’s insane. Yes, we won the game. But it’s technically a school night. “Absolutely not. You should be looking at film for our next game. That block you missed took the wind straight out of me.”

He looks like I took his favorite toy from him, “Fine.”

Me: Hey sweetheart. We’re almost back on campus.

Kamryn: Can’t wait to see you *kiss face emoji*

Since meeting Kamryn, I pinch myself often. It’s my junior year and I didn’t intend to date someone as infectious as her. But when we met, I felt like I just knew.

My phone buzzes with another message from Kam.

Kamryn: *when you win a game* playlist

A smile creeps over my face. I pop in my headphonesand cue up the playlist. Britney Spears sounds through my headphones. To Queen, Maroon 5, and Michael Jackson. My girl has some good music taste.

An hour passes and the telltale signs of campus getting closer make itself known. Palmetto trees line the bus's path to our drop-off. Once parked, the guys gather their things and crowd the aisle to get off.

“No practice tomorrow, but there is conditioning tomorrow guys.” The coach announces before we’re out of earshot.

Catcalls and whistles sound as the guys file off the bus. Confusion swirls, but I mostly ignore them. That confusion clears when I step off the bus and see Kamryn holding a sign:

Here for the

Hottest QB

in SC

“Hi,” She says with a laugh.

I take in her chocolate brown hair pulled up in a haphazard bun. Our school logo on the front of her sweatshirt swallows her body whole.

I jog a couple of steps to her before enveloping her in a hug. At 6’5” my body dwarfs her. I feel protective of her in a way I can’t begin to explain. “I could get used to homecomings like this.”

She stretches up to her tiptoes and places a kiss on my neck that has my heart hammering out of my chest. “I prefer if you stay here, but I’m all for celebrations.”

I smush a kiss on her cheek before releasing her. I don’t need to go into the athletic training room, despite the hit Itook on that missed block. I’m sure I’ll feel the effects the next time we have a full pads practice. Our hands link together as we walk hand in hand toward my car. This feeling of disbelief that she’s here is mind boggling.

The ride back to my dorm is in comfortable silence. The radio playing whatever song is trending at the moment.

Have I never been in someone’s space without having to fill every moment with mindless conversation? My teammates despise silence. Always needing to fill said silence with conversation. But with Kam, the silence is easy. We’ve sat in silence and we’ve had meaningful conversations. I cherish both of those moments with her.

Finding a parking spot is easy. It’s a late morning on a Sunday so students are either on their way back to campus from home or a party at another university.

We get out of my car and meet around the back before walking into my dorm.

“Do you wanna order food so we don’t have to leave your room for a while?” Kamryn asks.

We take the elevator up to the fourth floor of the dorm. Since this is the upperclassmen dorm, it’s fairly quiet. Few guys walk to other rooms for video games. But other than that, not a peep is made.

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