Page 7 of Play the Field

Taking in a sharp breath, I surrendered and let my thumbs meet the glass screen. All of these ideas were messy, half-baked plots that were missing most of the ingredients. And between the shop, softball, and my social life, I never had time to flesh them out in any way.

But I wouldn’t be able to sleep if the idea stayed caged in my skull. So instead, I released it into the endless void of notes app concepts.

If a hacker found this, they’d be able to have an entire career off of my ideas.The thought made me chuckle, drawing my mom’s eyes back to me.

“Another one?” An eager smile took over her face, desperate to know what I had come up with.

Shrugging, I locked my phone and put it screen down on the counter. “Nothing worthwhile.”

She shook her head. “You say that about all of them, Cleo.”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling. “Because they're all just silly little thoughts.”

Letting out a sigh, she turned back to the skillet. “Everything’s just a thought until it’s on the page. Do you think any book in that store started as something other than a silly little thought?”

Of course, she wasn’t wrong. But she was my mom. She thought everything I touched was gold. In reality, it had been years since I’d exercised that muscle. I wasn’t even sure I had it in me anymore.

“I’m just saying, the bookstore wasn’t everyourdream.” She raised her hands in surrender before turning back to the stove.

Biting my lip, I went back to my phone. But this time, I pulled open my phone to a text from Bri.

Dude. She’s off the deep end.

My forehead wrinkled as I clicked the link she’d sent. The webpage loaded to a TMZ article headlined:

Former Softball Pro, Cat Collins, Flees NYC After Weekend Bender

As a habit, I tried not to gossip about people I knew from high school. New Winford was a small town and rumors spread like wildfire on the ridge on a dry summer day.

But Cat was different. She was the only person I’d ever let myself fall for. The years we spent together were some of the best I’d ever had. And it still didn’t feel like it had been worth the fallout.

A part of me wished I could trust myself to reach out to her to ask if she was okay, or if I could help her in some way.

I typed out a quick message back to Bri:

Let’s hope she stays the fuck out of NW.

Cat decided to go no-contact with me. And if it was what she really wanted, I would honor that. Even if it meant letting her spiral out of control.

Turning on her heels, my mom smiled at me. “Ready to eat?”

6

CAT

I leftmy windows down as soon as I crossed the George Washington Bridge, letting my hair whip back in the wind. By the time I was cruising through the mountains of the lower Hudson Valley, the sun was starting to lower in the sky.

Having made the drive plenty of times, I knew I couldn’t go too far above the speed limit without getting pulled over. So instead, I chose to enjoy the slower pace.

I turned the dial up on the radio, letting the sound waves spill out of my car and onto the asphalt. LAWSON’s latest song blasted between other pop icons, and a few I didn’t recognize.

Before I knew it, I was peeling off the highway and onto the rugged country roads that led to New Winford.

It was only a few minutes before I slowed the car down onto Pond Hill Rd. As my Benz climbed the steep hill, I looked at the neighbors' houses. They hadn’t changed much at all; a few of them had fresh coats of paint, but the rest looked exactly like they did when I used to walk up the hill from the bus stop.

At the crest of the hill, I turned onto the uneven gravel driveway. Luckily for my car, the usual potholes had been filled.Daniel must have done it early in the spring since the new rocks seemed perfectly compacted into the former craters.

Shaking my head, I pulled my car around the back where a porch light stayed on as the sun lowered behind the mountains.

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