Page 25 of Halftime

When I opened the door and stood back to let her in, I could see we weren’t going to be working in the living room. Cooper was planking on the coffee table with a bunch of solo cups balanced on his back, and Vonne was counting time.

“Devereaux!” Coop yelled.

“Five minutes,” Vonne warned him.

“Blondie!” Faith called back. “Are you ticklish?” She took a step toward him.

“Not now. We’ve got a bet on.”

Of course, they did. Cooper shot Faith a warning glance, his body tightening up in anticipation. Apparently, somebodywasa little ticklish. Faith grinned, gave them a thumbs-up, and then followed me up the stairs. I opened the door to my room and went in. She paused in the doorway.

“You can come in.”

I looked around. The room was pretty good. I was always tidy. Since I’d moved around a lot as a kid, I didn’t collect much stuff. I kept things put away because I didn’t want to be a problem. I’d seen some of my roommates living spaces. Hazardous. I could do what I wanted in this room, but the habits of a lifetime don’t change easily.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Was she worried we had a no-girls rule for our rooms? Hardly. I could only imagine the number of women who’d gone through Cooper’s room, for example.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I have no idea what the guys are up to down there, and I thought this would be a little quieter. We can leave the door open, if that’s making you nervous.”

We used to close the doors to our rooms and even lock them back when we were together. It had been our chance to make out or have sex. We’d been careful since we’d have been in trouble if we’d been caught. I couldn’t imagine why Faith would be worried about that now. Unless it tied back to her coach somehow?

She stepped in and left the door open. “I just thought your girlfriend might not like it if you had someone in your room.”

Oh. That.

“That girl is your girlfriend, right? The one at the party?”

I had to fess up, but I wasn’t sure how Faith would take it. “She was.”

She blinked, surprise on her face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you broke up.”

I shrugged. “It was a couple of weeks ago.”

Faith played with her braid, watching my face. “Do I say sorry or good riddance?”

I snorted. “Neither. She’s a nice person. It just didn’t work out.” And that was on me.

I’d known at the party that it was time to end things between us. I was quiet for the rest of the party, and when people started to leave, I asked Holly if she was ready to head out. She’d looked at me for a moment, probably wondering what the problem was. I didn’t ask her to come up to my room. I was waiting to end things, so I wasn’t chatty. We walked across campus, and I was relieved that no one was hanging around the entrance to her res.

She turned to face me. “Do you want to talk here or in my room?”

I didn’t want to go to her room. I took a breath. “I think we should break up.”

She didn’t say anything.

I was relieved I got that out there, and she didn’t make a fuss. Maybe she’d guessed what was coming? I’d like to say she might have been ready to break up, too, but that talk she’d given me at the party wasn’t a let’s-break-up conversation. The silence stretched, making me uncomfortable.

“I don’t think it’s working, and I have to spend a lot of time on hockey right now,” I said, filling in the lack of response from her. I thought she’d saysomething.

“Is it her?”

I could have played dumb, but I preferred to be honest. I mean, I didn’t want to say I was breaking up with her because I thought she only wanted to be with me because I played hockey. That was maybe too honest, and she might not even realize she was thinking that way. Maybe she wasn’t. But I still felt antsy that she’d said cheating wasn’t a deal breaker for her. I didn’t want someone who was jealous and double-checking my every move, but if the idea of my cheating didn’t upset her, how much did she really care? Still, since I knew she was asking about Faith, I answered her honestly about that.

“No.”

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