Page 23 of Busted Dreams

“You got it.” She bounced away with so much energy, it was like she was walking on tiny trampolines hidden under the floor.

“That’s some walk, right?” Jonah murmured under his breath.

“You caught that too? She does seem rather peppy. Must come from a great life.” I laughed, then it petered out unintentionally. My guys and I, we all had too much cynicism clouding around us. I had no idea how we stayed as positive as we did. It would have been all too easy to swallow the bitter pills life handed us and bleed it back into the world.

But luckily, they had me now, and no matter how pessimistic I was about my own life, I was doggedly determined to get out, and I had already made up my mind that I would take them with me one way or another.

Across the table, Jonah pushed a few unruly curls off of his forehead, the green of his hazel eyes a little brighter under the low hanging light above our booth. He’d been a different person after the night at the compound. He laughed more, smiled more, and had an aura of hope that wasn’t there before. Even if it didn’t shine through all the time.

“When do you think you’ll hear something on that scholarship?” I pushed the baby jukebox back to its place to free up some room on the table. Not that we needed it yet, but it was something to do.

Jonah sighed as he uncharacteristically slumped down in his chair. “The deadline was last Friday, so they’ll need time to get through applications. Honestly, I have no idea, and I’m afraid I’ll be distracted until I hear back.”

Forgetting I wasn’t with Rhys or Beck, I reached across the table to take his hand. As soon as my skin touched his, I jumped but gave him a comforting squeeze. Then once I’d quickly brought my arm safely back to my side of the table, I gave him the only other comfort I could. “It was amazing. They’d have to be raging idiots not to see your talent.”

He smiled sardonically at the table. “If only you had sway with the decision makers to make them see it your way.”

Our food arrived quickly, and we chowed down so we could make it back to the arena on time. When we weren’t stuffing our faces, we chatted about mundane things, like what new Avett Brother song was out or what we planned to do for Thanksgiving. That was actually a downer. I had no desire to spend it with my dad or the church, and he only had Beck.

“What about Friendsgiving?” I blurted as I pulled my jacket back on. My beanie and gloves were already stuffed in the pockets, just waiting to be used in the icebox I was about to walk into. We’d just have to stop by Freda to get my camera. I loved it so much, I was going to shed a few tears when I had to turn it in at the end of the school year.

“Friendsgiving?” He cut his eyes at me as we walked side by side out to the door.

“Yeah. The five of us can have dinner together. Maybe invite Ryan. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend it with you guys than anyone else.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, “that might just work. I mean, it’s not like I have anywhere to be either, and although I haven’t talked to him about it, I doubt Beck is going to spend it with his mom.” His lip curled at the end.

“So what’s your dream?” I asked as we walked back over to my car.

“Like job? Life?”

I opened the backseat and pulled my camera out of my boho bag, snagging the strap on the seatbelt that was nearly disintegrating from age. Poor Freda. I loved her, and to me, she was perfect in every way, but her ratty seatbelts needed to be replaced.

“Life dream. If there’s one thing you want to do in your life, or with your life, what would it be?” We walked toward one of the entrances, following a now growing crowd. Once we reached the attendant, I pulled up the e-tickets on my phone and tilted it for the scanner.

“Game doesn’t start for an hour, but you can go ahead and find seats,” the older woman mentioned distractedly as she waved us through.

“There’s not really a dream. Not unless you count leaving Silver Ranch so far behind me, I never think of it again,” he murmured as he placed his hand on the lower part of my back as we got on the escalators. It was barely there, but I could swear the heat of his hand seeped into my skin.

A shiver ghosted up my spine, and a small wave of guilt assaulted me. I had Rhys. And Beck. What was wrong with me that I was starting to get the tingling feeling of a first crush with Jonah too?

“Then what’s your favorite subject in school?” The words were husky, and he cut his gaze to me again.

Damn. That’s right, you affected me. Now let’s pretend it didn’t happen.

“Debate. Hands down.”

I laughed so hard, I had to clutch my stomach. “Not surprising. You never willingly back down. And you have this quirk where you like to be right.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. That stems from trying to prove to everyone I’m just as good as they are. Lead the way to the seats.” He gestured to the numbered archways around the edges of the rink.

Lucky for him, I had paid more attention to Thatcher navigating the arena than people watching last night. Otherwise, we’d be screwed.

Music blared as we descended the steps, but the players weren’t out yet. Just the lonely man in the machine wetting the ice. I sent a quick text to Rhys. It had become our thing. Before every game, whether I attended or not, I sent him a good luck text.

Me: Good luck! Break someone else’s leg! <3

Rhys must have had his phone out, because his response was immediate.

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