Page 86 of When You Left Me Speechless

She shakes her head. “Oh man, Pop, you’ve got it bad. What did he say when you told him it was over?”

“Nothing, I didn’t give him a chance to. I didn’t want to get him fired or ruin my chances of finishing school, so I ended things. I got out of his truck like a coward, and he didn’t follow me.” I’m crying again. I sit up and grab another tissue. “God, he didn’t even follow me, Ollie. He just let me walk away.” Olive wraps me in her arms. I hear my door open, and Lacey walks in.

“I could hear everything from the living room. I’m so sorry, babe.”

She crawls into my bed and wraps me in her arms too. It dawns on me that I didn't call either one of them.

“Wait, how did y’all know I was here?” I ask through heavy breaths, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

“He texted me, and I texted Olive. He was worried about you and didn’t want you to be alone.”

I start to cry harder. Olive rubs my back, trying to soothe me.

What am I going to do?

CHAPTER 53: EARTH TO LOGAN

LOGAN

The pickleball courts are packed with people, and this is the last place I want to be.

“Hey man, you ready to show ‘em how it’s done?” Tanner says, reaching out his hand to grab mine. I blow past him, throwing my stuff down by a bench. Tanner throws his hands above his head. “What the fuck, man?”

I take a long sip of water and make my way onto the court.

“Earth to Logan,” he says, trying to get my attention, but I can barely hear the specifics of what he is saying over the blood rushing past my eardrums.

The game begins and the other team instantly scores. I try to ignore what I’m feeling, but I can’t.“The past few weeks have been fun.” That’s what she said.The words bounce around my head like the fucking pickleball and I can’t make sense of them.

Every time the ball is hit in my direction, I miss it. We are getting our asses beat, and I know it’s my fault, but I can’t find it in me to care.

“Score?” Tanner shouts.

“8-4-1,” the short man yells from the other side of the court.

“I can’t do this alone, dude,” Tanner says. “I need you to focus. Come on, let’s take the championship home.”

I nod my head.

The tall man serves. The ball bounces back and forth for a few turns, and then I miss it again. “Fuck!”

“9-4-1,” the short man shouts.

“Dude, what the hell is going on? You good?”

“Fine,” I snap.

The tall man serves the ball again. I jump to hit it and step over the white line.

“That’s our point,” the tall man shouts, “the ball didn’t bounce in the kitchen.”

I throw my paddle and charge the net. “That’s bullshit.” Both men stomp towards me.

“You are clearly standing in the kitchen. That’s our point. The ball didn’t bounce,” the short man bites out.

My whole body tenses. My face is on fire. “It fucking?—”

“Dude, they're right.” Tanner presses his hand into my chest and pushes me back toward our bench. “Chill out.” I pick up my paddle, grab my things, and storm off the court.

---