Page 8 of Fair Catch

“I didn’t go,” I mutter slowly.

Mal narrows her gaze on me. “Then where were you?”

“Here in the city.” Her shoving my shoulder at my elusive answer, I elaborate. “Phoe moved his things into the house with Holden after last semester ended. Which meant I had the old apartment to myself all summer until our lease was over. Happy, Miss Nosey?”

“Perfectly.”

The girl was probing and invasive even when we were kids, and it’s clear that some things don’t change when I glance her way, catching the look in her eyes. One I’ve seen many times before. One that says there’s more she wants to know, she’s just not verbalizing it.

“What?” I ask, laughing with exasperation. “Speak, woman. I can’t read your mind.”

“Believe me, if men could read our minds, life would be a lot simpler,” she mutters, raising her hands.

“Oh, my God,Mal.”

Her teeth worry her lower lip before she finally puts me out of my misery, only for me to wish she’d never asked in the first place.

“How was it, living there alone?”

I’d be a damn liar if I didn’t say it was lonely as hell, living in a space that had years worth of memories and friendship embedded within the walls. There were a few times I’d even forget he wasn’t there anymore, heading down the hall to see what he wanted to grab for dinner or catch a movie.

Just goes to show, I might’ve already forgiven him for the lies and the betrayal, but the reason we’re on this littlebreakis still entirely valid.

Even if I hate it.

“Being there alone was a better option than going home.”

In fact, it was the only option.

Thanks to mine and Phoenix’s blow out during his duel at St. Seb’s last year, I’d ended up staying in Nashville with my father for spring break. And after pinning Dad’s drunken ass to the kitchen floor when he came at me with a broken beer bottle, I made myself a promise to never set foot in that house again. I’ve fallen victim to his rage and cruelty too many times, and I’m not willing to put myself in that position anymore.

“Did you at least keep yourself busy?”

“Oh, yeah. I took advantage of a couple summer classes to lighten my course load this season.”

She smiles. “Smart man. You’ll be thanking yourself for it when you get extra sleep your teammates are all gonna be deprived of.”

I nod in agreement, knowing I’ll take more shut eye if I can. But the bigger thing I need to prioritize is training for the NFL Scouting Combine in March—pending I get an invite—and minimizing my distractions from school work seemed like the best way to make that happen.

We settle into a comfortable silence after that, relaxing on the blanket until Ivy shows up to steal her girlfriend away for dinner.

“You’re welcome to join us, Kason,” Ivy says, brushing a wispy piece of white-blond hair back from her face.

I’m quick to wave her off and pull Mal to her feet. “Nah, I think I took enough of Mal’s time for the day. She’s all yours.”

“You say that like I’m your property to just give away,” my friend accuses playfully before snatching her things from the ground.

“I know, I know. Fuck the patriarchy,” I say with a laugh. My tone sobers on a dime, though, and I rest my hand at her elbow. “Really, though. Thanks for being in my corner. I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”

Mal gives me the faintest smile—one that saysalwayswithout actually speaking the word—before she rolls her eyes. “Cry hopelessly in the corner, obviously.”

“Obviously,” I mock, though there’s the tiniest dash of truth in her statement.

She’s always been good at having hard conversations, even if I’m not. It’s probably the only area of friendship in which she surpasses Phoenix; always managing to pull the feelings out of me.

Honestly, sometimes she does it better than my therapist—a testament that she’ll make an amazing guidance counselor one day.

“I’ll see you at practice on Monday, I’m sure,” I tell her, already stepping toward the direction of home.

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