Page 64 of The Future Play

But the second we start down the hall, Pete steps in our path.

“Hey, Jamie, can I borrow you for a second?”

Amanda crosses her arms over her chest. “What are you doing?”

“I just need his help with something.”

“Find Josh.”

“We all know he’s useless.” Pete winks at her and she sighs heavily.

“It’s fine. I’m happy tohelp.” We both know that’s not what this is, but that’s fine. If I can survive pitching a state championship game in front of hundreds of people or getting reamed by my coach for something dumb, I can handle a few minutes of being grilled by Pete.

Amanda spins around and looks up at me. “You don’t have to.”

“I know. I’ll be fine. I’ll meet you upstairs after?”

She nods. “Second door on the left.”

“Got it.”

I give her arm a squeeze, then with a menacing look at Pete, she heads for the stairs.

He watches to make sure she’s gone, then nods toward the kitchen behind me.

“Let’s sit.”

“Sure.” I walk back to the kitchen and take a seat at the island. He doesn’t. He stands on the other side and stares down at me.

“So… you and Amanda.”

“Yes. Working on it, at least.”

“Interesting.”

“Look, if you have concerns or questions, go ahead. Hit me with them. I’ll answer whatever you ask.”

He leans over the counter on his hands, staring at me. “Okay then. Are you the reason my sister came home in tears a couple of months ago?”

As much as I intended to stay cool through this, I have a terrible poker face, and those words catch me off guard.She was crying?I knew I hurt her, but not that badly.

“If it was the middle of May, then probably. I didn’t…” I clear my throat. “I didn’t know about the crying though.”

“Of course you didn’t. She doesn’t show people her most vulnerable side. Especially when she’s been hurt.”

She shows me. But I can see where she wouldn’t have that night.

“What I want to know,” he continues, “is what you did, and why I should trust that you won’t hurt her again.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No. She came home, took one look at me and Josh playing video games, then went and crawled through Jace’s window.”

“Well, if she didn’t tell you, I’m not going to betray her trust by explaining. That’s her decision. What I can tell you was that I didn’t mean to hurt her. I thought I was protecting her—protecting us both—but I wasn’t. And once I realized that, I had some things to come to terms with before I could talk it through with her. Then I tried, messed up again, she let me have it, and since then, I’ve been doing everything I can to show her how much she means to me. I’m not perfect, but I see her, and no one is angrier at me than I am for hurting her in the first place.” I stand up from the stool. “Now, if you don’t mind, Ineed to go talk to her. As much as I appreciate you standing up for her, you’re not the one I need to talk to about this. She is.”

He stares at me for a moment, then gives an approving nod. “Go ahead.”

I don’t need his fucking permission, which is why I’m already moving down the hallway before he’s finished speaking.

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