Page 72 of The Double Play

“But?” Miles prods.

“I’m terrified that I’m going to overstep and she’ll leave. June will be heartbroken if that happens.”

“And what about you?” Shaw asks. His tone is calm, like he’s aware of how hard this is for me and doesn’t want to push me.

“I’d be heartbroken too,” I confess and run a hand over my beard. “I think–” A breath rattles through my chest. “I think I love her.”

A loud whoop comes through, making me jump. Then a throat clears. “Sorry about that,” Jason says.

“I understand where you’re coming from,” Shaw says, residual laughter in his tone from Jason’s outburst. “I went through something similar with Sutton.”

I recall when he was spiraling over her before they got together. I don’t remember anything quite like this though.

He continues. “Sutton has always believed she needed to do everything herself because she’d be asking too much of someone else to do it for her. I thought that hinting and doing nice gestures would be enough for her to see how much I cared, but what ended up making the biggest difference was just laying it all out. If you love her,tell her. And then show her every day after that.”

“That’s good advice,” Jason comments.

“It’s the only kind I have.”

“In middle school, you told me I should get a buzz cut to intimidate our rivals in hockey,” Brock says in a flat tone.

“We beat them that year, so my advice was solid.”

“They couldn’t see my hairunder my helmet!”

I can’t help but join in with the other guys as they laugh. It feels good to have a light moment after the past few days of worry.

“Stop being an attention seeker and let Emmett respond,” Shaw says.

“I’m going to kill you the next time I see you,” Brock grits out.

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve said that before and yet here I sit. Alive and well.”

“Your advice was good,” I interrupt before they get off track again. “At least good enough to try.”

“I hope it works out for you,” Shaw says. “We’re rooting for you, right guys?”

“Yep,” Miles says.

“Always,” Jason adds.

“Definitely,” Brock finishes.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Now, can we stop talking so much and play a game?”

They all agree, and I catch myself smiling even as we lose our first game. It felt surprisingly good to share with them what’s going on, and Shaw’s advice helped me tighten my grip on something I was losing: hope.

Chapter thirty-five

Hazel James

ItoldRaventhatI didn’t believe in karma, but I’m starting to think her UNO reverse theory isn’t far off from the truth. I get out of my car and slam the door. The noise punctures the air like a warning shot. June’s school is going to wish they had a warning. I’m the kind of person who gravitates toward sadness rather than anger, but when I heard my little June crying into the nurse’s phone, I saw red.

This morning, Emmett posted a photo of us together as a relationship announcement. I’ve stayed off of all social media. I muted my notifications and did my best to distract myself while Emmett was at practice. Then I got a call from the nurse saying June wasn’t feeling well. Only, that’s not what was really going on. Apparently, a few older kids heard their mommies gossiping this morning and they started being mean to June on the playground. As soon as she finished telling me that they used the wordtrampto describe me and then her, I jumped in my car. Then, she said that her teacher didn’t do anything, and I knew this wasn’t going to be a nice visit.

I yank open the door to the lobby. The bell above the door swings and rattles wildly. A woman at the front desk lifts her head with raised brows.

“How can I help you?” she asks in a timid voice.

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