Page 50 of Final Down

She’s right. I laugh faintly.

“Yeah, I know. But right now, I wish I were.”

She sucks in her bottom lip and scoots to the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms and legs around me the way a toddler does when they don’t want their parent to drop them off at daycare.

“This isn’t helping.” I chuckle.

“Gah!” She lets go of me, and I help her to her feet. “Fine. I’ll let you go.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a message from my mom.

MOM:In the driveway. No Jeff. How about we talk?

I squeeze my eyes shut and show Peyton the message. She laughs and pats my back.

“You can do this, Wy. Have a talk with your mom. Arealtalk. You’ll feel better. Then, call me tonight after practice.”

I kiss her and take my phone back, shutting my eyes once more as I breathe her in.

“See you again in one hundred and four hours and sixteen minutes,” I say, a ballpark guess, but I’m close.

Peyton gives me a sideways look on her way into the bathroom.

“I’ll see you first since you’ll be on the field,” she teases, shouting from the bathroom as I head down the hall.

I don’t reply, but the truth is I always see her first. I find her instantly, every time. She’s the first thing I see when I step on the field, and the only person I want when the lights go off.

My mom lifts her brow as I approach her SUV, and Peyton’s pep talk—and truth session—from last night plays in my mind. My mom’s making the effort. I need to be ready to listen. And to be open.

“Thanks for being my rideshare. It’s a tight turnaround,” I say, dropping my travel bag in the back seat, then sliding into the front passenger side and buckling up.

“You know I like that you call me for things like this. It means a lot.”

Our gazes meet, and we share a short knowing smile. It was Mom and me for a lot of road trips when I was young and my dad was on shift. She handled a lot of the back and forth to practice or to sports camps, too.

“Well? Shall we?” She shifts into reverse, and I nod, aware that she’s not only talking about hitting the road.

“I’m sorry about how I reacted, Mom. That was . . .oof!Not my best moment.” I wince, recalling what I said to her on the phone the other day.

“It was definitely not how I saw this conversation starting,” she says as we hit the main road.

“You know, Peyton’s kind of known for a while,” I say.

My mom snort laughs.

“Son, I think the entire town has known. Along with half of the Valley fire departments. You might be oblivious.”

“Really?” I lean forward, and she glances my way before belly laughing.

“Yeah, really. We didn’t really hide it. His house is for sale, for Pete’s sake. We’re moving in together.”

I flinch at that reveal. I definitely missed the clues for that level of relationship.

“Okay, okay. In. my defense, you maybecouldhave said something to me. Even if it wasn’t right away. Like, say, ‘Hey, Wyatt. Jeff and I have been seeing each other, and things are getting serious.’”

Her smile slips a tad, and she sighs.

“I know.”

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