Page 60 of Why We Break

I try to pull her to me again, but she yanks back, and I see a determination in her eyes that wasn’t there before. Straightening her back, she glares at me with an anger that I don’t understand. “God, Will, what do I have to do to get it through your fucking head that I don’t want you anymore. The summer was fun, but I’m over it, okay? The sex was nice, but you were just a distraction from the fact that none of my friends are here. So just move on and forget about me, okay?” she says, glaring at me again.

“Oh, and here. You can have this back. I don’t need it anymore,” she says, reaching up and undoing the clasp of the necklace I gave her for her birthday a few weeks ago before holding it out to me.

My breath catches in my throat, and I try to argue. “Han, that was a gift. I don’t need it back. You keep it.”

“Will, just take the damned thing so I can get the hell out of here,” she says, frustration evident in her voice.

Feeling like I don’t have any other choice, I reach out and take the necklace from her, tucking it in the pocket of my jeans. “Please don’t do this, Han,” I mutter, unable to help myself.

“Will, I’ve told you, nothing you say is gonna change my mind, so you need to accept that this is over,” she argues, folding her arms across her chest.

I open my mouth a few times to respond, but no matter what I do, I can’t force any words to come out. I sit in stunned silence, coming to terms with the fact that she basically just ripped my heart out and stomped all over it.

“I need to go,” she says, leaning over and opening her door. “Lose my number and don’t contact me again because there’s no future for us, m’kay?”

And with that, she’s gone, slamming the door and running back to her house.

I watch her go, trying to piece together what the fuck the last twenty minutes just were. My chest fucking hurts at the thought of losing her, but what the hell call I do about it? After watching the way my parent’s marriage ended, I should have known better.

There’s no such thing as a happily ever after, and the people who claim to love us the most always fucking leave.

I sit in the silence of my truck for a few minutes, willing away the sadness I feel at losing what Hannah and I should have been and trying to convince myself to replace it with anger at the way she ended us. And as hard as I try, I know I’ll never be able to convince myself that that’s the truth.

CHAPTER 45

HANNAH

“Let’s go, Springside,” we chant just as the Williams County kicker lines up to attempt the extra point. We’re in overtime, and the Saints just managed to score prior to this drive. We thought that might be the end of it, but on the next drive, Williams County retaliated, and now if they score this, we’ll be starting the whole process over again.

“God, Will and the boys sure know how to keep us on our toes, huh?” Margaret asks from beside me, causing Caroline and I to laugh in agreement.

“You’re definitely right about that,” I mutter, shaking my pom-pom and joining the crowd in making as much noise as possible.

As soon as I see the angle the football leaves his foot at, I can tell it’s no good. I can’t tell if it was a problem with the snap or if the nerves got to him, but either way, I hold my breath to make sure I’m right.

The ball hits the outside of the field goalpost and bounces off, and the Springside crowd goes wild, cheering and screaming.”

“Oh my God!” Caroline yells! “We’re going to state!”

We cheer and yell along with the rest of the crowd, before grabbing our things and stepping down to the field to help the girls make sure all of our stuff is ready to go back to the bus. As soon as we walk over to the girls, several of the football players run over, grabbing their girlfriends and pulling them into a tight hug. I turn to say something smart to Caroline, but she’s already moving toward Theo, jumping in his arms with a squeal.

I stand there, trying to figure out why I feel so uncomfortable all of a sudden until I make eye contact with Will. He’s not standing that far away, and we both just pause, neither of us seeming to know what to do. Suddenly it hits me that all I want to do is throw myself into his arms and tell him how proud I am of him and the team, but I can’t. He’s not mine, and even if he was, this probably wouldn’t be the best place to spill our little secret. But even with the reminder, I feel a pang in my chest at the fact that this is just another thing that I can’t have.

Unable to help myself, I mouth “Congratulations” in his direction, and he smiles and nods back at me. I’m close to just saying screw it and running to him despite the consequences, but Caroline and Theo walk over before I can continue that thought.

“Hannah, what are you doing? I was yelling for you over there,” Caroline says, gesturing to where she was just standing with her fiancé.

“Oh, sorry. You know me, always in my own little world,” I apologize, hoping she’ll leave it at that. “What’d you need?”

“I asked if you’d mind snapping our picture? I promised Heather I’d send her one tonight,” she says, referring to Theo’s foster mom, before holding out her phone to me.

As I’m handing it back to her, Huey comes over and slaps Theo on the shoulder. “Hey, Coach. One heck of a game! State champs, here we come,” he says, and Theo smiles.

“Yeah, I hope you’re right,” Theo says just as Will walks over and shakes Huey’s hand.

“Will! Incredible job this season! You ready for your first championship game?” he asks, and Will nods.

“Yeah, I’m excited. We’ve got a lot of work to do this next week, but I’m just proud of everything we’ve already accomplished.”

---