Page 94 of Second Chance with the Single Dad Goalie
With one last glance at her turned back, I step out of the room and close the door behind me.
Seriously, today started on a good note. How did it get to this??
Chapter nineteen
Whitney
Thunder.
It’s the first thing I hear, distant but rumbling through my bones like an omen. The sky outside my window is dark, streaked with veins of lightning in the far distance, and I wonder if it’s about to storm. Fitting. Because inside me, inside my chest, it feels like a storm has been raging for the past ten days, tearing me apart piece by piece.
Blake’s words won’t leave me alone.
No matter how much I try to push them away, no matter how busy I keep myself, they haunt me like a song stuck on repeat.
“I never stopped loving you.”
The way he said it, the way his voice cracked just a little at the end - it’s branded into my brain. It’s been a week and three days, and I still can’t escape it.
I press my forehead against the cool glass of my bedroom window, watching the late afternoon sky stretch lazily over my parents’ neighborhood. Inside, the sound of laughter echoes from the living room - my parents, the kids, Keith, and Rosa. They’re probably watching some ridiculous cartoon and arguingover snacks. Normal. Happy. A world that feels so far from the storm inside me.
I should be out there with them. I should be focusing on anything but him. But even when I was in Chicago three days ago, my mind kept circling back to that night. To Blake.
This week has been, up, here and there…, do this and do that for me. I spent two days editing the pictures and videos I took of Rosa’s outfits to post on my blog and social media pages. Yup, you heard me…, for someone who kept saying that me being an influencer is not something “tangible,” she sure knew when and how to use me when it came to it.
I still remember her coming to see me at Blake’s, asking…, pleading (that felt good, not gonna lie), with me to do some GRWM videos, fashion advice, and model some of her outfits. She said she saw the GRWM video I did when going to the game the last time and the views, comments, and recreated versions of the audience. So, we took videos, pictures, and indoor and outdoor shoots in various locations, with various models and all.
Should I say, I already have someone in my corner?
Next, I spent two days in the city for a contract signing, a new partnership that’s supposed to elevate my brand. A huge deal, one I’ve been working toward for months. And yet, even while I was shaking hands and toasting my success, all I could think about was “I never stopped loving you.”
I love it…, scratch that…, I hate it.
I hate how they linger, how they haunt me. How they make my heart twist in ways I don’t want to acknowledge. Because acknowledging it means accepting that something inside me cracked that night, and I don’t know how to fix it.
Blake is currently not in town. Two days after their match with the Blue Hawks, they played again, losing to them. The team is currently playing against the Blue Hawks again, this time, it isan away game. Keith told me the day before yesterday that they, that is the Avalanche team, managed to win.
Well, managed or not, a win is a win.
So technically, that is two wins for our team and one for the Blue Hawks. We need just two more wins in four out of seven games to qualify for the second division for the playoffs. They are currently playing the fourth game, so, good luck, Blake. Good luck Avalanche team.
Blake won’t be back until later tonight.
And I don’t know how I feel about that.
Because the second I see him again, I’ll have to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do with this.
With us.
And right now? I don’t have a single clue where to start.
Hmm…, where to start.
I close my eyes, and my mind suddenly pulls me back to a particular night. A night six years ago. A night in the rain.
A night when I was the one confessing.
*** (Me – 17; Blake - 20) ***
