Page 226 of Call the Shots
I didn’t think King got my joke, but he grinned anyway.
“Is everything okay with Coach Lawson?” I asked, careful to keep my voice low.
“Oh, yeah.” He pointed at his forehead. “Training accident.”
“When are you telling him about you and Willow?”
“Day after the seniors’ dinner. In a public, well-lit restaurant. If Coach wants to hit me for dating his daughter, maybe he won’t do it in front of witnesses.”
I laughed. “Are you and Willow matching for seniors’ night?”
“She thinks it’ll make us too obvious.” He shrugged. “Are you bringing Bear?”
“I’m not going.”
“What do you mean? You always go to end-of-the-summer dinners.”
“I’m not with football anymore, King.”
“Yeah, you are.” He frowned. “You still have your spot on the trips, you’re still going to the games with us. It doesn’t matter that—” King studied me for a moment. “You’re not coming?”
“I’ll be there for the home games.”
“But…?”
Gingerly, I shook my head, and King blinked in surprise, struggling with what to say. We were quiet. The only quiet ones while the hockey team yelled over Willow’s strike.
“I didn’t know this was our last—” King rubbed the back of his neck. “What are you doing instead?”
“Law school?—”
“Law school?Holy shit. Doesn’t that take like…a lot of studying and time?”
“The years were going to pass anyway.” I shrugged. “Now I’ll be investing in who I want to be. I know law school will be a lot of work, but I also know it’ll be worthwhile when I get my diploma. I’m honestly really excited.”
He sighed. “I know I haven’t been the best at being a friend?—”
“You’re fine?—”
“I’ve been out of it?—”
I stopped him. “You’re out of it because you’re doing that thing that most people don’t have to question or doubt or be scared of, you’re falling in love.”
His eyes flickered to Willow and he nodded.
“You know if you needed a kidney, I’d give it to you on a silver platter, but you don’t. You needed space and I didn’t give you that,” I admitted. “I’m sorry about the fake relationship starting again, that was dumb.”
“I’m sorry about lying to get out of Montero’s birthday party.”
“You—what?Montoya’s party?” I clamped my mouth shut. “Nevermind. Water under the bridge.”
Nick held up bowling balls to his groin and called them his bowling nuts while Ryan broke the score machine and accidentally reverted it to an older version where it called everybody’s moves a strike. I settled back, watching the guys laugh together again, so pleased Cleo pushed everyone here.
King nudged me with his shoe. “I’m going to miss you.”
“It’s not the end,” I promised. “Just a really weird, new beginning.”
“Oh—I almost forgot!” Cleo took a huge cardboard box from Miles. “We have the Gladiator bands!”
