Page 87 of Tempting the Goalie
“Her name is Izzy.”
“So where did you meet, Izzy?” Finn asks.
“She’s my best friend from back home,” I share with them.
“So this is her first year at Riverside U?” Finn continues with the questions.
“She’s a senior, like me,” I say and his brows draw together.
“He kept her away from us,” Macklin cuts in. “Dude was scared to bring her around.”
He isn’t wrong, so I just smile and shake my head like I find him annoying.
“So she’s important,” Finn states.
“Very, which is why I don’t know what to do. I have offers waiting on me. Izzy plans on going to grad school but she doesn’t know where she’ll land. She wants to be in Quebec, which is the province we’re from, so she can be close to her family. I want to be in the States on a team that’ll invest in me as a player.”
“It’s tough,” Cade admits. “There’s no perfect solution, but you want to make sure she’s living out her dreams and you’re living out yours. Otherwise, one of you will live with regrets, and that kind of thing can fester in someone.”
He makes a solid point.
“I have to agree with Cade,” Finn says. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, life can be hectic and can pull you and her in different directions. You have to put the work into your relationship, especially if you find yourself in a long-distance situation like Charlie and me.”
“Annie and I also have to put in the work. I may be a short plane ride away, but we aren’t together most of the time. WhenI’m on the road, my head needs to be in the game,” Cade adds. “So, yeah, it takes work and commitment, but at the end Annie is the one waiting for me and that’s what matters.”
“Whoa, you both have seriously grown-up,” I laugh.
“You have too,” Finn says. “I could see a change in you from the moment we arrived. You seem, I don’t know, settled, content, happy.”
“I’m all of the above. I went home this summer and had to face some demons from my past. Izzy helped me through it. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
“So what will you do?” Macklin asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply. It seems like what the guys are saying is that Izzy and I need to choose our paths and ensure we can somehow make us work, but that doesn’t feel right to me.
“Take your time. You’ll know what the right move is at the right time,” Cade advises. “It’s about making the right play.”
I nod.
We spend the rest of the day chilling by the pool. At night, we head out for dinner. Throughout the day I text Izzy to see how things are going back home. Her brothers are keeping her busy and her father’s new girlfriend is apparently super sweet and living with him at the main house. Izzy really likes her, and it makes me happy because growing up not having a mother figure was something she struggled with.
The next morning, I wake with a heavy feeling in my chest. My friends gave me a lot to think about, but every relationship is different. What works for one doesn’t work for another.
I wake in the morning and shower and shave. Then I call Izzy on FaceTime.
“Hi there,” she says grinning. She’s still in bed, her chocolate-brown hair splayed across her pillow.
“Hi yourself, beautiful. I wish you were here with me,” I say to her.
“I’m kind of wishing the same thing. I spent time with the family. Elyna and Braden were over for dinner last night. He’s grown so much, Luc. You wouldn’t believe it. He’s saying Dada Dada and he’s crawling everywhere. He can take a few steps. It’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I smile. Her excitement, love, and commitment to her family have always been endearing qualities. Even the way the Thornes have given Elyna a place to live and a job is truly a testament to the kind of people they are. She goes on to tell me about her Christmas plans and how she plans to go skiing with her brothers after.
We end the call with, “I love you and miss you and wish you were here.” I start to realize that certain decisions we make now will determine how our relationship will look. I don’t want the I miss yous. I don’t want the I wish you were heres. I want her. She followed me to Riverside because she worried about our friendship. She lived far away from home for the last four years for me. Things are becoming clearer to me. I just don’t have it all figured out yet.
The next day we are all invited to a pre-wedding brunch for the wedding party minus the happy couple, who has gone to the beach with the photographers to take photos with Atlas and Aaron’s family.
Just before the ceremony a bunch of the groomsmen and me, the best man, are hanging out in one of the rooms the hotel gave us to get ready together. The men are all wearing off-white suits with a white dress shirt underneath. I have my hair slicked back so it won’t fall into my face mid-ceremony, and I’ll screw up my best man duties. It’s a logical fear.
