Page 102 of His Heart

She crossed her arms. “We’ve known each other since kindergarten. Our mothers have been friends for years. Just because we stopped dating doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” I said. “And if my mom has an issue with my life, or my girlfriend, she should take it up with me. Not discuss it with my ex.”

“It’s not like she’s gossiping,” she said. “She’s concerned for her son and she doesn’t think you’ll listen to her.”

“Well, I’m telling you she doesn’t have anything to be concerned about. And neither do you. And as for Brooke, and this,” I said, touching my chest, “that’s not only morbid, it’s insulting.”

“I’m not trying to insult either of you,” she said. “But I don’t understand how you can throw away the life you were supposed to have. It was almost taken from you, and now you can have it back. You just have to reach out and grab it. But you won’t.”

“What if I told you I was moving back to Waverly after I graduated?” I asked. “That I was going to work for my dad, and buy a nice house, and be a volunteer wrestling coach, just like everyone always figured I would—but I was going to do it all with Brooke. Would that make a difference? Is it really my career and financial stability you’re worried about?”

Her lips parted and her eyes narrowed, but she smoothed out her features before she replied. “I’m worried about all of you. About your life, and your happiness.”

“I’ve got it covered, Cami,” I said. “I am happy. Happier than I’ve ever been.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and gathered up her purse. “Well, that’s good, then. I hope you’re really as happy as you claim to be.”

I didn’t say anything else as she walked out the door.

God, my mother. It pissed me off that she’d been talking about Brooke with Cami. My mom didn’t know Brooke. She’d obviously made some ridiculous assumptions. Brooke didn’t want me to be some kind of second-choice replacement for Liam Harper. If that had been the case, she would have sought me out. As it was, she hadn’t wanted to meet me at all.

And this heart in my chest still sometimes felt like a wall between us. Not the way it once had, but I did wonder if she’d ever be able to truly let go. Truly move on. My heart wasn’t the reason she wanted me—it was one of the reasons she’d been afraid to be with me.

Moving back to Waverly, working for my dad, marrying Cami… living in a nice house with our two-point-five kids and a minivan in the driveway… that was safe. That was why my mom wanted it for me. But it wouldn’t be living—just existing.

I didn’t want safe. I didn’t want friends like the guys I’d known in high school. I wanted Charlie, who’d had my back every step of the way, even when he was still basically my rival. I didn’t want a girl like Cami, who was more interested in her reputation and finding someone to take care of her. I knew why she wanted me. She saw me as the means to a life of comfort—a fancy house and a new car every year. A life where she was the envy of all the other wives in Waverly.

I pulled out my admissions packets again. Maybe there was a piece of myself that I still needed to recapture. The drive and focus I’d once had. That single-minded resolve to do whatever it took to achieve my goals. It was why I’d won state. In a lot of ways, it had gotten me through my illness. I might not have survived long enough to get the transplant if I hadn’t been mentally tough. Driven. It had only been at the end that I’d wanted to give up.

But since I’d been better, I hadn’t applied that drive to anything. Not school or my future. I’d always thought of myself as an all-in guy, but the only thing I’d gone all in on was Brooke.

She’d brought that out in me. With her, I felt a flame burning inside. A desire to really live, not just exist.

I ripped open the first envelope and spread the letter out on the table. It was time to start living.

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