Page 147 of Don't Let Me Go (Don't Let Me 2)

He pulls out a folded envelope from his back pocket and shows it to me. “Here are the tickets to Saturday’s game. There are forty––”

“Forty?” I gawk. “Dude. That’s way too much.”

“Too late.” He sets the envelope onto the counter next to a box of Lucky Charms. “There are vouchers for ice cream too.”

“Kate said she’ll help with face paint before the game,” Ash adds, hooking her arm through Colt’s.

“You talked to Kate about this?” I ask.

“Yup.” Ash smiles. “We figured it’d be a good distraction for her too.”

Amen to that.

Kate’s been hiding away ever since her seizure, refusing to open up to us or anyone, for that matter. She’s gone into full-blown recluse mode, and it doesn’t matter how many roommate meetings we’ve thrown together in search of a solution. None of us can figure out how to snap her out of it.

“Mia took the day off at SeaBird too,” Ash adds, “so, we’ll all be at the game and can sit together.”

“That actually sounds great,” I grudgingly admit.

“Right?” She kisses Colt on the cheek and drags her hand from his shoulder to his chest, tugging softly on his dark, cotton T-shirt. “Hey. Can you give me and Blake a minute?”

“Sure thing.”

The door closes with a quiet click behind Colt. Then, it’s only me and Ash.

My nose wrinkles, sensing a not-so-subtle shift in the air.

“Want to talk about it yet?” she asks as she moseys toward me on the couch, her heels muffled by the plush carpet.

“We’ve already had this conversation,” I remind her.

And we have. In the car after Colt picked me up at Theo’s. The next morning when I was a lazy lump in my bed and ditched my morning run with Mia. Yeah. We’ve had this conversation lots of times, and it still isn’t my cup of tea.

With a huff, Ash collapses onto the couch next to me and folds her arms. “Look. I know I’m not Mia, and I’m not as good at prying info from my roommates, but seriously. I’m right here, and I’m dating a hockey player just like you. We kind of have a thing or two in common, Blake. You can talk to me.”

I want to laugh at her assumption, but I hold it back. Ash is too sweet to handle my sarcasm, and in this moment, I want to sprinkle it on everything like confetti.

“Talk to me,” she prods, squeezing my knee.

“No offense, but you and Colt are nothing like me and Theo.”

Her eyes widen. “Ouch.”

“I’m just saying… It’s different with me and Theo. That’s all.”

She quirks her brow, unconvinced. “How?”

“Because Colt talks to you. He values your opinion. He asked you to come with him after graduation. Theo doesn’t do any of those things with me. It’s different.”

With a sigh, she tucks her hair behind her ear and asks, “Did you ever think he hesitated in asking you because you’re not graduating this year?”

“So?”

“So, he had a hard enough time convincing you to give him a real chance in the first place. Add another barrier like long-distance, and maybe he’s afraid you’ll run for the hills.”

I pull back, surprised. “I’ve already transferred from one college. It’s not like I can’t do it again.”

“And if he gets traded halfway through his first year? What then?”

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