Page 67 of Meant for Stone (Meant For)

“Don’t use that word,” I mumble, and she wrings her hands. “Anything but that word.”

“Okay.” She doesn’t ask questions. She hasn’t asked a question since I called her and just said “it’s over.” I didn’t say anything else; I really wasn’t ready to share, not then and still not today. She knows that when I’m ready to talk about it, I will. But the wound is still raw. In fact, every single day I think the wound is going to be better, but every day it feels like I’m being cut open and gutted once again.

I walk over to the bedside table, taking my phone off the charger. The screen saver is changed to just the view from the hot air balloon. It seemed stupid to have him as my screen saver when we weren’t dating anymore. It also hurt too much to see his face every time I looked down at my phone. That doesn’t mean I don’t open my camera roll every day to see his face. I don’t need to; he’s in my dreams every single night, even if I don’t want to dream of him. Putting the phone in my back pocket, I walk out of the room with my mother.

My father waits downstairs in the living room. “Romeo and Gabriella will be here in two seconds.” He gets up, and I see he’s wearing black jeans, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket with his black boots. “You look—” he says to me, and my mother puts her fingers on his mouth.

“She looks nice, doesn’t she?” Her eyes go big, giving him a sign for something.

“She does,” he agrees, and then we hear the horn honking. “Let’s go.” He waits for my mother and me to walk ahead of him.

Gabriella gets out of the front seat and heads to the back seat, giving it up for my father. I slide into the car beside her and then my mother comes in, closing the door. “Can’t we take two cars?” I ask, struggling to put on my seat belt.

“Do you know the mess that parking is here?” Romeo asks.

“How the hell would I know the parking situation in Dallas?” I shriek. “I don’t even have a car in Chicago. I use Uber everywhere.”

“It’s easier to get in and out with one car,” Gabriella says softly. “We have the family pass to park in the other side of the parking lot where the players do, but it’s still a mess.”

“Got it,” I say, looking ahead at the road. They are not joking about the traffic getting into the arena.

We park in the family parking lot and get out. My heart starts to race a bit. “Hey,” I say to Gabriella when we are away from my parents, “by any chance is?—”

“No.” She shakes her head. “He’s not here. I asked.”

“Okay.” I try not to sound happy or disappointed. “I know it’s going to be weird to see him at these things, and I know it’ll eventually happen.” I smile at her. “But I just wanted maybe a heads-up.”

“I know,” she says softly, “I wouldn’t blindside you like that.”

“Thank you,” I say as we follow Romeo and my parents. She’s never asked me what happened between Stone and me. I also don’t know if he told her or not. The only one I’ve talked to about it was Romeo, only because he wouldn’t leave me alone until I told him.

He was the one who got on a plane the day after I told my mother, showed up at my house, and demanded to know what happened. He learned I wasn’t going to tell him anything, so he camped on my couch with me until I was ready to share what I did. He was the only one who knew I quit my job the day Stone broke up with me. He was the only one who knew I was looking for a job in Nashville. After he asked me to move in with him, I started looking for jobs. I didn’t want to tell Stone because I didn’t want to get his hopes up. But now that we aren’t together, I won’t be moving to Nashville, so I’m taking my time to decide where I want to go. Eventually, I’ll have to tell my parents I quit my job, but right now, they just think I’m on vacation.

I’m nervous to see the family, but the nerves go away once I walk in the room and see his uncles Matthew, Max, Viktor, and Justin. They all hug and kiss me, just like they did the last time I saw them before Stone. Not one of them brings him up, and I don’t know if I’m thankful or sad.

It’s only when I turn around and see Evan does my heart sink. He turns and spots me, coming over to me right away. “Hi,” he says cheerfully, “you look gorgeous.” The minute he says those words, I blink away the tears. He must see them, but pretends he doesn’t. While he hugs me and kisses my head, he asks, “You okay?” I smile at him, hoping he sees that although I’m not okay, I’m trying to be. “Zara is around here somewhere. She will be mad if she doesn’t see you.”

“I’ll go say hello to her,” I assure him. “It’s nice seeing you.” He smiles at me before he joins the rest of the guys.

I look around the room with its couches and spot Zara, who sits with her sisters, Zoe and Allison, and sisters-in-law, Karrie and Caroline. She spots me and gets up right away, coming over to me. “Hey.” She opens her arms for a hug. “It’s so nice to see you here.” She acts like nothing happened, which makes me happy. I thought things would be awkward, but it’s just like every other time.

“Thanks. I’m down visiting my parents,” I share when Gabriella comes over with her twin, Abigail, who is dressed head to toe in Dallas stuff, while she holds the hand of her little boy, who’s also wearing a Dallas jersey.

She hands me a baseball hat. “Apparently, we have to wear these,” she says while Zara squeezes my arm before walking back to her seat. I put the hat on, and then everyone stops talking when the roar of the crowd starts. “I think they’re on the ice,” she states, bumping her shoulder into mine. “You okay?”

“I thought it would be weird,” I admit to her. “But I don’t know if anyone knows we dated besides his parents and, well, my parents.”

“Everyone knew,” Gabriella confirms. “He made sure everyone knew.”

My stomach rises to my throat, and I breathe out through my mouth and inhale through my nose. “Well, I’m glad no one is holding a grudge.”

“You need a drink,” Gabriella declares. “Let’s get some shots before we head out to watch the game.” I walk over to the bar at the left side of the room as she pours six shots. A couple of her girl cousins come over and take the shots with us.

I’m waiting for one of the girls to ask me what happened, but no one does. The game ends with Dallas winning, and the crowd is electrifying. And standing with Stone’s family without him here is more painful than if I was home alone, looking at pictures of him. Feeling him all around me but not having him here is horrible, and with each drink I have, the pain gets worse.

When we finally get home, I head to my bedroom, the tears coming nonstop as I slide into bed. The following morning, I don’t even bother looking at myself in the mirror before I head down to the kitchen. My father stands by the counter with the blender going, and I wince.

“Why is that so loud?” I ask as I grab a cup of coffee.

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