“Yeah, 624 Thurston Street. Right. Two minutes. Yeah. Thank you.” JT’s pacing, so I still his arm as he slides the phone back into his pocket. Pointing to his best friend, I nudge, “Go to him. He’s freaking out. He needs you.”
“Are you okay? I mean, you didn’t inhale any smoke or?—”
I shake my head. I had no idea there was a real fire until Isaw the smoke billowing out as we left. We’re all lucky as hell, in my opinion. That wreck of a house is probably not so lucky. “I’m fine,” I assure him. “I’m going to head to Viv’s. She’s probably heard about the fire and is worried out of her mind.”
JT blinks. “I literally called it in a minute ago.
As if on cue, my watch starts buzzing. “My best friend knows things,” I tell him. “And your best friend needs you. Go.”
JT leans down and steals a quick kiss. “Text me, ok?”
I nod. There are words on the tip of my tongue. Three of them. Scary words. Words I can’t say right now, but ones I’m finding harder and harder to ignore.
I watch as he jogs over to Mickey, then I begin my walk to Viv’s as sirens wail in the distance.
There’s a loud pop as flames erupt from a first-floor window. JT’s eyes find mine, despite the growing distance between us. I flash him a thumbs up, hoping to convey that I’m just fine. My watch buzzes again, but this time I answer.
“I’m fine. We’re all fine. But the house is not fine. And I’m on my way over,” I say.
“Holy shitballs. It’s true that the hockey house is on fire?”
I watch as a firetruck pulls up. Words is spreading and people are lining the street, but the fire looks contained, at least to my untrained eye.
“What the hell happened?” she asks.
“Honestly, no clue. Are you at your place?”
“Not yet. I’m at Drip. Theo’s done, though, so he’s gonna drive me back. Want to meet us here?”
I’m so tired that a ride back to Viv’s sounds heavenly. And so does?—”
“He already did the prep for tomorrow morning and snagged you a chocolate muffin. It’ll be warm and waiting when you get here.”
“Well, now I’m going to run,” I joke. Ending the call, Ihang a left toward campus, looking back once more to see the smoke and activity behind me.
For a crazy moment, I want to turn and walk back into the chaos. Back into JT’s arms.
I don’t, of course, but I want to.
CHAPTER 27
JT
I feel shitty.Nervous. Like a liar and thief. At this very moment, I feel worse than I have in my entire life.
And that includes the night I got arrested.
It includes the nights I’d lie awake on some aunt or uncle’s couch and listen to them bitch about how I was one more mouth to feed, one more person in a too-small house. One more kid to deal with.
It includes the day my scholarship to Woodcock was rescinded, leaving me without a future. That is, until Coach Hudson Baylor called me. He’d seen me at some showcases. We even had a conversation in an elevator where he told me I was a hell of a player. Hearing that from a former pro was pretty fucking awesome, but I’d committed to Woodcock by that point, so his words only registered as an incredible compliment, and nothing more. But when I was down and out, sure I’d fucking screwed myself over, Coach Baylor recruited me. I asked if he knew about my situation, and he looked me straight in the eye and nodded, saying “What I know is that you need to get the hell out of Grand Plains. I know you were born to defend a net. And I know you’re no longer on Woodcock’s roster.”
I owe him everything.
Which is why it feels so unbelievably wrong to be sneaking through his house in the middle of the night.
But Maggie won’t have it any other way.
And I want Maggie, so this is the way I’m playing it.
