Page 61 of My Last Dance

“But seriously, if this is what you want, then you have to attack it. You can’t be scared of hypotheticals, okay?”

He stared at me strangely for a second before nodding. “Yeah.” He swallowed hard. “Thank you, Piper. This wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for you.”

“No problem, that’s what…” I swallowed hard. “That’s what friends are for,” I forced out. I couldn’t be selfish. This was his big break. He needed to focus. He needed to nail this.

His grin fell into a slight frown. “Friends?” He pulled at the back of his neck.

With a sad smile, I gave him a nod. “Yeah.” Going on my tiptoes, I reached around his neck to pull him into a hug. His arms automatically warped around my waist. “It’s just not our time yet,” I whispered into the crook of his neck, and I felt him nod.

When he pulled back, he kept his hands on my hips. He licked his lips, looking caught in indecision. “A part of me wants to stay here and just—”

“No. School is always here,” I cut him off. “You can go to college at 19, 22, 40, or 65. You’ll regret it if you don’t take this shot.”And you’ll regret me if I’m the reason, but I left that unsaid.

He swallowed hard and squeezed my side. “Friends,” he said, like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I know right.” I laughed dryly. “Better not tell anyone.” I smirked.

A quick laugh flew out of him as he dropped his hands off my body. The sunny fall day suddenly felt twenty degrees colder. He rocked back on his heels. “Yeah, our secret.” He shook his head again. “Damn, I can’t believe this. I really want this, Piper.”

“I know.” I smiled, despite the burn in my throat.

“Thank you.” He pulled me in for another hug, and my heart squeezed painfully in my chest as I memorized the feel of him. “I feel like ‘thank you’ isn’t enough.” Still holding me, he rasped out, “I want it to be our time right now, Piper.” His eyes darted to my lips again and I knew it was up to me to make him go. We couldn’t prioritizeusright now, and if we did, I was afraid we’d ruin everything.

Even though it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, I forced myself to push out of his arms. It felt like a frog was lodged in my throat, but I forced myself to speak. “It’ll get here, but you have to focus up and work hard first, right? Because you want this, right?”

He looked a little dazed as he rubbed his forehead.

I grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down to meet my eyes. “Focus, Richard,” I demanded. “You’re going to show up there—on time—and you’re going to play your ass off. And you better text me how it goes. Fast feet, slow brain. I don’t wanna see you moping around here anymore, got it?”

“Yeah, okay, yeah,” he said, his lips doing a funny little dance as he tried to control his grin.

“Now go get some goals,” I said, giving him a little shove as I released his shirt.

He gave me one last heated look, like he was also memorizing the moment, before he gave me a little wink and turned on his heel to jog off in the direction of his dorm.

After a few yards, he yelled over his shoulder, “Tell Patrick for me!” making me smile to myself. The two of them had become close through our little morning practices.

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I yelled at his back, “Goals, Richard! Multiple goals!”

He held up a thumbs up as he continued running away with my heart.

11. FINALLY OUR TIME

2014

In a bizarre twist, Ali called excitedly screaming that she was engaged.

She was marrying Mark on New Year’s Day at only twenty-years-old. I tried to feign happiness on the phone with her, but I just felt confused about the whole thing.

“Are you sure? Marriage is kinda a big deal. You’re still only twenty, what’s the rush?” I asked as gently as I could.

“Yes, we’re sure. It’s what we want, Piper,” she said tersely.

I paused. “Okay, but whatwewant and whatIwant are two very different things, Al.”

I was shocked when she started crying.

“I’m not being mean,” I said quickly. “I’m just trying to make sure that you fully want this.”

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