Page 77 of Crazy Pucking Love
“Justin? I thought you were done with him weeks ago.”
“I was—I am. He’s been calling here and there, but I’ve been ignoring him. Today he tracked me down and told me he wants another chance. I asked him, another chance like we try to make us work? Mind you, I wasn’t going to say yes, but I wanted the satisfaction of knowing he’d realized he couldn’t do better than me.”
Vanessa sat up and anger—with a pinch of hurt—flickered through her eyes. “Instead he said, ‘no, I just mean we should go back to how things were.’ Like I’m really going to settle for friends with benefits after he’s ignored me for a month, with one desperate booty call in the mix. No thanks.”
My lungs constricted. Was that what I was doing? Settling? I constantly experienced this internal tug-of-war between giving an ultimatum and enjoying it while it lasted.
“Earth to Megan?” Vanessa waved her hand and I snapped out of it.
I threw the last of the outfits I’d laid out into my suitcase. Since Beckett, Lyla, and I were leaving as soon as the hockey game was over, I had to pack now. “Maybe a trip away from here for a few days is just what I need.”
“Things with Dane not going so well anymore?”
“Dane and I are fine.” I hated the way the words scraped my throat on the way out, not quite a lie, but not quite the truth, either. “I mean, we’re still…undefined. Which is fine.”
Vanessa narrowed her eyes on me. “You’re sayingfinea lot.”
I sighed. “It just sucks that I won’t to get to hang out with him all weekend. I probably won’t be able to see him until Monday night, which suddenly seems like a long time.” Maybe my absence would make him grow fonder. I clung to the glimmer of hope that between that and giving him a little more time, he’d be ready to give me the commitment I wanted.
“Guess you’d better sneak into the locker room and have a quickie right after the game.” She dramatically waggled her eyebrows, and I laughed.
“With my brother in the room, I think that’d be incredibly awkward.”
“You really think he’ll freak if he finds out you’re sleeping with Dane?”
“Oh, he’d definitely freak out. He’s never been very okay with me and guys in general. He thinks they’re all just in it for the sex. And I’m not denying he has a point, but…” I knelt down and zipped up my suitcase, worried it was truer than I wanted it to be. “Sure you don’t want to throw some clothes in a bag and get away for a weekend?”
Vanessa tipped her head one way and then the other. “Nah. I think I’ll stay. But thanks.”
I straightened, and she jumped off the bed and surprised me with a hug. “Be safe. And don’t worry about Dane. I can tell he’s crazy about you.”
I hoped so. But I also knew he wasn’t crazy enough about me to come with me this weekend or even refer to me as his girlfriend.
Chapter Forty
Dane
“I know that I’m not supposed to call you with bad news before a game,” Cassidy said, and I winced, automatically bracing myself for whatever shitstorm was happening at home now. “But I figured good news would be okay.”
“There’s actually good news?”
“Yeah. This woman called Mom today, and told her Lissa could meet with a counselor for free—apparently it’s through some kind of program for teens in need, and Lissa fits the requirements. It’s a bit of a drive, but for free counseling that could help her, it’s totally worth it. The lady’s one of the best, too. Can you believe that?”
I had trouble not being suspicious of things that were too good to be true, not to mention a bit of skepticism anyone could talk sense into my sister right now. “You really think it’ll help?”
“Yeah, I do. It certainly can’t make things any worse, and with everything falling apart around here, we could all use a little hope.”
Megan had mentioned counseling, too. Said it helped her. The hair on the back of my neck rose. “They said it was through a donation run program? Is it usual for them to call families out of the blue?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t play twenty questions. We just celebrated.”
Right now I needed to focus on getting ready for the game, so I decided to just be glad for whatever had happened and analyze it later. “I’ve got to get dressed and get on the ice, but I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good luck with the game!”
I hung up and inserted my ear buds so I could tune out everything except my pump-up music. So far we’d only had the one loss, and I planned on doing everything I could to keep it that way.
…
