Page 67 of The Love Comeback
My heart thuds in my chest, the box in my pocket burning a hole. “I need to talk to you for a second,” I say to my parents, both of whom are leaning against the kitchen counter, talking quietly to each other.
My dad, whose hair is graying faster than ever now, sets his cup of coffee down. “What is it, Kade? You look nervous.” His thick brow furrows, and I start to sweat under his gaze.
At my father’s words, my mother also turns around, though she seems less concerned. “What’s up, honey?” She continues to sip her coffee as I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.
“I bought something yesterday…” My voice doesn’t come out confident. In fact, I sound like a weak little puppy, terrified of his new owners. Well, except my parents don’t own me. No one owns me.
I’m an adult now.
“Okay…” My dad watches as my hand slides to my pocket, just as Nate walks into the kitchen, eating an apple while humming a tune. The song abruptly stops as Nate sees what’s going down between my parents and me.
“What is this?” Nate chuckles, his eyes bouncing until they meet mine. His gaze locks on my hand in my pocket, and the apple he was crunching on drops to his side. “You did it? You actually bought the ring, didn’t you?”
“Thering?” Mom is now fully invested. “What are you talking about?”
My face grows hot as I feel outed by my brother, and instead of trying to explain, I pull the ring out of my pocket. My mother makes an audible gasp at the sight of it, and my father grunts something incoherent.
“He’s going to ask Ella to marry him,” Nate snorts in the most obnoxious way.
“Are you serious?” Mom turns to me, her voice now sharpening. “You’re going to ask Ella to marry you? But you’re onlyeighteen! You just got a scholarship for hockey! And the two are about to go off to two different schools…”
“I’mnotproposing,” I clarify in a stern voice, shaking my head. “It’s apromisering. I’ve been wanting to get her one, and now seems like the right time with her moving away and everything…” My voice trails off as everyone stares at me, their skepticism written all over their face.
“Look.” Dad sighs, running a hand over his face. “I get that you and Ella have been together for years now—and we love her, we do—but you’re about to live eight hours apart from each other. It seems a little much to be promising anything right now.”
“And everyone knows promise rings are bad omens,” Nate adds, biting into his apple again.
“Well, I love her,” I say as I stand there, surrounded by the family I thought would be excited for me. “I know I’m going to be really busy playing college hockey at LSU, but I don’t want El to think I’ve forgotten about her. I want her to know, whenever she sees it, that I wish we could be right there, together…”
“Then you two should’ve gone to the same school,” Mom cuts in, her voice plain and sharp. “She could’ve gone to LSU with you, but she chose not to.”
“She has her own scholarship,” I reason, shaking my head. “It’s not that simple.”
“I understand.” Mom nods, her features softening. “But that’s why you shouldn’t be making big promises at this age. Infact, I’m starting to worry that a long-distance relationship will become a distraction for you. You need to be focused on hockey. You’ve worked too hard for this. And you have a real shot at going pro. I don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity to join the NHL.”
“Your mom is right,” Dad chimes. “A long-distance relationship can detract from your ability to focus on the ice, and the last thing you need is to lose out on a spot on a professional team just because you’re too busy burning up the miles between you and Ella. She’s got her own life to live. And you have a real chance to change the trajectory of yours.”
“But she’s my person,” I argue.
“And if it’s meant to be, it’ll be, honey,” my mom gently reasons.
“If anything, you need to consider backing off and let nature run its course,” Dad adds.
I glance down at the ring in the box, my stomach churning. “I don’t want to give her up.”
“Bro, I get that you love her. But high school relationships rarely work out in the long run.” Nate tosses his apple core into the open trash bin of our small family kitchen. “I mean, think about it. You’re about to live eight hours apart. You’re gonna be practicing and playing hockey, and when you’re not, you’ll be doing schoolwork. There’s no way you’re gonna have time for Ella. It’s not like you two will be able to sit down and study together, or go grab a quick dinner.”
“We can call each other,” I argue, dread settling into my chest. I glance down at my watch, seeing that it’s already time to meet up with her. She’s going to be waiting for me at our spot, and the last thing I want is to be late. She leaves tomorrow for school.
“Phone calls aren’t enough to maintain a solid relationship,” Dad cuts in, continuing to hound me. “And honestly, throwing a ring on her finger as apromisewhen you’re not even going to be around seems like a way to control her. She needs to be able to live her life without worrying about what you’re doing.”
“But I’m not like that,” I grit out. “I don’t hold her back.”
“No, but you haven’t been long distance, either. That changes things,” Mom says, folding her arms across her chest. “You need to think about what’s best for Ella. Not just yourself.”
“And you need to think about your hockey career,” Dad calls to me as I spin on my heels and head for the door. “Your mom and I have workedhardto ensure your future turns out better than ours. If you throw hockey away, it would all be for nothing. And then you’ll be stuck trying to provide for Ella on a grocery boy’s salary. Don’t you think she deserves better than that?” His words hit my heart as I step out the front door, fear shattering all the confidence I had only a half hour ago.
Maybe Idoneed to focus on hockey before I promise anything.
