Page 43 of Before You
I promised Marley in the letter I wrote her that tomorrow I won’t take any pills to make up for taking them twice today.
My hands are shaking as I drop them into my mouth, taking a swig of my water before swallowing. I can’t sit still, but every move I take feels like my knee is about to buckle underneath me after today’s game. I didn’t do myself any favors with all the running I’ve been doing, and I’m wiped out.
“JJ, are you coming or not?” Asher asks, walking through my door without knocking. “Dude, you’re not even dressed yet?”
I set the bottle back in the drawer, hopefully shutting it before he can see. “I’m coming. Impatient much?” I ask, pushing a smile on my face as I turn around to face him.
“Everyone else already left, and I thought you’d be a little more eager to celebrate the touchdowns you scored today. The guys on the team are taking bets on when you’re going to set a new school record this season.” Asher grins, completely skipping over the part where he made one hell of a block today keeping Trent from getting sacked. He’s a good friend.
“Only because of the yards you helped us get,” I add in, grabbing a shirt off a hanger in my closet, tugging it over my head. Turning around, I notice Asher’s staring at the drawer the pills are in.Did he see?I clear my throat, dragging a hand through my hair. “Ready?”
His smile never falters as he makes eye contact with me again. “Hell yeah.”I must be imagining things. Ash would ask a hundred questions if he saw.
“Are you driving or am I?” I ask, following behind him, grimacing as I force myself to walk normally. I just have to make it long enough for the pain to go away, but it feels like a dozen knives are being shoved into my knee, a new one added with every step.
“I got us a ride instead.”
Somehow, that doesn’t relax me, but it’s taking more of my effort to appear fine, so I don’t have it in me to ask questions. I swear, if this ride is an attempt to fix me up with someone, I’ll go inside and spend the night waiting for Marley to call instead.
I’m even more confused once I see Charlie’s car in the driveway, now a little irritated because he could have just said his cousin was picking us up. There was no reason for it to be a damn surprise.
Asher skips down the stairs, and I’m not sure what he has to be so damn giddy about. He nearly lost his shit when we ran into Charlie at that house party a couple of weeks ago. I like Charlie, but Asher’s weird about his cousin coming around the team, and I can’t blame him after hearing how some of them talk about girls.
“Shotgun,” he calls, and my leg nearly gives out underneath me as I step down the stairs, causing a grunt of pain to slip from my clenched jaw.
“Are you good?” Asher asks, turning around to look at me.
I exhale sharply, forcing a smile that hopefully doesn’t look as fake as it feels. “I’m fine, just a little tired from earlier.”
“I’ve got just the thing to put some pep in your step,” he says, and I’m surprised my answer is good enough for him not to inquire further.
Charlie honks the horn, and I shake my head, doing my best to get it together. Asher climbs into the front seat, but I freeze when I open the back door, greeted by the last two people I expected to be in this car.
“What’s up, superstar?” Bria teases from the middle seat, but my focus is on the other side of her. Marley offers me a kind smile, lifting her hand up in greeting. God, she’s fucking beautiful.
Every time I look at Marley, it feels like I’m falling in love all over again.
“JJ, are you getting in the car, or are we leaving you behind?” Charlie asks from the front seat, bringing me back to Earth.
As if I’d miss an opportunity to hang out with Marley for a night. I climb into the car, shutting the door behind me as I clear my throat. “Hey,” I greet, my voice coming out rougher than intended.
Charlie turns to smile at me innocently, far from her usual mischief. “Have you met Marley and Bria?” she asks, knowing damn well I run with Bria every day, and Marley is . . . well,Marley.
“In fact, I have, Charlotte,” I taunt, using her full name to get under her skin. She sticks her tongue out at me, turning around to reverse the car out of the driveway. “How exactly do you know them?”
“I saw Asher outside the business building last week, and he introduced me to Charlie. We hung out later, and she met Bria,” Marley answers, the soft lilt of her voice instantly captivating me. Everything about her demands my full attention. She’s hadit from the moment I saw her across the street, lost in a small town out of a fairytale in France.
“I see why you like her, JJ,” Charlie says, winking at me in the rearview mirror.
I’m a little jealous Charlie’s been getting to spend time with Marley when I haven’t, but I promised I wouldn’t see her again until she decided to reach out.
Is this Marley reaching out?
I adjust the collar of my shirt, trying not to get my hopes up, but sweet Jesus, I hope this is her reaching out.
She’s the only thing making me feel like I can breathe.
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