Page 102 of Stick With Me
“Noted, but no. I swear it was an accident, Hannah.” He pulls up a chair at my side. “You know, he always had a thing for you. We were close before you came into the picture.”
Ryan and I have already confessed our mutual college crushes, but he still hasn’t told me what happened between him and Jace. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little curious. And from the sounds of it, I’m at the center of it. But if Jace is expecting an apology for their broken friendship, he’s going to be disappointed.
“He told me that night he was going to ask you out,” Jace continues. “I knew for a while he had a thing for you, but I figured he’d stay paralyzed, too stuck in his own head to actually make a move. So that night, Halloween—you were so cute dressed up as Robin—I took my shot.”
I glance over at him, his eyes are unfocused, staring at a spot ahead of him.
Back then, I thought my crush on Ryan was one-sided, that he was too focused on hockey to notice me as anything more than a friend.
“I was never very good at bro code. He was pissed,” Jace adds, laughing softly. It surprisingly lacks malice. “I’m shocked he never told you what a jackass I was. Every time you’d hang out with him over the years, I was terrified he’d say something, and you’d see me.Reallysee me. And leave.”
I raise my brows but still don’t contribute to the one-sided conversation.Well, I see you nowdoesn’t seem like the right thing to say, especially since he seems genuinely… remorseful?
“Deep down, I knew it was him. It was always him, but I couldn’t let it go, you know?” he muses.
In the six years I’ve known Jace, I’ve never heard him be so open. This whole conversation is throwing me off. I’m not sure what to do with this information. It changes nothing, but at the same time, everything. “Why are you telling me this?” I ask.
Jace leans forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, his gaze dropping to the linoleum floor. When he looks back at me, there’s a flicker of the man I once loved, the one who stole my heart all those years ago. “There’s no chance of us working out now, is there?” he whispers, and for a brief second, I almost feel sorry for him.Almost.
“No.” My voice is firm.
He slumps back in his chair, nodding slowly. “That’s what I thought. I want you to be happy. I’ve messed up, I know I have. I handled things all wrong, and I’m sorry for that. But I did love you, Hannah. I still do.” His words trail off, with the last three being barely loud enough to hear.
THIRTY-NINE
“I did love you,Hannah. I still do.”
This must be a drug-fueled nightmare because there’s no way Knolls would be saying those words. Not now.
“I loved you, too. At one point in time. But that’s in the past, Jace. I’m happy now. Hopefully, Ryan and I will be staying in Chicago. So, can we at least be civil? I know you moved here with the intention of us getting back together, but that’snothappening.”
Hannah.
Soft, small hands squeeze mine, and I struggle again with my eyelids. What the hell did they give me? Everything feels hazy, distant.
“I know that… Maybe one day we can be friends again?”
I can picture Hannah’s skeptical expression as silence fills the air. There’s a long pause before she finally responds, “We’ll see.”
Even in my drugged-up haze, I hear the hesitation in her voice, and I wish I could speak. I attempt to say her name, my mouth barely cooperating, but I must manage something because she responds with a soft “Ryan,” and a kiss to the hand she’s holding.
When I finally win the battle with my eyelids, her face is the first thing I see. My vision sharpens, locking onto green. Grassy green. Rolling hills of green. Four-leaf-clover green. “Green is my favorite color,” are the first words out of my mouth.
Her responding giggle is my favorite sound, though I manage to keep that to myself. “You’re here. How long have I been out?” I ask instead.
Hannah smiles at me, but Knolls is the one who answers, “About an hour.”
For one blissful minute, I forgot about him. “What’re you doing here?” I can’t help the scowl I throw his way.
“Uh, I wanted to apologize… I know you probably think I hit you on purpose, but I didn’t. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s true. So, yeah, I just wanted to… I don’t know, clear the air?”
I’ve got to say, him trying to apologize is the last thing I expected. And even if he’s pretty terrible at it, I believe him. I was looking down as I came out of the offensive zone, trying to avoid an offside call and not paying close enough attention. It was a dumb way to get injured, and I can’t put all the blame on him.
I’m hoping Coach sees this as a failed experiment and goes back to our original lines. That is if I’m even still here next season. I glance down at my arm, supported by a sling, and the weight of it hits me. I might’ve just screwed what little chance I had.
They were already dragging their feet on an offer—are they really going to want to re-sign me now, with a chance I won’t be ready for the start of next season? I don’t know the details of my recovery plan yet, but I know I’ll be out for months.
“Ryan?” Hannah’s voice cuts through my thoughts, reminding me that I’ve left Knolls hanging.
