Page 66 of Just My Puck
“As long as we don’t forget who did the heavy lifting tonight,” Max adds.
James nudges him. “If by ‘heavy lifting’ you mean skating five feet behind me the whole game, then yeah, totally.”
The group dissolves into laughter, and as I feel myself relax, I have this bittersweet taste in my mouth. I fit so well into this group, but will it stay that way once they know? Onceheknows?
What if the annoying voice in my head is right? What if it knows better than me?
I shift on Caleb’s lap, and he secures his arm around my waist, his warmth soothing my nerves. It’s going to be fine. I just have to tell him the truth.
As the minutes tick by, I can’tstop fidgeting. I don’t want to be the pushy girl who begs to go home and deprives her boyfriend of time with his friends, but we’ve been here for a while, and I’m really starting to get restless. If I don’t tell him now, it might just burst out of me right here in the middle of the conversation.
James yawns dramatically before placing a kiss on each of Beth’s cheeks, and it kickstarts a wave of yawns around the group.
“Maybe we should call it a night?” I suggest with a chuckle, not missing the opportunity.
Everyone nods, and soon, we’re all walking back to the parking lot at the end of the street and saying goodbye.
I’m tempted to confess to Caleb the second I’m alone with him, but he’s driving. And since I really don’t want to end up in the hospital again, I wait, knee bouncing as I wring my hands.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, glancing at me.
I sit on my hands. “Nothing. Just tired.”
He focuses back on the road, and I suck in small intakes of breath. In the next ten minutes, everything is going to change—I just don’t know if it’s going to be for the better or for the worse.
Finally, we turn onto Caleb’s street, and he parks in front of his house. We traipse up the steps to the entrance, and as soon as he closes the front door behind him, I take a deep breath and say, “We need to talk.”
This is it. There’s no turning back now.
29
“How is it possible that no one ever kissed you?"
Caleb Hawthorne
I lock the door behind us and turn to face Aria, the hairs on my neck prickling. Her expression is serious, just like the four words that came out of her mouth seconds before.
My heart pounds in my ears. “We do?”
She looks away before settling her eyes back on me. “I remember.”
My first instinct is to ask what she remembers, but the intensity in her eyes, and the way she’s swaying on her feet, makes it painfully clear. I choke out, “Youremember . . .everything?”
She nods, swallowing hard. “It all came back to me earlier.”
I rake a hand through my hair, trying to process her words. “Wow, okay.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. Between the game and going to the bar, there wasn’t really a moment that felt right. But I can tell you now. If you want to know.”
“Of course I do.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Should we maybe sit down?”
She nods quickly. “Good idea.”
After taking off our shoes and coats, we sink into the living room couch.
“Gosh,” she says, fidgeting with the hem of her jersey. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about with your name?” I suggest, encouraging her. No matter how hard this is for me, I can’t imagine what she’s been through today, with no one to talk to about her lost memories.
