Page 97 of Rule 3: Never Fake Marry the Coach's Son
“Oh.” His eyes go round. “Then we’ll know.”
“Is fine,” I say.
“Absolutely,” he echoes too quickly.
I nod sharply, but the room tilts. The couch seems to have drifted miles away.
Oskar slips his arm around my waist because he is amazing and always knows what I want.
I collapse onto the expensive leather. For a moment, I remember the nights I collapsed on the couch with overnight guests who were not Oskar.
I press my face into my hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just thinking about all the wasted years. All the time I could have been with you.”
“Oh.” He blinks.
“I’m sorry. I know you were busy being a student and everything for two of those years. I know you probably wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me—”
He launches himself into my lap, making me laugh in surprise. His hands frame my face. “Of course I would have wanted you. I would never have ignored you. You are the most incredible man—”
I laugh. “You trying to make me happy, Baby?”
“I’m being truthful,” he huffs.
I wrap my arms around him before he can move away or do something ridiculous like suggest cooking dinner.
“There’s a chance I won’t make it through tomorrow,” I tell him. “Vince says I should prepare for that.”
“But you might.”
“Yeah. Hope so. You know what I’ll miss most if I have to leave?”
He inhales sharply.
“You, baby. More than anything.”
“More than hockey? The city? Your whole life here?”
“More than all of it.”
His eyes glisten. “I’ll miss you so much. I don’t want you to leave. I-I—”
He cuts himself off. I think I know what he wanted to say.
I take his hands in mine. “If I don’t pass, they want me out by tomorrow night.”
“What? Why so fast?”
“Apparently, I’m bad publicity for the whole immigration system now.”
“Oh.” He leans back against my chest, pulling my arms tighter around him.
I don’t tell him I should probably start packing, that Vince suggested boxing up my life. What’s the point? My furniture stays. My clothes can be thrown in a suitcase if it comes to that.
And though I don’t tell it to Oskar, there is a high chance that the worst will happen. The US immigration system will want to show people that it takes immigration violations seriously, and why shouldn’t they? I don’t know how persuadable the immigration officers will be under national pressure.
