Page 130 of Keep Me Never
So right here on this field, I let myself feel it all.
I’m not at all shocked when the strongest emotion of them all is cold, hard disgust.
In my own damn self.
The scent is the first thing I register. Lemon and berries cutting right through the stale tang of alcohol clinging to my skin.
The second is the soft fleece pulled over me—a blanket, I think.
Slowly, cautiously, I blink my eyes open, expecting my head to rage back at me, but the ache there is a little subtler, and more from the headache left behind from something else.
The sun is still trying to rise, but it feels half-hearted, like even the damn sky knows better than to pretend today is a new beginning.
I blink once. Twice.
And then I see her.
Curled beside me on a pillow, her head turned toward me. There’s a sleeping bag under her, the blanket covering us both. Her hair is half in her face, lashes brushing her cheeks, mouth parted the slightest bit. Paige.
My Angel.
Sleeping beside me on the fucking ground.
Tightness pulls at my chest and I can’t help it; I reach for her, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her to me, holding her gently like she might vanish if I grip too hard.
A moment later, her fingers curl into my shirt and I know she’s awake, but neither of us says anything at first, and she lets me hold her, which is more than enough.
Eventually, I lean far enough back to see her face. I keep holding her hand, pressing her knuckles to my lips and letting them rest there, needing the contact more than the air.
She came for me. She’s here, and for her to be here that means she would have had to have left right after the game.
She knew I’d need her.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Her smile is soft, sleepy, and perfect. “Hi.” She reaches up, gently brushing the tips of her fingers along my temple, my jaw, my lips. “I missed you.”
She saidI missed you. NotWhat are you doing out hereorAre you okayorWhat happened. There’s no judgment, no expectation.
She’s literally lying on the ground wrapped up in all these things I didn’t bring out here, meaning she must have, and all she said wasI missed you.
God, I fucking love her.
I swallow hard, blinking against the sting behind my eyes. “I missed you, too, baby. So much.”
“I made you some lemon-blueberry bars,” she whispers. “They’re here when you’re ready for one.”
She’s here when I’m ready.
I kiss her knuckles again, hanging on tight.
She is so patient, so good to me.
She deserves to know what’s going on.
“I’ve been keeping a secret,” I admit softly and those blue eyes soften on mine, because she already knew that. “Rememberwhen I was worried about the whole cheating on the test thing and I told you that I stood to lose everything?” She nods. “It was true. I told you about my parents’ divorce, but there’s so much more to it that I haven’t shared. Football was supposed to be my saving grace, but…Paige, it’s over.”
“Chase, you did so well all season, it can’t?—”
