Page 96 of The Fake
“Fuck off.”
I hear Mom scold him in the background and I chuckle. “Busted.”
“Coach Meyers called. The head coach of the Valley U hockey team.”
I sit up straighter. “Really?”
“So, you didn’t do this?”
“No, man, I swear.”
He repeats that info back to Mom, and I can tell they’re both excited. I didn’t know he was even considering coming here.
“When are you coming out?”
“I don’t know.” He talks faster now, no longer able to hide his excitement. “He wanted to set a date on the phone, but Mom said she wanted to talk to you first so we could coordinate my visit with one of your home games.”
My mom and brother at one of my games? The idea of looking up into the stands and seeing them makes me beyond excited. “I’ll shoot you the link to my schedule.”
“Cool. Alright, gotta go. Talk to ya later.”
I walk into the theater room where Joel and Wes are watching some game footage from last season.
“What did you do?” I ask, standing in the doorway.
Joel presses pause on the game. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“I just got off the phone with my brother. Coach Meyers called and invited him out for a visit.”
Joel looks to Wes, who gives us both a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to overstep. I just told him there was a kid in Michigan he might want to take a look at and shot over some videos of him playing last season.” He pauses. “Are you pissed?”
“Thank you.”
He relaxes and smiles. “He’s good. Really good.”
“Still, thank you.”
He nods. “Any time, man.”
34
Chloe
I’ve officially reachedthe end of my sanity while making sure I’ve given myself time to process everything. I’ve forgiven Nathan and I want to move forward, but I’m still hesitating.
I’ve started arriving at our Communications class fifteen minutes early so I can be there and soak up every second together. I think it’s time to call off the time apart. I miss my man.
“You’re overthinking it. Just call him,” Gabby says as she refills my wine glass. The coffee table in the apartment she shares with Blair and Vanessa is filled with bridal magazines and the four of us flip through them looking for ideas.
“Have you forgiven him?” Blair asks.
I nod. “Yeah. It wasn’t as much about forgiving him as coming to terms with the things he’s done. I know he’s still the same guy, but I can’t pretend he didn’t do those things.”
“The real question is, do you think he’ll do it again?” Vanessa asks.
“No way,” Gabby and I say in unison and then smile.
“He learned his lesson,” she adds, and I nod in agreement.
