Page 109 of Broken Hearts
Maverick, who miraculously still has his shirt on, sits next to me and throws an arm over my shoulder.
“It’s weird, right? Rhett not being here.”
“Very,” I admit.
“He’ll be back. He has to come back.”
“I don’t know. There’s only a few weeks of school left.”
“Yeah, but you two are in love. He won’t be able to stay away for that long.”
I feel my face heat and I look down to my lap.
“You are in love, yeah?” Mav drops his arm. “Please tell me you didn’t drop kick the poor bastard’s heart on his way out the door.”
“No, of course not. It’s just… I haven’t told him that I love him.”
“Oh. Well, fuck.” He backtracks when I shoot him a panicked look. “I’m sure he knows how you feel.”
I want to kick myself. “I should have told him. Now I may never get a chance.”
“Cheer up. You’ll get your chance. I know it.” He stands. “Allie, you look like a ringer. Wanna be on my team for washers?”
My sister nods enthusiastically, not even bothering to correct the shortening of her name which she usually hates. “Sure.”
* * *
The next morning,I say goodbye to my family outside of my dorm.
“We’ll see you in a month for graduation,” my dad says, hugging me. “Try not to flunk out before then.”
“Funny.”
My mom always tears up when we say goodbye and this time is no different. “Love you, mom. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I made up your old bedroom in case you want to stay with us after graduation while you get settled into the new job.”
“Thank you. I’ll think about it.” I’ve given such little thought to the job. I haven’t even looked at apartments. It doesn’t seem nearly as important as everything else going on.
“Thank you for letting me tag along last night,” Allison says when it’s finally her turn. “Will you give Maverick my number?”
“Definitely not.”
She smiles. “Bye, S.”
I’ve barely gotten back to my room and crawled into bed where I fully intend to spend the day feeling sorry for myself when there’s a knock at the door. My stupid, hopeful heart convinces me that it’s Rhett.
It’s another hockey player standing outside with coffee. “Mav?”
“Gooooood morning. Coffee?” He extends the cup in his left hand. “It’s decaf.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought about it all night and I decided we should do it.”
“Do what?”
“Make the big gesture.”
