Page 4 of Wild Love
She shakes her head and fingers the end of her long, blonde braid. “No. He wants to finish school.”
“And hang out with his awesome girlfriend,” I point out. Heath and Ginny have been inseparable since they started dating last fall, and I can’t imagine a world in which he goes anywhere without her.
“That too.” She smiles, a little smitten and doe eyed.
The three of them talk about all the changes happening while I’m lost in my thoughts. There is this underlying excitement as they talk about it, even though their words are sad, and lunch includes no less than five group hugs. Sienna graduates next week with Rhett and Adam, and now that I know Maverick is leaving too, I feel an odd pang of sorrow.
Up until this moment, I’ve had a hard time feeling the same sadness as my friends that things were changing, maybe because I’m so ready for change myself that I couldn’t wrap my brain around what they were feeling.
No matter where Sienna goes, we’ll stay friends, and being friends with her, I’ll also get tabs on Rhett. And since Adam is staying in Valley for medical school and dating my roommate, I know I’ll see him too. Things were changing, but they didn’t seem so permanent as Maverick leaving does.
Ginny leans forward and rests her palms on the table. “Heath is throwing him a party tonight at the apartment. Shirts are optional, but fun is not.”
I feel my brows lift. “I’m sorry, what?”
She giggles, and her brown eyes light up with humor and excitement. “It’s seriously the tagline for tonight. And you should see the amount of Mad Dog we bought.”
A party where MD 20/20 is the drink of choice and shirts are discouraged? The knot in my stomach loosens at the ridiculousness that I’ve come to love about our group. “Only a party for Maverick would require a tagline.”
2
Johnny
A knockat the front door sends Charli running toward it, barking.
Heath’s voice calls from the other side. “Mav? Are you home?”
I pull open the door and step back to let him in. My buddy sets a large box on the coffee table in the living room.
“I think I got everything, but I’m going to do another pass to make sure.”
I move forward and open one of the flaps to see inside. “What is all this?”
“Your shit.” He plops down on the leather couch. “Video games, headphones, books.” He shakes his head. “I had no idea I was hoarding so much of your stuff. You should see how empty my room looks now.”
I pull out a pair of Beats headphones. “I gave these to you.”
“Loaned,” he says definitively. He has a hard time accepting gifts, which is too bad for him because I like giving them.
“I thought you might say that.” I walk over to the kitchen counter and pull a new pair of headphones out of the box they shipped in yesterday. I toss them at him.
He sits up and cradles the box, turning them over and then sliding the headphones out. “No way!” He smiles, but his excitement is short lived. He sets them on the table next to the box. “Mav, no. I can’t accept these. They’re like three hundred dollars.”
“So?”
“So?” He chuckles.
“Take your pick, but I’m leaving one of them behind. And whatever is in that box is yours too. The less I have to move, the better.”
He sits back on the couch and glances around the apartment. It was never very lived in. I spent most of my time hanging out at his apartment with Rauthruss and Scott upstairs, but it’s been home for the past year, the dorms the year before that. Two years I’ve been at Valley U, two of the best of my life, and now I’m leaving. It’s surreal.
Classes are done Wednesday, and when everyone’s done partying and heads off for the summer, I will too. I don’t need to be in Minnesota for another two weeks, but I’ve already signed a lease on an apartment, and Coach Miller said I could start using the workout and practice facilities as soon as I want.
The Wildcats season is over, and camp isn’t until July. No rest for the wicked, though. If I want to keep myself from being sent down to the minor league team, I need to start contributing immediately.
“It isn’t going to be the same without you,” my buddy says.
“It wouldn’t be the same regardless.” I take a seat in the recliner next to him. “Rauthruss and Scott are both done, and there’ll be a new group of rookies…” My voice trails off, and I’m hit with the finality of my decision.
