Page 33 of Interference
“Oh. That’s cool. I guess my competition isn’t quite out of the game yet then,” she teases, but it feels like a jab.
“Nope. Not quite yet,” I tell her, suddenly done with this conversation.
“Well, thanks for this. If you hadn’t gotten knocked up, I wouldn’t have my shot. Wish me luck. I’m going to bring home that gold for us,” she tells me.
My face falls. Who says something like that to someone who may have lost their dream?
It’s insensitive as fuck, but Ashley doesn’t care.
“Yeah. You go get it,” I tell her. “Hey, Ash. Please don’t tell anyone about me. I’m not ready for people to know.”
“Of course not. It’s our secret.” She winks at me as she strolls out the door.
I’ve seen Ashley skate. She’s pretty good, but I don’t see her making the Olympic team, let alone going for the gold. Still, it hurts to know that she could.
Sucking up all my negative feelings, I grab my things and head downstairs. I expect Brett to be waiting. He always is before class. I want to talk with him about last night and clear the air.
When I find his spot empty, I am disappointed.
Pulling out my phone, I see I missed a text from him while I was talking with Ashley.
Brett
I won’t make it this morning. Early team meeting that I can’t miss. Please make sure to eat something. I snuck a few things in your bag. Have a wonderful day, buttercup. I’ll see you soon.
My heart sinks. I didn’t realize until this moment how much I am leaning on Brett. He has become an immovable rock in this whole ordeal. I wanted to talk to him about last night, but I also was looking to unload about this morning on him too. He takes the burden off of my shoulders for a little while to give me a break.
What if I fucked all of that up?
Placing my hand on my stomach, I take a deep breath.
It’s fine. Everything is going to be fine. I have this baby, and we are going to take on the world. Even if I don’t end up making my dreams come true, it will all be worth it when our little apple is here.
I smile at the thought.
I just gave myself a Brett Woods pep talk. It doesn’t replace him, but it makes me feel like he is here with me.
Looking in my bag, I smile when I see the cereal bars I have been able to keep down.
Opening one, I take a big bite.
Everything will be okay.
I’ve been itching to go see Emery since I left last night.
I didn’t want to leave the way I did, but if I didn’t, I was going to do something stupid. Like kiss her until she forgot her own name. That wouldn’t solve anything, though. We would have sex, then she would go back to saying it was a mistake and that we can’t be together.
No. I need to be in for the long game this time.
“Great practice, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Coach calls out, releasing us to the locker rooms.
“Man, I could eat a whole cow right now,” Kellan grumbles as we filter into the room.
“With his little chicken sidekick,” Wyatt adds.
I snort but don’t say anything.
“Yeah, laugh it up. Maybe if you’d get back on the ice, you’d be as hungry as us.” Kellan gives me a knowing look.
