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“You’re suffocating me!” she says jokingly, fanning herself.
“Is it my cologne?” I sniff my jersey. “I swear I just showered.”
I hear her giggle, and it’s a glorious sound.
“You just squeezed me too tight.” She blushes bright red as a tomato.
“So, are you coming with us?” I ask her, my thumb raised toward the exit.
“I don’t have another ride,” Emily says, lowering her gaze from me.
I look at Dan, and he looks concerned, biting his lip and looking between me and Emily.
“Is everything okay, dude?” I ask, trying not to cause any more turmoil.
“Maybe you should talk to Emily and clarify some things between you two,” he says dryly.
I look at him and he looks at me, both ready to pounce at each other.
What he wants is very clear. He wants me to apologize to his sister, but I’m not sure right this second is the right time for it.
“Stop it, Dan.” Emily says. “Let’s go… the four of us. This is not complicated.”
Carla and I exchange an awkward glance.
“Are you sure about that?” Dan turns sharply to look over at Emily.
Emily’s jaw clenches and I can see her hands trembling. I can’t handle seeing her like that.
I have to step in and try to protect her now like I have done in the past, like that time Dan yelled at her and accused her of taking his car without his permission.
I stood up for her then, and I’ll do so now.
“Let’s go,” I interrupt, offering her my hand. “At least let me take you home.”
She squints her eyes, and after a shaky breath, she takes my hand and nods.
As I walk away hand in hand with her, I tap Dan’s shoulder just to show him there’s no bad blood, and head out of the stadium and toward my car.
“Nice car,” she says, tears clear in her voice, as she gently touches the exterior of the SUV.
“It’s a rental.” I open the passenger door for her then slide into the driver’s seat. “My real car arrives Wednesday with the movers. What happened back there with your brother? What was that all about?”
She puts her seatbelt on without looking at me and just pouts.
“Everybody keeps shoving you in my face and expects me to just act chill about it,” she bursts out.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
Emily places both hands on her forehead and shakes her head.
“I mean, you are the problem, Andrew Connoly,” she says, still not looking at me.
I laugh nervously, but she gets angrier, so I quickly stop. “I know I caused you a lot of trouble, Em. But I want to fix that.”
“No,” she spits out, finally looking at me. “Andrew, do you have any idea what it’s like to have loved someone and then they just ignore you? You ghosted me. It was just a night of sex for you, right?”
I hold down her hands to keep her from hitting me. I look straight into her eyes, beautiful dark blue against the pale snowy blanket of her skin. Trying to make my voice firm to calm down the slow march of her sobs, I say, “Emily, it was not just a night of sex. I wouldn’t have crossed the state to be with you at your prom if I thought so little of you.”
