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Then, we’ll be together.
“I should.” I turn toward her, reaching out to touch her face, cup her cheeks. “But someday soon, I’m going to wake up with you in my arms again.”
Dana smiles. “You better.”
CHAPTER 41
CONNOR
I stare at myself in the mirror, struggling to knot my tie. It’s not the first time I’ve worn one of these, but I’ve never been able to get it just right the first time. It’s either too loose or too tight. Always.
Something in my reflection makes me pause. I’ve been told my whole life that I have my mother’s eyes, but something else looked back at me for a split second.
My father.
“You about ready, buddy?”
I flinch, not expecting him to suddenly be standing right behind me. “Yeah. Just…” I pull off my tie again. Blue and gold stripes. Bearhawk colors. It’s what Coach wanted. “Still getting this right,” I say.
“Here.” Dad taps my shoulder to turn me around. “For some reason,” he says as adjusts it around my neck, “I’m pretty good at tying these for other people, but stand me in front of a mirror…” He shakes his head. “Can’t always do it myself, either.”
He ties my tie. Perfectly.
“Did Mom do yours?” I ask, noting his also perfect blue and gold tie.
He chuckles. “All those years in costumes, that woman can tie a Windsor knot with her—” He stops, clearing the words from his throat before he turns me to face the mirror again. “There. I think you’re good.”
“Thanks,” I say.
We go quiet. That’s our usual state now, I guess. Small talk. A few updates of important information. But then, we’re back to silence.
It’s the same with Alex and Ben. No, it’s worse with them. They’ve shut me out completely, ignored my calls and messages. When I pass them on campus, they don’t say hi. Talking to them in the locker room doesn’t work, either. They just turn and walk in the other direction. It’s like I don’t exist at all.
Eighteen years of friendship down the drain, all because I fell in love with their sister.
But I won’t give up. I will make them talk to me, make them see that the start of me and Dana doesn’t mean the end of us.
And I miss her. We talk every night, but I don’t want to go much longer without kissing her. Holding her. Making love to her.
I won’t take the silence much longer.
“You good to do this today?” Dad asks.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I say, taking a breath. “It’s what Coach wanted.”
“It’s what Cary wanted, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it. I’m sure Hunter will step in if you ask him to.”
I shake my head. “No, I want to do it. It’s important.”
“Okay.” He runs his hands over my shoulders, then takes a step back. “We’ll see you downstairs. Five minutes.”
As he walks toward the door, I ask the same question I always ask myself. A question I asked him once, but didn’t get a real answer to.
Your grandfather and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things.
This is probably the last chance I’ll have to ask.
“Dad.”
