“He blew his knee out a few years ago and I don’t think he rehabbed properly, because even after surgery it was never the same. He had to retire end of last season, and he’s only twenty-six.”
I scrubbed my hands through my beard with a deep sigh. “Yeah, I know.
I really needed to be careful. I also really needed to have a shave.
Drew handed me an ice cuff before dropping some snacks onto the table. He pulled a chair out, sitting down, then waited for me to strap up my knee before eyeballing me hard.
“Spill it.”
I shifted in my seat, thinking about how much I wanted to divulge, but I needed to get this off my chest and it wouldn’t be to anyone but Drew. Or Jupiter apparently.
I started rolling the bottle between my palms. “Remember when I was in hospital, I kept having these weird dreams and I thought it was the meds?”
“Yes.”
I looked up at Jupiter’s confused expression. “I was having these intense dreams about kissing someone but I could never figure out who it was. I always woke up before I saw her face.”
The bemused expression on his face told me he thought I was not completely sane. “Okay.”
“It was Molly.”
Drew frowned at me. “You dreamed about kissing Molly? Why are you freaking out about a dream?”
“It wasn’t a dream, I kissed her.”
“In your dream?”
“No! For real, in real life.”
The beer bottle stopped just before it reached his lips and he put it back on the table. “You kissed Molly? Molly?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
The pair of them sat there, staring at me in silence until Drew broke it. “How? And when?”
Jupiter grabbed a handful of popcorn, throwing it in his mouth. “And where?”
“It was after my surgery. She was in my room and checking my vitals…” I scowled at Jupiter as he snorted. “And I kissed her. My head’s still a bit fuzzy about it, but that’s why she avoided me the whole week I was in hospital. I didn’t remember.”
I still felt slightly vindicated I hadn’t been wrong about that.
“Then I woke up on the last night before I was discharged and found her asleep on the couch. When I was looking at her, I realized my dream had been a memory. And she ran off.”
Drew scratched his head. “So what’s happened since? Have you talked to her about it?”
“No, she won’t talk to me. I’ve tried, and I saw her in the hospital the other week and she shouted at me again, but…”
I trailed off, shrugging my shoulders. I could still see the look on her face when she realized what she’d said to me, because I was pretty sure she never meant to say it out loud, but she had a habit of talking to herself without realizing it.
“But what?”
“She told me she has feelings for me. Or did have them. She said she didn’t have them anymore.”
And that still twisted my gut slightly in a way that made me think I needed to hotfoot it to the bathroom.
“Then what happened?”
I took a long draw of my beer. “Then she ran away again, and I’ve barely spoken to her since. Yesterday was the first time I saw her.”
